Bangladesh Finalizes Biosafety Rules

Bangladesh's biosafety rules were finalized during the "Consultation Workshop on Biosafety Rules of Bangladesh" held on April 29, 2010 at the Department of Environment, Ministry of Environment and Forests with the facilitation by the South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP). About 60 scientists, academia, policy planners, nongovernment organization and private sector representatives attended.  

Dr. Mihir Kanti Majumder, Ministry of Environment and Forests secretary was present as the Chief Guest and stated that Bangladesh has a rich biodiversity and is the most vulnerable country for climate change. To maintain a balanced ecosystem and sustainable crop production, "we must go for biotechnology." To harness the benefits of the technology, he stressed the need for a regulatory framework to facilitate production import and utilization of biotech products. 

Dr. Robert Potter, Senior Associate of AGBIOS Canada, in his opening remarks explained the importance of biosafety rules for biotechnology commercialization. Dr. Wais Kabir, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, in his speech as Special Guest mentioned that the food crisis in 2007 in Bangladesh was an eye opener as it showed the problem of food security in times of global food glut. He noted that to make the country food sufficient "we need to enhance productivity and biotechnology can be the vital option for this. To bring genetic modification in our food chain we need stringent safety and regulatory measures." 

For more information about this workshop contact Dr. Khondoker Nasiruddin of the Bangladesh Biotechnology Information Center at nasirbiotech@yahoo.com