WORKSHOP ON BIOSAFETY CAPACITY

BUILDING PROJECT :OUTCOME AND THE WAY

FORWARD 6.11.07

---Presentation by NACEN Faridabad by Mr. Deep Shekhar,Addl. Director

• As part of the capacity building of the officers of the Customs and Central Excise, National Academy Of Customs, Excise and Narcotics(NACEN) organized 9 workshops on Biosafety through its Regional Training Institutes(RTI).These workshops were held at Delhi,Mumbai,Kolkata,Chennai,Bangalore,Hyderabad,Kanpur,Vadodara and Patna.

• Total number of officers who participated in these 9 workshops is 261.Additional Secretary rank officers took part in the inauguration/valediction of the workshops.

• Summary of the workshop held at the 9 locations is given in the following slides.

TOPICS DISCUSSED• Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and Indian Regulatory

Framework• Documentation and other requirements in Trans-

Boundary movement of LMOs• International Trade Issues and Biotechnology Impact of

WTO agreements on trans-boundary movement• Discussion on role of Custom officers in trans-boundary

movement• Detection of LMOs :Recent development • Quarantine requirements of LMOs and their certification• Commercialization of first transgenic crop in India :

Industry’s experience

WORKSHOP AT NEW DELHI• Two day workshop was organized from 8th to 9th May

at SCOPE Convention Center.25 officers of Customs Department working in the field formations as well as the directorates attended the workshop.

• Resource persons who interacted with the participants were:-

1. Dr.Manoranjan Hota,Addl. Director,MoEF and Project Coordinator ,GEF-WB aided Biosafety C.B. project.

2. Dr.Sachin Chaturvedi,Fellow Research and Information System for Developing Countries

3. Dr.(Mrs)Gurinderjit Randhawa,Sr.Scientist, National Research Center on DNA Fingerprinting.

4. Dr.Ravi Khetrapal,Head,Plant Quarantine Division, and5. R.K.Sinha,All India Institute Of Biotechnology

contd.

FEEDBACK

• All the participants appreciated the contents of the workshop and the knowledge gained through interaction with various faculties. The reading material and the arrangements made for hosting the workshop were rated as excellent.

WORKSHOP AT BANGALORE• Two day workshop was organized on 14-15th June 2007at Hotel

Chancery Pavilion and attended by 40 participants .• Faculty consisted of:-1. Dr.Manoranjan Hota,Addl. Director,MoEF and Project

Coordinator ,GEF-WB aided Biosafety C.B. project.2. Dr.Sachin Chaturvedi,Fellow Research and Information System

for Developing Countries3. Dr.G Hegde,Asst. Prof,National Law School4. Dr.Biswajit Dhar,Prof,IIFT,New Delhi5. Dr,J.V.Ramanaiah,PHI seeds ,Hyderabad6. Dr.Lalita Gowda,CFTRI,Mysore7. Dr.N.Satyanarayana,DD,Plant Quarantine, Chennai8. D.P.Naidu,NACEN ,Chennai9. P.N.Pandey,DRI,Jaipur10. Dr.Arun Chandrawarkar,COO,BIOCON Ltd,Bangalore

PUBLICITY

• Wide publicity was given to the workshop through press coverage in THE HINDU,THE DECCAN HERALD,PRAJAVANI (Kannada),VIJAYA KARNATAKA(Kannada).

WORKSHOP AT HYDERABAD• The two day workshop was held on 24th-25th May at

Hotel Marriott, Hyderabad and 39 officers attended it. In addition to Customs and Excise officers ,officers from the DGFT and the Coast Guard attended it.

• Faculty consisted of :-1. Dr.Manoranjan Hota,Addl. Director,MoEF and Project

Coordinator ,GEF-WB aided Biosafety C.B. project.2. Dr.Biswajit Dhar,Prof,IIFT,New Delhi3. Dr.J.V.Ramanaiah,PHI seeds ,Hyderabad4. Dr.Lalita Gowda,CFTRI,Mysore5. Dr.Celia Chalam,Sr.Scientist,NBPGR6. D.P.Singh,NACEN,Hyderabad

FEEDBACK AND PUBLICITY

• The participants felt that the workshop was exceptionally well organized with good set of specialists. They felt enlightened with knowledge on Cartagena Protocol ,Biosafety ,Role of Customs,LMOs etc.More such workshops were also suggested .It was proposed that MoEF should notify the list of testing labs .

• Publicity in the print media was done in THE TIMES OF INDIA,TELUGU DAILY,ANDHRA JYOTHI,ANDRA BHOOMI,EENADU.

WORKSHOP AT KOLKATA

• Two day workshop was held on 14th-15th June 2007 at Hotel Kenilworth,Kolkata.It was attended by 27 participants.

• Faculty consisted of:-1. Dr.Swapan Kumar Dutta,Prof,Deptt. Of Botany,

Calcutta University2. Dr.D.N.Kachru,Scientist ,ITRC,Lucknow3. Dr.P.P.Sinha,DD,Plant Quarantine4. B.Goswami,NACEN,Kolkata5. M.K.Sil,Retd IRS

FEEDBACK

• The feedback was excellent about the course contents and presentation and more such workshops were felt necessary. The study material and the website information were also welcomed .Some felt that more time should be given as the subject is new and interesting

WORKSHOP AT CHENNAI• Two day workshop on biosafety for Custom officers

was organized on 30th April to 1st May ,2007 at the Taj Connemara Hotel ,Chennai.27 senior group A officers participated in it.

• Faculty consisted of:-1. Dr.Lalita Gowda,CFTRI,Mysore2. Dr.Sachin Chaturvedi,Fellow Research and

Information System for Developing Countries3. Dr.N.Satyanarayana,DD,Plant Quarantine, Chennai4. Dr.Ajay Parida,Programme Director

Biotechnology,M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai

5. Smt.Vanaja Sarana,ADG,NACEN,Chennai6. D.P.Naidu,NACEN ,Chennai

FEEDBACK

• The participants rated the workshop as excellent and conducted in a very systematic manner. Practical experience of Customs Administrations in other countries was desired in future workshops. The study material written in lucid manner was also appreciated. One officer wondered whether sniffer dogs capable of detecting GMOs could be trained.

WORKSHOP AT MUMBAI

• Two day workshop was held on 18th-19th

June,2007 at Hotel ‘The Leela’,Mumbai.29 Custom officers participated in it.

• The faculty consisted of:-1. Dr.Celia Chalam,Sr.Scientist,NBPGR2. Shri.R.S.Rathi,Stewardship Lead-Cotton traits

Mahyco Monsanto Biotech India Ltd.3. Dr.Ashir Tyagi,NACEN,Vadodara4. Shri.Rajeev Yadav,JC,Nhava Sheva,Customs5. Shri.G.Sreenivas Rao,Mumbai Customs

FEEDBACK

• The workshop was rated as outstanding on every scale. It was felt to be very educative and brainstorming at the same time. The design and the organization for the workshop was felt to be excellent .Session on detection of LMOs :Recent Development was felt to be too technical and too info-intensive. Some desired that the Central Board of Excise & Customs should issue circulars/instructions on Biosafety issues.

WORKSHOP AT VADODARA

• Two day workshop was held at RTI,NACEN,VADODARA on 30-31st

May,2007.It was attended by 39 officers .• The faculty consisted of:-1. Shri.R.S.Rathi,Stewardship Lead-Cotton traits

Mahyco Monsanto Biotech India Ltd2. Dr.Ashir Tyagi,NACEN,Vadodara3. Shri.Rajeev Yadav,JC,Nhava Sheva,Customs4. Shri.G.Sreenivas Rao,Mumbai Customs5. Dr.Anil Kumar,Prof&HOD,Molecular Biology

and Genetic Engineering ,Pantnagar University6. Shri.Lalit Prasad,DRI,New Delhi

FEEDBACK

• Being an introductory course it was found to be overwhelming and exhaustive in content. It was nicely organized and was successful in scintillating the minds of the Custom officers .It was proposed for consideration that practical training of GM crop testing could be exhibited.

WORKSHOP BY RTI-KANPUR• Two day workshop for custom officers was

organised from 21-22nd May 2007 at The Taj Residency,Lucknow.It was attended by 15 officers.

• The faculty consisted of:-1. Dr.Manoranjan Hota,Addl. Director,MoEF and

Project Coordinator ,GEF-WB aided Biosafety C.B. project.

2. Dr.D.N.Kachru,Scientist ,ITRC,Lucknow3. Dr.V.P.Kambhoj,Ex-Director,CDRI,Lucknow4. Prof.K.B.Gupta,IIM,Lucknow5. Rakesh Tuli,Director,NBRI,Lucknow6. Dr.B.Lal,Principal Scientist,NBPGR,New Delhi7. Shri. Charanjit Singh,ADG,NACEN,Kanpur

FEEDBACK AND PUBLICITY• The workshop was given wide publicity through print and

electronic media on 21st,22nd and 23rd May 2007.Press release was also issued before the workshop. Paper clippings of THE HINDUSTAN TIMES,TIMES OF INDIA ,DAINIK JAGRAN ,PUNJAB KESARI,RASHTRIYA SAHARA ,THE INDIAN EXPRESS,AAJ,THE PIONEER,THE VOICE OF LUCKNOW,JANSATTA,SWATANRA BHARAT are appended in the detailed training completion report submitted by NACEN Faridabad to MoEF.

• The workshop was successful in sensitizing the Custom officers regarding the protocol and the related procedures. The time allowed for presentation and discussion felt to be adequate. One participant proposed holding seminars for Montreal Protocol, Basel Convention, Kyoto Protocol etc.

WORKSHOP AT PATNA• Two day workshop was organised on 22nd-23rd March

2007 in the conference hall of Central Revenue Building ,Patna.It was attended by 20 officers of Customs and Central Excise.

• The faculty consisted of :-1. Dr.S.K.Varma,Central Integrated Pest Management

Center, Min. of Agriculture,Patna2. Dr.A.K.Gupta,HOD,Biochemistry,Patna Science

College3. Shri.C.M.Chandolia,ADG,NACEN,Patna 4. Shri.D.P.Manjunatha,DD,NACEN,Patna

FEEDBACK

• The evaluation made by the participants has indicated that the workshop was well organized, highly informative and educative in theory and practical aspects. The entire exercise was interactive. Use of audio-visual method was done. Film on pest control in paddy prepared by IARI and weed control were also exhibited during the workshop. Study material in hard copy as well as soft copy was supplied to the participants.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION