Gellyn Manzo

BSBA-1C

I.INTRODUCTION

The Philippines is the first country in Southeast Asia to adapt a national biosafety guideline. The
guideline, published in 1991, focuses on genetic engineering and other activities that require the
importation, introduction, field release, and breeding of nonindigenous organisms.1 The country signed
into the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2000. The protocol
aims to “ensure an adequate level of protection in the field of the safe transfer, handling, and use of
living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on the
conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health,
and specifically focusing on transboundary movements.”2 After this, a national biosafety framework was
developed in 2004 and formally established through executive order (EO) 514 in 2006. The framework
applies to products of biotechnology and exotic and invasive alien species, with focus on their research,
development, handling, use, transboundary movement, release into the environment, and
management.

II. CRITIQUE

working in different facilities that handle microbiological agents like bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungus,
prions, and other related agents and microbiological products, staff must adhere to a set of policies,
rules, and procedures known as biosafety guidelines.

GM foods raise a number of biosafety concerns, such as toxicity, allergenicity, antibiotic resistance, the
consumption of foreign DNA, the use of promoters derived from viruses, changes in nutritional value,
gene flow, resistance of target species, effects on biodiversity, ethical concerns, etc.

Biosafety issues refer to the procedures, policies, and principles to be adopted to safeguard the
environment and the human population. It refers to the containment principles, strategies, and
practices that are adopted to prevent exposure to pathogens and toxins.Biosafety issues refer to the
procedures, policies, and principles to be adopted to safeguard the environment and the human
population. It refers to the containment principles, strategies, and practices that are adopted to prevent
exposure to pathogens and toxins.

Designated to implement the biosafety system was the National Committee on Biosafety of the
Philippines (NCBP) with the principal responsibility of identifying and evaluating potential hazards in
genetic engineering experiments or in the introduction of genetically modified organisms into the
country.
Tastier food. Disease- and drought-resistant plants that require fewer environmental resources (such as
water and fertilizer) Less use of pesticides. Increased supply of food with reduced cost and longer shelf
life.

III. CONCLUSION

Policies relating to biosafety and biosecurity are expected to undergo reforms that will enhance
coordination, guarantee sustainability, equip facilities, and professionalize biosafety officials. A
consistent and coherent policy framework that (1) offers well-coordinated mechanisms toward
harmonized risk reduction and management, (2) establishes and enforces guidelines on biosafety,
biosecurity, and biorisk management, (3) regulates facilities crucial for occupational safety and public
health, and (4) is funded by the General Appropriations Act as part of the national budget will be
necessary for success given the complexity of the reforms that are required.