By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The undersigned civil society organisations representing millions of Nigerians have denounced the permit recently granted to Trigall Genetics S.A. for importation of genetically modified wheat (HB4 Wheat) into the country.
The statement by the coalition demands that the permits be recalled and that National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) ceases to act as a gateway for needless and risky GM products in Nigeria.
“In Argentina where the HB4 Wheat is produced as well as in nearby Brazil, farmers, social and environmental organisations and committed scientists are fighting hard to stop it. U
SA, Uruguay, Paraguay, Indonesia and South Africa have received applications for this HB4 Wheat; some as far back as 2015.
The US FDA has conducted field trials on the wheat as far back as 2011; Paraguay since 2015 yet they have failed to grant approval. It is said that applications are still under evaluation.
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The NBMA received an application just in June 2022 and merely 1 month after an approval has been granted.
An independent scientific assessment of the application for the commercial release of the HB4 Wheat reveals issues of concern regarding the analysis of endogenous gene interruptions by genetic modification; the putative production of unexpected outputs; its potential risk for consumption; and the stability of the genetic modification of the transgenic IND-ØØ412-7 wheat.
One issue of concern is that the endogenous transcription factor – HAHB4 protein that will be consumed as food / feed could not be extracted and evaluated; reason being that it is unfeasible to isolate the HAHB4 protein in the genetic plant in enough quantity and purity to be used for quantification, biochemical studies and characterization studies.
Nnimmo Bassey, Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) noted: “Although it is claimed that the application is for commercialization and not for cultivation of the wheat, there is no guarantee that the GM event will not get into the hands of local farmers and contaminate indigenous varieties.
“The applicant states that ‘in the unlikely case of accidental release, risk to humans, animals and the environment are similar to the ones produced by conventional wheat’.
“This doesn’t make sense as they also say that the “traits found in the GM wheat event are not available in non-GM form of the crop. The implications of the genetic modification on human health as well as on the environment are not considered”.
According to the Coordinator of the Food Sovereignty Programme at Environmental Rights Action, Africa/Nigeria, Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, “as at the time of writing this, no risk assessment document is available on the website of NBMA. There is no telling if indeed risk assessment was conducted.”
