| The National Workshop on Risk
Assessment of Gm Crops was formally opened on 4 October 2004.
with a ceremony graced by Dr. le Van Bam, deputy Director
General, Department of Science and Technology Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Dr. Anton Rhychener,
FAO Representative in Vietnam and the able Deputy Director
Dr. Le Thi Anh Hong, representative of Dr. Tran Duy Quy, Director,
Agricultural Genetics Institute whose previous commitment
did not allow him to be present. Dr. La Tuan Nghia of the
Agricultural Gentics Institute provided the rationale and
objectives of the workshop. Dr. Ginna G. Geal of the FAO Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific explained the FAO project
on Capacity Building in Biosafety of GM Crops in Asia of which
the workshop is one of its activities. The lecture on the
global status of transgenic crops and risks identified with
them was delivered by the resource person, Dr. Saturnina Halos
of the Department of Agriculture, Philippines.
The workshop which was conducted for 4 days was attended
by 35 participants from various government research agencies
and laboratories as well as academic institutions from different
part of the country. The general aim was to enhance the knowledge
and skills of scientists, field men and technology users in
the field of risk assessment, risk management and risk monitoring
of GM crops. Specifically the workshop aims to build up the
capacity of the concerned stakeholders in: 1) understanding
the principles of risk assessment of genetically modified
crops; 2) undertaking a scientific and technical risk assessment
of genetically modified crops; and, 3) identifying risks and
designing appropriate mitigating measures of genetically modified
crops.
The national workshop was a mock food/feed and environmental
safety assessment audit of a GM crop. The participants were
expected to think like regulators as they go through the exercise.
The workshop started in the morning of October 5 and ended
in the morning of October 7, 2004. Each participant was provided
with the workshop document: Food and environmental safety
assessment of GM crops: Case study Bt Mon 810 that each of
them must read and study during the workshop.
There were four workshop sessions. Each session was started
by an introductory explanation of the topics for reading and
discussions by the resource person. A set of questions to
guide group discussions were also provided by the resource
person. The participants were divided into four groups and
each group read and discussed together the topics for each
session. A summary of each group discussion was reported in
a plenary session after each workshop. The summaries given
by the groups after each workshop attested to the success
of the workshop in making the participants understand the
safety issues about GM crops and how these issues are addressed.
The participants also gained knowledge on how risk assessment
is conducted and had hands on experience on how to conduct
a safety risk assessment audit.
To further enrich the experience of the participants, a
short visit was made to the Vietnamese academy of Science
and Technology Institute of Biotechnology, the National Institute
of Animal Husbandry and the Agricultural Genetics Institute.
Information on the GMO and biotechnology R and D programs
and projects in each institute was given by either the Institute
Director or his representative and Institute Scientists.
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