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THE
Asean Center for Biodiversity (ACB), in cooperation with
Cambodia’s Ministry of the Environment, is hosting a
workshop on “Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified
Organisms (GMOs)/Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) and
Enforcement of Biosafety Regulations” starting
yesterday, June 22 until 24 in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
The
three-day workshop will provide a venue for sharing
up-to-date scientific information on biosafety and risk
assessment, enhancing national and regional capacity to
address biosafety issues, and strengthening cooperation
in the Asean region.
Experts
from the Canadian Ministry of Environment, the Federal
Environment Agency of Austria, the Third World Network,
the Convention on Biological Diversity secretariat, and
the Asean secretariat will serve as technical speakers
and facilitators.
The
participants will include technical experts involved in
regulatory assessment and biosafety-compliance
activities from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Biosafety is the term coined to describe efforts to
reduce potential risks from biotechnology and its
products such as GMOs and LMOs. It was identified as a
critical issue by the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD)
in 1992. Years later, the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety was adopted in 2000 to ensure that while
maximum benefits are reaped from biotechnologies,
adequate safety measures will be in place to guard
against possible risks to humans and the environment.
“Since
Asean member-countries are mostly developing nations
which have limited technical and scientific staff who
can implement biosafety regulations and assess risks
involved with GMOs and LMOs, this workshop is both
timely and necessary,” said Rodrigo Fuentes, executive
director of the European Union-funded ACB, an
intergovernmental regional center of excellence that
actively promotes knowledge sharing and capacity
building among members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations.
Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and
Vietnam are in the process of developing or implementing
their biosafety frameworks, policies and laws. “The
workshop will promote a better understanding of the
Cartagena Protocol’s biosafety provisions, and provide
these countries an opportunity to discuss their
respective National Biosecurity Strategies,” Fuentes
said.
According to the CBD, risk assessment should be
conducted in a scientifically sound and transparent
manner, taking into consideration the expert advice of
and guidelines developed by relevant organizations.
“In the
case of Asean member-countries, they can conduct risk
assessment with the end goal of identifying needs for
risk management and the most appropriate methods to be
implemented through the ACB. Results of the assessment
will then be used to enforce appropriate biosafety
regulations and ensure environmental and human safety of
GMOs and LMOs. Through this, they can also give the
public confidence in GMO products like certain drugs,
vaccines and food products.” Fuentes said. |
