The National Biosafety Authority is allaying fears it is planning to introduce locally produced Genetically Modified Foods (GM Foods) in the country soon for consumption, without the necessary regulatory checks.

Although confined field trials are currently on going for GM rice, cowpea and other crops, the Authority says none of these will hurriedly pass onto the Ghanaian market anytime soon.

Civil Society Group, Food Sovereignty Ghana, has accused government of planning to commercialize the GM crops in the coming weeks without exhausting required approval procedures.

Lawyer for the group, George Tetteh Wayo, claims the group is aware the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is about releasing GM rice and GM cowpea onto the market in the next few weeks.

“Some weeks ago, I watched it on TV, when an official of CSIR told the nation they have successfully completed trials of GM rice, and they are about releasing it onto the market,” he said.

“The Savannah Agricultural Research Institute that was tasked to come up with GM cowpea, they have finished, the cowpeas are in, they have also indicated they are about releasing it,” he added.

According to Mr. Wayo these moves by the CSIR are in contravention of the laws regulating GM food production in the country.

However, Chief Executive Officer of the National Biosafety Authority, Eric Okoree, told Joy news’ Joseph Opoku Gakpo, it would take more than five years before the first batch of GM foods are produced for commercialization in the country.

“The confinement is supposed to go on for three years, then there would be multi-location trials, which will go on for years, then it needs to go through the Varietal Release Process under the Ministry of Agriculture. That takes some time. So it will take several years before we can commercialize. So we are not there yet at all,” he explained.

Mr. Okoree also said the Authority will make sure all GM Foods produced go through the necessary checks and are proven safe before they will be commercialized.