Court paves way for importation of GMO foods as it quells safety fears

Science researchers, students, academicians and farmers take part in a peaceful procession in support of the use of GMO foods in Kenya. The demo was held in Nairobi on February 10, 2023. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

The government is free to import genetically modified food after the Environment and Lands Court ruled that there is no evidence of health risk to the public and environment.

Justice Oscar Angote ruled that the government has enough institutions to check the safety of all genetically modified foods.

He ruled that the Cabinet did not breach any law when it lifted the 10-year ban on the importation, cultivation and distribution of GMOs in October 2022.

"We should be confident that our health and environment is in good hands. It cannot be true that all the institutions tasked with testing and checking the safety of GMOs have all conspired to expose the rest of the population to the calamities alleged by the petitioners," ruled Justice Angote.

The court's decision was a major win for the government in its bid to enhance food security in the midst of the rising cost of living and skyrocketing food prices.

Justice Angote said the public should not worry about the health risks since there are existing legal and institutional frameworks that have been set up for rigorous evaluation of GMOs.

He said the National Bio-safety Authority has the capacity to identify risky foods and apply appropriate safety assessment.

According to the judge, there are other institutions such as the Kenya Bureau of Standards, Pest Control Products Board, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization that will all ensure the GMOs imported into Kenya are safe.

"What we need as a country is to trust the institutions that we have in place and call them to order in the event they breach the law. All those institutions are there to safeguard the health of consumers through food safety and quality control," ruled Angote.

GMOs were banned in the country in 2012 by late former President Mwai Kibaki over what the government termed as a lack of sufficient information on the public health impact of such foods.

However, on October 3 last year, President William Ruto's cabinet made a resolution to lift the ban and allow importation to cushion Kenyans against the biting food shortage at the time following a prolonged drought in the country.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) then filed the suit challenging the cabinet's decision arguing it was illegal since it was done without public participation and without proper environmental, health and social impact the GMO foods will cause to Kenyans.

According to LSK, there has never been any conclusive scientific research on the safety of GMO foods and allowing it in the country will not only pose great health risks but also erode the country's cultural food and farming practices.

LSK added that the cabinet's hasty removal of all regulations in the cultivation and trade of genetically modified foods in Kenya was unreasonable and a threat to the well-being of Kenyans who have a legitimate expectation of clean food and good health.

But Justice Angote ruled that the cabinet was justified to make the resolution and that its dispatch did not amount to a statutory regulation which required public participation.

"As to whether there was public participation before the cabinet dispatch of October 2022, I have not been shown any law that requires the cabinet to engage the public before arriving at its decision. In any event, there was no public participation when the ban on GMOs was imposed in 2012," he ruled.

Justice Angote added that the allegations that cultivation, importation and exportation of GMOs were being undertaken without an Environment Impact Assessment license were premature since the project had not commenced.

The judge ruled that since LSK had not challenged the constitutionality of the laws governing GMOs, it is assumed that the regulations are in order and will ensure that only safe foodstuffs are imported into the country.

In any event, the judge ruled that no evidence had been placed before the court to prove that Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) had started the cultivation and distribution of GMO foods without proper health risk assessment.

"Evidence before this court shows that the country has put in place robust frameworks with inbuilt structures which must be met before they consider and determine applications for importation of GMO foods," ruled Angote.

He added that the Bio-safety Act and Regulations have guidelines that govern the procedures for environmental release and procedures of placing GMO foods in the market to guarantee protection of public health.

Further, the judge said the government has adopted international food code regulations to protect consumer health and promote fair practices in the food trade.

"With such laws in place, the public has nothing to worry about the health risks posed by GMO since the law provides that the institutions must assess any harmful effects to human health before the foods are released to the market," ruled Angote.

According to the judge, LSK should have first sought information on the safety of GMO foods from the relevant government institutions before filing the suit.