Biosafety Issues and Activities in Kenya

Introduction
The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) is a National Standards Body with an overall mandate to promote standardization in industry and trade through standards development, conformity assessment, testing and metrology. It aims at providing standards based solutions that deliver quality and confidence to the consumers.

Biosafety is a concept that refers to measures put in place to mitigate or protect human health and the environment from possible adverse effects of the products of modern biotechnology. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety provides a comprehensive and holistic regime designed to ensure that the development, handling, transport and use of products of modern biotechnology are undertaken in a manner that maximizes benefits while preventing or reducing risks to the environment and human health. The Protocol is a subsidiary agreement to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Kenya signed the Biosafety Protocol in 2000 and fulfilled the ratification requirements in 2003. One of the key obligations expected from the Parties to the Protocol is promotion and facilitation of public awareness, education and participation in biosafety activities as stipulated in article 23. The National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology is the designated competent authority that handles all matters pertaining to biosafety in Kenya. The National Biosafety Committee (NBC) is the technical arm of the Council charged with the mandates of overseeing coordination and implementation of biosafety issues. The multiple roles of NBC include receiving, reviewing and making approval or rejection decisions on applications to introduce biotechnology products for research or commercial purposes into the country.  The NBC platform is a broad one with multi-stakeholder representation. The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS), the Public Health Department and the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB) are among the key biosafety regulatory agencies represented on the NBC.