Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 9 • Number 22 • 14th December 2009

Malaysian Biosafety Act Enters into Force

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The Malaysian government has implemented a new measure aimed at promoting biotechnology within the country, while complying with the standards set out by the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB). The Malaysian Biosafety Act 2007 was approved by the House of Representatives and entered into force on 1 December 2009.

Kuala Lumpur says the Act goes beyond the minimum requirements set out in the CPB, which Malaysia has been a Party to since December 2003. With this approval, the government will establish a National Biosafety Board, which will include representatives from seven Ministries and another four experts from relevant fields. In addition, the Genetic Modification Advisory Committee (GMAC) - a group of scientists responsible for assessing whether live modified organisms (LMOs) are safe to be released into the environment - is now expected to become a formal body.

Malaysia has acknowledged that biotechnology will be an important driver of the country’s future economic growth. But despite the government’s stated aim to create legislation that would strike a balance between promoting biotechnology and protecting against the potential environmental and human health risks, the lead up to its implementation has been marred by disputes over whether the Act achieves this or not.

While the CPB focuses on regulating genetically modified organisms (GMOs) released into the environment via planting and field trials, Malaysia’s new Biosafety Act is much broader in scope, aiming to regulate all forms of GMOs. This includes not only LMOs released into the environment or imported, but also, for example, those used for food and other products made from GMOs. There is concern among some stakeholders regarding the effects such broad legislation will have in Malaysia on research and development, investment, and trade. However Kuala Lumpur has defended the Biosafety Act, saying it is precisely formulated to protect environmental and biological diversity, and human, plant and animal health, which is a necessary prerequisite to moving forward in the development of the biotech industry.

The Act is being hailed by others as an ambitious move to protect against the risks genetic modification could have on biodiversity and the environment, as well as a milestone in the creation of a legal framework for the biotech industry in Malaysia - one of the most biodiversity-dense countries in the world.

ICTSD Reporting; “Malaysian Biosafety Act in Force,” CROP BIOTECH UPDATE, 4 December 2009.

One response to “Malaysian Biosafety Act Enters into Force”

Jeong chun phuoc 13th March 2010 at 14:13
\Teething Problems in the Implementation of the Biosafety Act 2007\

Although the Malaysian Biosafety Act 2007 was approved by the House of Representatives and entered into force on 1 December 2009, as at 13th March 2010, both the public and the industrial sector are still in the dark.

The industrial perception to this new legal creation is non-chalant, if not lukewarm, due to several constraints particularly its implementation within the food and scientific industries in Malaysia.

Of particular interest is the rather broadly drafted legal provisions that is supposed to enable the Act to regulate all forms of GMOs in Malaysia. This can caused problems in statutory and practical interpretation.

Currently, this Act has not been fully enforced within the industrial sectors due to certain teething problems within the implementation phases.

The safeguard guaranteed by the Biosafety Act 2007 remains untested from the environmental performance perspective.

………………
Jeong Chun phuoc
Lecturer-in-Law
Advocate in Strategic Environmental Intelligence(SEI)
He can be reached at Jeongphu@yahoo.com