Kenya approves GMO corn and cotton field trials, defying health minister

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The National Biosafety Authority (NBA) [of Kenya] has defied the Health ministry and announced field trials for GMO crops….

Speaking in Kitale, NBA managing director Willy Tonui said the National Performance Trial (NPTs) for biotech maize and cotton is scheduled to start as soon as October.

This comes despite Health Secretary Cleopa Mailu [October 2017] stopping the trails, arguing that fitness for GMO products for human health remains unknown.

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Kenya’s Health Minister Cleopa Mailu

Dr Tonui said they had already reached an agreement on biotech cotton and that it would be rolled out in the next planting season.

The trials [are] expected to take two years….

Kenya imposed a ban on GMO crops in November 2012, citing danger to public health, a decision that locked out many countries, including South Africa, from exporting maize to Kenya.

The taskforce formed to establish the safety of GMO crops following the ban … recommended the lifting of the prohibition on a case by case basis.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Safety agency defies Mailu over GMO trials

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