The National Biosafety Management Agency has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on the regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms.
At the event, which held at FCCPC Abuja office on Wednesday, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer of NBMA, Dr Rufus Ebegba, expressed his office’s readiness to collaborate with the commission in ensuring the safety of consumers and the environment in the release of GMOs.
“The NBMA is always available to work transparently with ministries, sister agencies and stakeholders to ensure the protection of consumers and their rights. The collaboration with FCCPC today is to ensure transparency and to build the trust of the public to understand that whatever the agency has confirmed safe is safe indeed.
“What we are doing is in tandem with the programmes and aspirations of the Federal Government to ensure that agencies collaborate to save cost, ensure synergy, effectiveness, transparency and whatever is needed to ensure that operations are smooth and mandates are achieved. Signing of this MoU today will bring about a greater working relationship between FCCPC and NBMA,” Ebegba said, according to a statement issued by the agency’s Head of Media and Communications, Mrs Gloria Ogbaki.
The Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, commended the NBMA on its collaborative efforts and strategies, describing the collaboration as very important due to the mandate of both agencies.
“This signing of MoU has presented itself an opportunity to collaborate and institutionalise a framework to cooperate and ensure a robust mechanism for protecting consumers. The FCCPC and NBMA have mutual roles at ensuring safety of Nigerians, and this is the best strategy to ensure that our mandates are achieved,” Irukera declared.
