Malaysian Biosafety Act 2007 - NRE

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BIOSAFETY NEWSLETTERVOLUME 01 I ISSUE 01 I APRIL 2009Message from the Chief EditorMr. Letchumanan RamathaHead, Biosafety Core TeamMinistry of Natural Resources and EnvironmentThe Biosafety Act 2007 (the Act) has beenpassed by the Malaysian Parliament inJuly 2007 and many activities have beeninitiated by the Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Environment (NRE) to work towardsimplementation of the Act. However, many arestill in the dark about biosafety and the BiosafetyAct itself, the status of biosafety around theregion as well as its impact to research and theindustry. This is clearly seen through the queriesand presumptions from various stakeholdersthat have been expressed through formalletters, verbal communications in meetingsand events. The ministry sees the need todisseminate accurate information about the Actand biosafety in general to all stakeholders andpublic in general.I am positive that the Biosafety Newsletter willbe able to do exactly the same and serve as aneffective communication tool for the ministry.In this inaugural issue of the newsletter, amongothers, attention has been given to present theBiosafety Act 2007, the Core Team that wasset up by NRE to implement the Act, an insightinto the efforts of the government to help buildcapacity through the NRE-UNDP-GEF BiosafetyProject on capacity building, approved eventsand products in Malaysia and research ongenetically modified plants in Malaysia.Readers can look forward for more news onthe preparedness of the ministry to enforce theBiosafety Act 2007 in the next issue.The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB)recognises the crucial role of information sharing,gathering and dissemination for the successfulimplementation of the Protocol. Article 23 ofthe CPB on public awareness and participationemphasises the need and importance for partiesto engage in the promotion and facilitation ofpublic awareness, education and participationregarding the biosafety of living modifiedorganisms.Mr Letchumanan RamathaTherefore, information sharing through the formof a newsletter will be a useful communicationtool to convey accurate information about theAct as well as the CPB, and biosafety in generalfor the purpose of raising awareness and givingunbiased information to all stakeholders andthe public. The newsletter will also be a reliablereference point to get updated information onactivities and current issues on biosafety tobuild confidence, ensure transparency and opencommunication to relevant stakeholders andpublic and ensure a smooth transition towardsimplementation of the Biosafety Act.4
BIOSAFETY NEWSLETTERVOLUME 01 I ISSUE 01 I APRIL 2009The Biosafety Core TeamIt was indeed a significant landmark eventwhen the Malaysian Biosafety Act waspassed in the Parliament on 11 July 2007 andreceived the Royal Ascent on 29 August 2007.Even though it has been a rugged journey for thisAct to be a reality, it is a positive and promisingbeginning for Malaysia to take a proactiveapproach towards protecting human healthand the environment from the possible adverseeffects of the products of modern biotechnologyas well as fulfill Malaysia’s obligation under theCartagena Protocol on Biosafety.Under the Act, the Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Environment (NRE) has been given themandate to set up a National Biosafety Board(NBB) that will be responsible to regulate therelease, importation, exportation and containeduse of any living modified organism derived frommodern biotechnology and products of suchorganisms. The Chairman of the NBB is theSecretary General of NRE and the compositemembership is represented by six otherrelevant ministries. The Biosafety Core Teamhas been formed under NRE to implement theBiosafety Act through the NBB. This team willbe the lifeline of biosafety regulatory activitiesfor Malaysia.• Provide a platform for consultations on allissues relating to biosafety.• Increase public awareness on biosafety.• Coordinate activities on biosafety betweenfederal government and the states, nongovernmentalorganisations (NGOs) andthe industry.• Build cooperation between relevant localagencies and external agencies andorganisations.• Fulfill Malaysia’s obligations arising frombiosafety related international agreements,conventions and treaties.The modus operandi of this team is interactive,transparent and timely. In order to enable this,a website has been developed specifically forbiosafety (www.biosafety.nre.gov.my) as wellas an open communication channel throughbiosafety@nre.gov.my. Biosafety regulatoryactivities (which replaces a former voluntarysystem) and public awareness will becomemore visible in Malaysia through this team. Theteam is committed to work towards achievingthe qualities of a first class public sectororganisation by providing top-notch customerservices as a one stop centre in being anoperational arm of the Biosafety Act.The Head of the Core Team also holds theposition of Secretary of the NBB. This team willcomprise of 25 personnel and is based at NRE.The main components of the Core Team are theProcessing and Certification Unit, Evaluation andResearch Unit, Policy and Communication Unitand Enforcement and Monitoring Unit. Holdingon to the vision “To be an excellent focal pointfor all biosafety activities towards promoting safeuse of modern biotechnology”, this team is set towork on the following core business:• Enforce the Biosafety Act and ensurecompliance.• Monitor activities relating to modernbiotechnology.• Establish mechanism to facilitate thecollection, storage and dissemination ofdata relating to biosafety.• Secretariat for the NBB and GeneticModification Advisory Committe (GMAC).Seated (L to R): Letchumanan Ramatha and Mary Tiong.Standing (L to R): Emmy Farhany, Poniah, Noor Ridzuan,Noor Izwani and Raja Nursyamimi.5
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