Interest in biotechnology is shadowed by questions about its safety with respect to the environment and health safety. Wherever research is being conducted with genetically engineered organisms, wherever new biotech crop varieties are being tested, wherever foods containing ingredients from genetically engineered crops are being consumed, biosafety systems have been set up to ensure that potential risks may be identified and appropriately managed. Environmental concerns center around potential impacts on biodiveristy within the agro-ecosystem and in adjacent areas. Questions have been raised about the safety of foods derived from biotech crops, and whether they may present hidden dangers to those who consume them.

In developing countries in Africa as elsewhere, national biosafety systems are being established to address people’s concerns and make scientifically sound decisions regarding proposed uses of biotech products. Laws and regulations are thus a means to allow access to safe and beneficial applications of biotechnology. It is possible, by accident or design, to set up a biosafety system that cannot be implemented, effectively blocking even experimental research to test the technology. Those charged with establishing biosafety systems need first to articulate the purpose of having a law and regulations, and make sure that legal provisions are based on sound information and do, in fact, reflect their intended purpose.

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