Workshop Tackles Biotechnology and Biosafety in Jordan

A workshop was held on May 10-11, 2016 in Jordan to discus how Jordan could benefit from biotechnology and biosafety to enhance agriculture innovation. The workshop was attended by Her Royal Highness Princess Basma bint Ali, Founder of Botanic Garden of Jordan, local scientists and regulators including members of the Parliament from Agricultural committee, National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE), Jordan Food & Drug Administration (JFDA), Jordan Institution for Standards and Metrology (JISM), Jordan University of Science & Technology (JUST), and members of the Ministry of Environment. The workshop was organized by Jordanian National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension, Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS) of the International Food Policy Research Institute and U.S. Department of Agriculture/Foreign Agriculture Service.

The workshop was carried out to take stock of global developments regarding agricultural biotechnology and biosafety, to review biotechnology and biosafety status in Jordan and to analyze, and map out the way forward for R&D in agricultural biotechnology and biosafety capacity development. It included two main parts Biotechnology and Biosafety Background and General Information Session and how Jordan could benefit from Biotechnology (the Way Forward). In the opening, Prof. Fawzi AL-Sheyab – NCARE, talked about the situation of biotechnology in Jordan and the importance of implementing new technology for improving agricultural productivity and farmer incomes. He also added that there should be balance between benefits and possible risks from GM crops, therefore biosafety and risk assessment should be applied.

Lindsay Malecha of USDA, USA, talked about the quick adoption of biotech crops by farmers and the importance of communication to deliver the right facts to consumers and decision makers to make informed decision that will benefit their country. In his speech, John Komen – PBS Regional Coordinator, gave an overview about the Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS) and how it supports partner countries in Africa and Asia in the responsible development and use of biotechnology. He also revealed that PBS comprises diverse team with regulatory expertise, legal aspects, socio-economic impact, communications/outreach and it works with countries interested in using biotechnology to enhance agricultural innovation. Biosafety is an international obligation based on assessment and management of environmental & health risks.

Professor Naglaa Abdallah, Director of EBIC & Head Department of Genetics, Cairo University presented the highlights of the annual report detailing the adoption of biotech crops, "20th Anniversary of the Global Commercialization of Biotech Crops (1996-2015) and Biotech Crop Highlights in 2015." She emphasized the status of GM crop research and regulation in Egypt as well as discussed the comparative advantages of CRISPR, as a new powerful genome editing technology, over conventional and GM crops. She added that CRISPR techniques is precision, speed, low cost and required less regulation and could increase crop productivity in a "sustainable intensification" mode on the 1.5 billion hectares of global arable land, and make a vital contribution to global food security.

Jose Falck-Zepeda (PBS) gave a presentation on Socio-economic Impacts of Biotechnology. In his presentation he revealed that systematic formal meta-analysis measuring the performance of GE crops have consistently shown reductions in yield damage from insects, reduced pesticide applications for target pests, decrease in management time and flexibility, and positive gross (in some cases net) margins from the adoption of such crops. While Dr. Laith N. AL-Eitan, Jordan University of Science & Technology (JUST), covered the Biosafety Status in Jordan in his presentation.

Rashmi Nair (PBS) provided two lectures on implementing issues in the marketplace, including co-existence, segregation, traceability and labeling, as well as GMO safety assessment, covering the environmental risk assessment, feed and food safety assessments. Pilar Rickert (PBS) gave an overview of PBS experience on Communication Strategies for Biotechnology and Biosafety.

During the final discussion, HRH Princess Basma made final remarks on the workshop that Jordan will use suitable technology for the benefit of their economy and to make the world a better place for their children. She added that any decision they take will be in transparency, will engage the public, and will follow the safety regulations to insure better health for the future.

For more details, contact Naglaa Abdallah at naglaa_a@hotmail.com.