By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on the regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and its products.
Director General/Chief Executive Officer of the NBMA Dr. Rufus Ebegba made this known at an event which held in the office of the FCCPC in Abuja on Thursday.
Ebegba said the NBMA is ready to collaborate and synergize with the FCCPC in ensuring the safety and protection of consumers health and right and the environment in the release GMOs.
According to a statement by Gloria Ogbaki, Head of Media and Communications, National Biosafety Management Agency, “The NBMA is always available to work transparently with line ministries, sister agencies and stakeholders as this will help us in our work at ensuring safety and protection of consumers health 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 today is in tandem with the programmes and aspirations of the Federal government to ensure that agencies collaborate to save cost, ensure synergy, ensure effectiveness, transparency and what ever is needed to ensure that operations are smooth and mandates are achieved.
“Let me also assure you that signing of this MoU today will bring about a greater working relationship between the FCCPC and the NBMA,” the DG stated.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Babatunde Irukera, said the signing of the MoU is an opportunity to collaborate and institutionalize framework to cooperate and ensure a robust mechanism for protecting consumers.
“The FCCPC and the NBMA have mutual roles at ensuring safety of Nigerians and this is the best strategy to ensuring that our mandates are achieved.”