Capacity building in bio-safety of GM crops

Pakistan is basically an agricultural country; this sector is contributing round about 25 percent to GDP, employing 50% of labour force, and earning a large share of foreign exchange earnings.
Most of the population resides in rural areas and depends on agriculture for subsistence; therefore, a sustained increase in agricultural productivity through modern technology is vital for the prosperity of this region, particularly with the limited availability of water resources and extra arable land.
The Green Revolution ushered in the late 1960s has transformed some countries from a food-grain importer to a self-sufficient one.
Unfortunately we have missed that bus; now our burgeoning population having already crossed the 150 millions.
Common farm practices have damaged the cultivated land through water and wind erosion, compaction, salinisation, and water logging. So we need technology like Crop Biotechnology to overcome the forthcoming challenges.
Plant biotechnology is helping today to provide people with more and better food and holds even greater promise for the future.
Whether cotton farmers in China, India, America, Australia and South Africa, canola farmers in Canada, soyabean farmers in Argentina or corn farmers in Spain and the United States, millions of farmers around the world are using biotech seeds to boost yields, improve their livelihoods and preserve the environment.
Biotech crops can significantly alter the lives of these farmers; limiting the time they must spend in the field and helping alleviate poverty.
That's why organisations including the United Nations, American Medical Association, International Society of African Scientists and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, have voiced their support for plant biotechnology.
Undoubtedly crops biotechnology presents considerable potential by boosting outputs, reducing production costs, increasing nutritional value and promoting the efficiency of agro-processing; in the meantime, as the impacts of biotechnology on human health and the environment remain unknown, Bio-safety has become a primary issue.
Considering the importance of capacity building to assess and manage the risks and benefits associated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs); in June a four-day national training workshop on "Capacity Building in Bio-safety of GM Crops: GMO Detection" jointly organised by National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) at Faisalabad.
The main purpose of this programme was to assist public and private institutes in their efforts to harness the benefits of biotechnology in accordance with relevant global agreements like WTO and ensures safety in the introduction and use of genetically modified crops (GMCs) - based on transparent and scientifically based approaches; while also help to built confidence of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), resource persons and stakeholders in crop biotechnology.
One of the main reason for such a workshop is to recognise the need to establish mechanisms for assessing and managing the potential environmental risks associated with GM crops under the Cartagena Protocol on Biological Diversity (CBD); and to identify country-specific strengths and weaknesses relating to national capacities on the biosafety of GM crops, as well as to address the prioritisation of the support needed to enhance biosafety capacities between CBD member countries and facilitate member countries to conduct trade activities according to biosafety framework.
It is worth noting that Pakistan is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and signatory to the CBD and the Cartagena Protocol - which requires parties to co-operate in the development and strengthening of human resources and institutional capacities in biosafety in developing countries, particularly least developed countries such as Pakistan.
Under WTO agreements members are bound by certain obligations that limit their right to restrict imports; which may contain GMOs or from GM crops.
Despite indigenously production of GM crops like Bt cotton and Bt rice so on, field evaluation is blocked due to the absence of legislation related to biosafety in Pakistan.
Although a draft document was prepared in 1999 under the UNEP-GEF, The National Biosafety Guidelines, Plant Breeders Rights Act 2002; but unfortunately the development of biosafety regulations has been slow and largely incoherent. So, co-ordinated efforts are needed among various ministries like Environment, Trade & Commerce, Agriculture Food & Livestock so on, to implement regulations and capacity building for import/export and local handing of GM crops.
A workable and transparent framework for bio-safety regulations have not been an easy task - the main challenge being creating an appropriate balance between potential benefits and risks; so arranging training workshop like "Capacity Building in Bio-Safety of GM Crops" would boost public, consumer and investor confidence in GM related issues.