Nigeria adopted the use of biotechnology as a means of harnessing technology to enhance food security, accelerate economic development and ensure environmental sustainability through the approval of the National Biotechnology Policy in 2001, and the establishment of the National Biotechnology Development Agency and several Research Institutes. However, there are potential adverse effects associated with its adoption. To address this, Nigeria, led by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, developed its 1st National Biosafety Guidelines in 1994 and reviewed it in 2001. This was followed by the signing and ratification of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) in 2001 and 2003 respectively. Between 2002 and 2006, the National Biosafety Framework (NBF) (National Biosafety Policy, draft Biosafety Bill and some guidelines) for ensuring national biosafety system in Nigeria was developed. Parties to CPB are expected to domesticate the Protocol in their countries. Hence in 2015, after about thirteen years of legislative process, the Biosafety bill was enacted giving rise to the National Biosafety Management Act, 2015.
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