Safety of Biotech Food Tackled in Egypt

A one day workshop on "Mechanisms to ensure the safety of biotech food" was organized by the Egyptian Biotechnology Information Center (EBIC) on August 15, 2012. Researchers from life and social sciences, private sector, media, under and graduate students attended the workshop. The topic discussed included trends of  GM technology and its expected impact on Egyptian agriculture. 

Dr. Layla Eeissa Batarseh, Regional Director of the Office of the Middle East and South Africa - Office of International Programs of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), explained the framework of the FDA's consultation procedures for bioengineered foods. She said that the FDA's 1992 policy statement says that new varieties must be as safe as conventional food. Therefore, new varieties are evaluated relative to their conventional counterparts.

The regional director stressed that developers of bioengineered foods from new GE plant varieties need to consult FDA prior to marketing to ensure that any safety or regulatory issues are appropriately resolved prior to marketing. She explained that FDA has established voluntary consultation procedures to help ensure that new products are safe. FDA, according to Dr. Batarseh, would be available to help Egypt with inquiries about GM crops.

 For more information, visit the website http://www.e-bic.net/ or contact Naglaa Abdallah at nabdallah@e-bic.net.