Focal Point Information

E-mail:

[email protected]

Country:

Bahrain

Organization/agency name (Full name):

Ministry of Health

Contact person name:

Nujood Almuqahwi

Website:

http://www.MOH.gov.bh

Physical full address:

Ministry of health- Public healt Directorate- Food Control Section -P.O Box 42

Phone number:

0097317288888-2041

Fax number:

Country introduction

Summary:

Bahrain, officially known as the Kingdom of Bahrain, is a captivating island country situated in the Persian Gulf. It is an archipelago consisting of Bahrain Island and around 30 smaller islands. Here are some key facts about Bahrain:

Population: As of 2024, Bahrain has an estimated population of 1,603,0001.
Size: The country spans approximately 760 square kilometers (about 290 square miles), making it the third-smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore 1 2.
Capital: The capital and largest city is Manama.
Economy: While Bahrain itself has only small stores of petroleum, it has long relied on processing crude oil from neighboring countries. In recent years, the financial, commercial services, and communications sectors have grown significantly, along with tourism 1.

It is interesting to note that food trading is very important in the Kingdom of Bahrain, by which the majority of consumed foods in the Kingdom are imported from different countries all over the world. Importantly, most of the imported foods, with different contents and qualities, are coming to the country across the sea. Regardless of the advance in food production technology, protecting food from being contaminated is extremely difficult. Therefore, to meet the food safety needs, for not only its citizens but also the international community, Bahrain government has established the Food Control Section which is responsible for controlling and protecting food from contamination as well as to look after consumers' health through assurance of high level of food safety.Thus, to achieve the desired goals, the Food Control Section divided into two groups, which are the Imported Food group and the Domestic Food Safety and licensing group. Kingdom of Bahrain has a role not only to develop policies and guidelines but also to participate in the standards formulation, implementation, and evaluation, in particular with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) food safety committee, and other relevant activities of course. For instance, Bahrain is a member in the GCC Technical Sub-Committee on GCC legislation of organic, functional and Genetically Modified Food since 2008 and so far there are eight legislations on GM food and feed.

Framework

Regulatory framework:

My country has a regulatory framework that requires the competent authority to conduct safety assessment of GM food.

Structure for GM food safety assessment:

My country has competent authority, agency, organization, ministry, department, committee, commission or a system/mechanism that is tasked to conduct or review GM food safety assessment.

Supplemental information:

GCC countries including Kingdom of bahrain has developed the following regulations and standards for genetically modified foods as it is committed to safeguarding the community and ensuring that all products introduced into the market conform to a high standard of safety:

GSO 2141:2011: General Requirements for Genetically Modified Unprocessed Agricultural Products
GSO 2142 :2011: General Requirements for Genetically Modified Processed Food and Feed
GSO 2143:2011: General requirements for risk assessment and traceability for genetically modified products
GSO ISO 21569:2008: Foodstuffs-Methods of analysis for the detection of genetically modified organisms and derived products-Qualitative nucleic acid based methods
GSO ISO 21570:2009: Foodstuffs-Methods of analysis for the detection of genetically modified organisms and derived products-Quantitative nucleic acid based methods
GSO ISO 21571:2008: Foodstuffs-Methods of analysis for the detection of Genetically modified organisms and derived products-Nucleic acid extraction.
GSO ISO 21572:2008: Foodstuffs-Methods for the detection of genetically modified organisms and derived products-Protein based methods
GSO ISO 24276:2007: Food stuffs-Methods of analysis for the detection of genetically modified organisms and derived products-General requirements and definitions.
GSO CAC/GL 44:2009: Principles for the risk analysis of foods derived from modern biotechnology
GSO CAC/GL 45:2009 Guideline for the conduct of food safety assessment of foods derived from recombinant-dna plants.
GSO CAC/GL 46:2009: Guideline for the conduct of food safety assessment of foods produced using recombinant-DNA microorganisms.
GSO ISO/TS 21098:2009: Foodstuffs-Nucleic acid based methods of analysis of genetically modified organisms and derived products-Information to be supplied and procedure for the addition of methods to ISO 21569, ISO 21570 or ISO 21571

Contact details of the competent authority(s) responsible for the safety assessment and the product applicant:

Ministry of Health- Public Health Directorate- Food Control Section

Assessment

GM food safety assessment guidelines:

My country follows the relevant Codex Guidelines or national/regional guidelines that are in line with the Codex Guidelines in conducting safety assessment of GM food.

Conduct of GM food safety assessment:

My country has never conducted food safety assessment of GM food but is planning to conduct such assessment in the near future.

Supplemental information on the implementation:

Stacked events

Regulation of stacked events:

My country is in the process of developing relevant regulations on stacked events.

Supplemental information on the stacked events:

Production and trade

GM food/feed production:

My country does not produce any GM food or feed.

GM food/feed imports:

My country allows imports GM food or feed upon authorization.

Supplemental information on the production and trade:

If imported food or feed contains more than one percent biotech content, each shipment must be accompanied by a health certificate issued by a competent government agency stating that the GE ingredient (s) used in the foodstuff is/are approved in the country of origin for human or animal consumption.

LLP/AP incidents

LLP/AP incidents:

My country does not monitor LLP/AP situations.

Supplemental information on the LLP/AP incidents:

Labelling requirement

Labelling requirement:

My country has a mandatory and positive labeling regulation on GM food (i.e., It contains GMO).

Supplemental information on the Labelling requirement:

If a product contains one or more GE plant ingredients with more than one percent GE content, the words (genetically modified) or (produced from genetically modified, name of the ingredients) shall appear clearly and easily to read in parentheses immediately following the ingredient(s) concerned, with same font size and different color. The GSO regulations do not allow imports of foodstuffs that contain GE animal products.

Relevant links to documents and information prepared by the competent authority responsible for the safety assessment