The Gazettement of Rwanda's biosafety law last month does not seem to have received much regional attention. It probably should have. To see why, recall that it was only in 2016 when its then Minister of Agriculture was expressing concern about a possible influx of genetically modified crops from Kenya and Uganda.
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The two East African Community partner states were reportedly in the process of legalising genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
"We need to fast-track our biosafety standards to enable us deal with GMOs once they are in the country," the minister had said. "They (the two partner states) are ahead in setting biosafety standards, while we are still defining ours."
It now seems ironic that Rwanda should enact the law before Uganda - and Tanzania as well, which was expected to already have a biosafety law. Kenya has had a similar law since 2009. Other EAC member states are in various stages of enactment.
This highlights two things: First, how the EAC member states are not always in step in matters policy - the proposed EAC regional Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy, for example, has been in limbo since 2014 at the 30th Ordinary Council of Ministers. Had it already been in place and agreed upon by the state parties, the Rwandan minister would have had little reason for concern.
Second, it highlights how lengthy the process of enacting such a law can be, but also the unique national dynamics that may delay the enactment. Tanzania and Uganda are a prime example, though the delay is perhaps more of a symptom than a tragic issue.
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Probably not many in the EAC, for example, would know that both these countries are engaged in research on genetically modified mosquitoes to control and eradicate malaria in the EAC and beyond.
A meeting in Dar es Salaam in November 2022 sought to chart the legal way forward for the Target Malaria and Transmission Zero Project, as the research initiative is called.
It brought together representatives from all seven EAC member states to take stock of the legal and regulatory frameworks and the harmonisation of the EAC biosafety policy to guide the research on GM mosquitoes.
It is perhaps a good thing that the genetic-driven technology being developed is in its early stages and will take some ten years to complete. This should give the member ample states time to have the EAC Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy in place to facilitate the research project, which has regional implications.
The meeting noted the transboundary biosafety policy, legal and regulatory issues as well as the intellectual property issues, which the EAC policy should enable to allow East African Community countries besides Uganda and Tanzania also benefit from the technology.
It is worth noting that, along with the experts, legislators from each of the seven EAC member states were present at the dialogue meeting. It should be incumbent upon them to push their countries to institute the EAC policy through the mechanism of the Council of Ministers.
The project is being undertaken within the two countries. So, how are Tanzania and Uganda undertaking the project without a biosafety law, which regulates activities related to GMOs?
Both countries have enabling policies to allow GMO research. The two EAC countries have been conducting GM crop research in confined field trials for years using guidelines and policies concerning biosafety - Tanzania on maize and cassava since 2006, and Uganda on bananas and other crops since 2007.
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So has Rwanda been active in GMO research and has been conducting trials with cassava against the brown streak virus disease, known to cause up to 70 per cent of losses in crop yields. With the new law, the country is now set for research on more crops.
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While the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has a policy on the use of modern biotechnology and GMOs, there is little information about it in South Sudan and there is an issue of GMO acceptance in Burundi.
In the meantime, though seeming a bit hesitant, it should be expected that Tanzania is on course to enact its biosafety law. Likewise, Uganda has always been on the brink of enacting its 2012 National Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill into law, first in 2017, and again in 2018 after the inclusion of adjustments to the Bill suggested by President Yoweri Museveni, who remains supportive.
It should, therefore, be a matter of time for both countries to enact the law. Research projects like that of the GMO mosquito demand it.
Each country, however, is at its own pace. Though not every EAC Partner State has a biosafety law just yet, all except South Sudan have ratified the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, a global provision on biosafety that supports the safe handling, transfer, and use of genetically modified organisms.
