E-mail:
Country:
Eswatini
Organization/agency name (Full name):
Swaziland Environment Authority
Contact person name:
Bongani Nkhabindze
Website:
Physical full address:
RHUS Office Park, Lot 195, Karl Grant Street, Mbabane
Phone number:
+268 76226767
Fax number:
Country introduction
Summary:
The Kingdomof Eswatini enacted the Biosafety Act, 2012 to regulate genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as per its obligations to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
The Act regulated GMOs for confined trials, for commercial release, for food, feed & processing, as well as the inportation, exportation and transit og GMOs.
The Eswatini Environment Authority (EEA), a parastatal under the Ministry of Tourism and Environment Affairs, is the designated Competent Authority through its Biosafety Registry.
The Act obligates prospective GMO users in the country to apply to the Competent Authority, and it establishes the National Biosafety Advisory Committee (NBAC) to undertake the risk assessment for all received applications and issue a recommendation to the EEA Board for it to issue the final decision.
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:
Currently the country is at the stage of finalizing the Regulations under the Act.
Contact details of the competent authority(s) responsible for the safety assessment and the product applicant:
The Boisafety Registrar, Eswatini Environment Authority, P O Box 2602, Mbabane, tel: 24046960, Email: [email protected]
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:
Most GM food commodities are imprted as final products mostly from the Republic of South Africa (RSA), which has commercialised GMOs for the past two decades. Most of these products are labelled which is a prerequisite of the Consumer Protection Act in RSA and the Biosafety Act in Eswatini.
Raw materials that are also imported from RSA include yellow maize, which is used for animal feed, and white maize which is used for human consumption.
The country has only commercialised GM cotton, following three seasons of confined field trails.
LLP/AP incidents
LLP/AP incidents:
My country has not faced any LLP/AP situations in the last 10 years.
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:
Implementing the labelling requirements is pending the finalising of the Draft Regulations. Detailed abelling guidelines are contained on the Draft.
Relevant links to documents and information prepared by the competent authority responsible for the safety assessment
Other relevant documents:
Country information last modified:
05/05/2019
