National Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy 2008.

National Biotechnology and Biosafety Policy is a national policy with a cross-sectoral approach. The timeframe of this policy is 5 years between 2007/2008 and 2011/2012. The goal of the policy is to ensure safe application and development of biotechnology and biosafety, in order to contribute to the national goals of poverty eradication, improved healthcare, food security, industrialization and the protection of the environment.
This policy lays down strategies for the safe application and development of biotechnology and biosafety and their products to ensure their contribution to the national development goals. Capacity building on biotechnology research, development and application will be enhanced to acquire adequate and high-quality personnel for all biotechnological activities. To this end, technical and academic training opportunities will be provided for Ugandans at both local and foreign institutions. The partnership and coordination among the Government, universities, research institutions and the private sector will be encouraged, and public-private partnerships in biotechnology endeavours will be promoted for sustainable development. Infrastructure will be developed to enable rapid development of biotechnology and biosafety in the country, in order to ensure that Ugandans have access to safe and profitable biotechnology products and services that contribute to the national development. Research and development for biotechnology and biosafety will be promoted in priority areas of food and agriculture, health, industry, environment, and natural resources development. The establishment of research centres for biotechnology and biosafety will be facilitated and the existing ones will be modernized. National biotechnology assessment studies will be carried out to determine biotechnology research priorities in the agriculture, health, industrial, environment and other strategic sectors. Efficient information and communications technology facilities will be established to enable research and development communities have access to, as well as network and exchange global and local information on their areas of interest in biotechnology and biosafety. A regulatory and institutional framework will be developed for safe and sustainable biotechnology development and applications. Thereby, the compliance with biosafety regulations will be enforced by institutions and companies engaged in biotechnology research activities so as to promote biosafety standards. Public awareness will be raised on biotechnology and biosafety through national awareness-raising campaigns concerning the safe transfer, handling and use of products of biotechnology. National documentation and dissemination systems will be established for biotechnology and biosafety information. Both public and private investment will be attracted for the development and commercialization of biological technologies in the relevant sectors of the economy. Biosafety standards will be applied in industrial application and commercialisation while developing, producing, and transporting biotechnology products. National ethical standards or code of ethics will be established for undertaking biotechnological research and applications in accordance with acceptable societal morals and national and international norms and standards. Moreover, technology transfer strategies will be implemented, and indigenous technology development will be endorsed. Indigenous knowledge will be integrated in the development and application of modern biotechnology. The participation of disadvantaged groups and women will be promoted in the development of biotechnology and biosafety programmes to enable its contribution to improve their health and livelihoods. Biotechnology will be used to characterize indigenous plants and animals for evaluating their economic potentials for biotechnological applications, and to ensure in-situ and ex-situ conservation of genetic resources. Laboratories will be developed with appropriate equipment for the sustainable exploration and exploitation of biological resources, and information technology will be applied to biological resources development. The legal and institutional arrangements will be updated for adherence to the legislation on biodiversity conservation.
A Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for Biotechnology and Biosafety development will be established to continuously monitor and assess both the sector and system performance, and to provide the macro guidelines for evaluation of implementation of the policy.