RABESA/ COMESA Workshop 10 Nov 2011

Introduction 

The Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA), which is a specialized Agency of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in collaboration with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius, will held a national consultative workshop on biosafety policies.

The objective of this workshop is to discuss the Draft Regional Biosafety Policies and Guidelines that have been developed over time through an initiative known as "“Regional Approach to Biotechnology and Biosafety policy in Eastern and Southern Africa (RABESA). This guidelines focus on three regional biosafety policies and guidelines namely; commercial planting of GMOs, trade in GMOs and emergency food aid with GM content

OBJECTIVES OF WORKSHOP

 The objectives of the national consultative workshop are :

• To provide an opportunity for the local takeholders in Mauritius to understand the scope, objectives and key provisions of the proposed COMESA regional biosafety policies and guidelines.
• To obtain broader stakeholder input and feedback into the proposed biosafety policies and guidelines.
• To obtain recommendations from MAURITIUS that will inform the decisions of the COMESA policy organs on endorsement of the policies and guidelines.