Moment of truth for EAC countries over GM products

“If Tanzania were to join Comesa, we could as well use these rules,” Dr Nang’ayo added.

Harmonising these regulations is further complicated by differences in existing laws governing the handling of such products.

Whereas it takes up to 180 days to obtain clearance for research in GM products from Tanzanian authorities, it needs 270 days in Uganda.

In Kenya, it is between 60 and 150 days.

While Tanzania has committees under different ministries to evaluate applications that relate to it, Kenya and Uganda have a single committee each to co-ordinate all applications.

This is despite the fact that all three countries are guided by the Cartagena Protocol.

As the East African countries embark on the journey towards harmonising their GM policies, experts say that even though GM agricultural production is still shrouded in controversy, countries need to build their legal and institutional framework to allow for the commercial production of modern biotechnology, just in case its fortunes change in future.

“We need to position ourselves so that when the opportunity comes, we can seize it,” deputy director of African Biosafety Network of Expertise Samuel Timpo said.