Kenya’s parliament calls for approval of GM corn field trails, rebuffing health secretary

[Kenya’s] parliament has called for approval of field trials of genetically modified maize because the ban on GMO imports did not apply to controlled growing tests as well.

The National Assembly’s Agriculture Committee wants the government to facilitate local researchers to conduct field trials of biotechnology maize as long as they are not for cultivation or commercial use.

This comes weeks after Health secretary Cleopa Mailu has rejected the planned trial of genetically modified maize in Kenya, arguing that the Cabinet in 2012 imposed a ban on the importation and consumption of GMO food.

“The National Biosafety Authority should facilitate local researchers to conduct field trials of biotechnology maize to ascertain drought tolerance and insect resistance, as well as collect compositional data for safety analysis, but not for cultivation or commercialisation,” the committee said in a report that was tabled on June 15….