Parliament passes GMO Bill

Kampala. Parliament has passed into law a bill to regulate genetically modified organisms.
The Bill was last year returned to Parliament by president Museveni who recommend certain changes, among them, the name of the law before he could sign it into an Act of Parliament.
The President in his four-page December 21, 2017 letter expressed concern that the law had in the first place not been clearly named, saying “Biosafety” means “genetic engineering.”
The Mps in a landmark decision at the House sitting on Wednesday responded by replacing the name Bio-technology and bio-safety with a new title, the Genetic Engineering Regulatory Bill 2018.
Now the president has only this chance to sign the Bill into law, short of which the law will simply take effect.
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Bill since it was first introduced about five years ago.
The presiding speaker Jacob Oulanyah said this was a great milestone in legislating for public good.
“The seriousness we have exhibited on this Bill shows the resilience we have developed over time to defend our people,” Mr Oulanyah said.
According to Mr Oulanyah, the new law is a product of open negotiations involving the people, government and the civil society.
In the new position, the legislators also adhered to the president’s concerns on the fate of ancient crops and livestock with unique genetic configuration by providing for community based gene banks to cater indigenous species.
However, the MPs have maintained the use of bacteria as inputs in genetic engineering but with clear fencing to ensure that there is no danger to plants, humans, the environment and animals.