• The National Biosafety Authority chief executive officer confirmed that the Authority has reviewed charges for various activities as the cost of doing business has changed.
• In this regard, the Authority has prepared a schedule of the proposed fees, which is available on their website.
Image: George Murage
The National Biosafety Authority is calling for public participation in the proposed fees for services offered to Kenyans.
Dr Roy Mugira, the National Biosafety Authority chief executive officer confirmed that the Authority has reviewed charges for various activities as the cost of doing business has changed.
“There is a need therefore to call upon the people that we provide service to, to contribute to the cost of providing that service. The principal areas of our approvals have not changed, that is environmental release,” he said.
The National Biosafety Authority is a State Corporation established under the Biosafety Act, 2009 with a mandate to exercise general supervision and control over the transfer, handling and use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
This is intended to ensure the safety of human and animal health as well as provide adequate protection of the environment.
The Act requires the Authority to prescribe fees for the services it offers, and in this regard, the Authority has prepared a schedule of the proposed fees, which is available on its website.
Last week, The National Biosafety Authority issued a notice requesting for public comments on the proposed fees charged for services offered.
“In line with the requirements of the law, the Authority is conducting public participation on the proposed fees. Members of the public are invited to submit their comments on or before Wednesday, February 7, 2024,” he said.
“Essentially, the changes are to respond to the increased cost of doing business. But even more significantly, for approvals of GM products for import, export and transit, is to prorate,” Mugira said.
He explained that currently, the NBA has been charging the same charges irrespective of the quantity of GM products.
For example, if someone is importing 1,000 kilos or one ton, the charges are at Sh1,000.
If another person is importing 10, 000 bags or 10 tons the charges are also at Sh1,000. This Mugira said is not rational.
"You may be importing some seeds or a few grains of about 20 kilos and you are charged Sh1,000 while another person imports 48, 000 tons and is also charged Sh1,000. So we have prorated that so that we classify into this number of tons and the charges to be paid. We want to commensurate with the quantities that are being imported," he said.
The regulator said this is one of the major considerations besides the current cost of doing business.
This is in addition to the need to have cost sharing between the service provider- NBA and by extension the National Government and the service receiver, that is our client.
He said the public is expected to look through and send their comments as has been guided.
“After that, we will analyse and take into consideration the expression by the public. We will then prepare a matrix that will say, for example, this number of Kenyans expressed that a particular figure is too high. We will then discuss this and agree either to modify it or to give an explanation of why it is at that level. We will then move forward towards processing,” Mugira explained.
This is the standard public participation process as enshrined in the Constitution and also in the Act.
In view of the commercialisation of the GM maize, as was recently approved in Nigeria, Mugira said NBA has developed guidelines for approval of STAK genes and published them.
The TELA maize variety has a gene for insect resistance plus a gene for drought tolerance.
This is what Nigeria has approved. It is called TELA maize which is a project by AATF and other partners including National Agricultural Research Institutes in Kenya, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and South Africa, International Maize, and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Bayer, with funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID.
Mugira said they have developed guidelines for that and we are ready.
"We have approved one Confined field trial (CFT) for that. But what is stopping us from doing an environmental release approval is the orders that were given by the High Court in November 2022 stopping importation, cultivation and distribution," he said.
"That case is still before court and we cannot say much about that but the matter is coming up for mention at the High Court on 5th of February, 2024. As soon as the matter is finished and orders lifted, we should be ready to commercialize GM maize in Kenya as well."