Uganda gives go-ahead to biotechnology policy
[坎帕拉]在经过8年的反复考虑之后，乌干达内阁批准了它的首部国家生物技术和生物安全政策。该政策是上周（4月2日）批准的，它为促进和规范该国的生物技术使用提供了目标和指导方针。
[KAMPALA] Uganda's cabinet has approved its first National Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy, after eight years of deliberation.
The policy was approved last week (2 April), and provides objectives and guidelines for the promotion and regulation of biotechnology use in the country.
乌干达国家科学技术理事会（UNCST）的执行书记Peter Ndemere告诉本网站说：“这项政策提供了法律、制度和管制的框架。 ”
"The policy bears the guidelines on the legal, institutional and regulatory framework," Peter Ndemere, executive secretary of the state-run Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST), told SciDev.Net.
但是要贯彻实施该政策，还必须向国会提交一项法案并形成法律。这个过程可能需要数月时间。“我们起草了一份生物技术法案供国会讨论并形成法律，” Ndemere说。“为了贯彻实施一项法律，你需要一个政策工具，这就是这项政策首先诞生的原因。”
But for the policy to be implemented, a bill must be presented to parliament and passed into a law ― a process that could take many months.
"We've drafted a biotech bill for parliament to discuss and pass into law," says Ndemere. "In order to implement a law, you need a policy instrument, that's why the policy comes first."
他还说，转基因作物的商业化需要这部法律。该政策中的指导方针也覆盖了组织和细胞培养、医学诊断学、工业微生物学和生化工程学。
He adds that the commercialisation of genetically modified (GM) crops requires this law. The guidelines in the policy also cover tissue and cell culture, medical diagnostics, industrial microbiology and biochemical engineering.
该政策是由乌干达国家科学技术理事会起草的，并广泛咨询了农民和消费者团体、大学教授、决策者和立法者，这导致了管理措施的大规模修改。
The policy was drafted by the state-run Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) with extensive consultation with farmers and consumer groups, university dons, policymakers and legislators leading to considerable re-shaping of the regulations.
关于转基因作物的研究已经在该国开展（见乌干达批准bt棉花试验），该研究由国家生物安全委员会监督的，而科学家希望该政策的批准将会转化成法律。
Research into genetically modified crops is already underway in the country (see Uganda approves Bt cotton trials), overseen by the National Biosafety Committee, and researchers are hopeful that the approval of the policy will translate into law.
位于卡万达的国立农业生物技术中心正在研究高产转基因棉花和木薯，该中心的Andrew Kiggundu说：“内阁改善了我的处境。他们为这个国家提供了必要的政策指导方针，给我们的研究指出了一条正确的道路。它清楚地说明了各机构的职责。”
"Cabinet has made my day. They have provided this country with the necessary policy guidelines that shall give our research a proper way forward. Roles ― which institution does what ― have been well spelt out," says Andrew Kiggundu from the National Agricultural Biotechnology Centre in Kawanda, which is researching high-yield GM cotton and cassava.
国立农业研究组织（NARO）的Robert Anguzu为该法案提供了咨询，他说该立法可以让乌干达应对邻国肯尼亚迅速的生物技术发展。
Robert Anguzu of the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), which was consulted on the bill, says the legislation allows Uganda to cope with rapid biotechnology developments in neighbouring Kenya.
国家生物安全委员会的高级科学/生物安全官员兼秘书Arthur Makara说：“肯尼亚的转基因生物可能轻易进入乌干达。如果它们遇到我们没有管理规定、没有做好准备，那么当它们与农和民消费者接触之后，管理它们将是一个重大的挑战。”
"Kenya's genetically modified organisms would easily find their way into Uganda. If they found us unprepared, without regulations, it would be a big challenge to manage them when they're already with farmers and consumers," says Arthur Makara, Senior Science/Biosafety Officer and Secretary to the National Biosafety Committee.
本文由科学与发展网络(SciDev.Net)独家提供。
