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Kenya denies permits to test GM corn because of a standing import ban
APPROVAL for field trials of genetically-modified corn has been denied in Kenya because of opposition from officials who say that the current ban on GMO imports also bans testing.
Discussions between representatives from the health and environment ministries and the National Biosafety Authority ended in deadlock in meetings held to discuss applications, according to an unnamed source familiar with the deliberations, reported Bloomberg.
The National Environmental Management Authority halted the applications to test seeds from Kenya Livestock and Research Organisation and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation last October, after the two science research bodies received the green light from the National Bio-safety Authority.
The impasse is preventing Kenya from becoming the second nation in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa to allow cultivation of GM corn. Corn meal is a staple food throughout much of southern and eastern Africa.
The corn trials would have been conducted by the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service in multiple locations on two-acre plots and lasted six months.
Discussions between representatives from the health and environment ministries and the National Biosafety Authority ended in deadlock in meetings held to discuss applications, according to an unnamed source familiar with the deliberations, reported Bloomberg.
The National Environmental Management Authority halted the applications to test seeds from Kenya Livestock and Research Organisation and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation last October, after the two science research bodies received the green light from the National Bio-safety Authority.
The impasse is preventing Kenya from becoming the second nation in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa to allow cultivation of GM corn. Corn meal is a staple food throughout much of southern and eastern Africa.
The corn trials would have been conducted by the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service in multiple locations on two-acre plots and lasted six months.
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