Accra, Jan. 27, GNA – The National Biosafety Authority (NBA) is stepping up efforts to establish its own reference laboratory to strengthen independent testing and surveillance of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), Mr. Kwame Dei Asamoah‑Okyere, Chief Executive of the Authority, has said.
He said the initiative formed part of the NBA’s broader strategy to reinforce Ghana’s biosafety regulatory system and improve the timeliness and credibility of regulatory decision‑making.
Mr. Asamoah‑Okyere disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after a stakeholder validation meeting on Ghana’s Fifth National Report on the Implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
Ghana is a Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which regulates the safe handling, transport, and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) to protect human health, biodiversity, and the environment.
The Chief Executive said the NBA had formally communicated the need for a regulator‑owned laboratory to its parent Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation and had also engaged development partners for support.
He explained that although the Authority currently relied on third‑party laboratories for testing, it was important for the regulator to build its own laboratory capacity to enhance independence and sustainability.
“In the short term, we are broadening our partnerships with existing laboratories to support our work, while we continue to pursue the establishment of our own reference laboratory,” he said.
Mr. Asamoah‑Okyere said some national laboratories, including the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, WACCI, and CSIR-CRI have indicated their readiness to support the NBA with testing services.
He noted that the growing movement of GMO products within the West African sub‑region, combined with porous borders, required stronger surveillance and testing systems.
“It is not surprising that some products may find their way onto our markets even if they have not gone through the regulatory process,” he said, citing cowpea imported from neighbouring countries as an example.
“Our responsibility is to detect these products, assess them scientifically and determine whether they can be guided through the regulatory process or removed from the market,” he said.
He disclosed that the NBA staff would be joining the surveillance team on field to intensify surveillance for effective regulation.
The Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission laboratory for instance, made us aware that they are ready to test living modified organisms.
“We’ll explore that, relationship to strengthen our monitoring and our surveillance systems, to ensure that whatever genetically modified organisms that we have coming into Ghana, go through the right processes are assessed for it to be as safe as their conventional counterparts.
Mr. Asamoah‑Okyere said a reference laboratory would enable routine testing, faster response to biosafety concerns, and strengthen public confidence in regulatory outcomes.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei