Over 80 policy makers, members of the academe, government, industry representatives and other stakeholders attended the seminar on Socialization of Food and Feed Safety Assessment of Genetically Engineered Product on November 14, 2016 at Salak Tower Hotel, Bogor, Indonesia.

Chairman of Indonesia Biosafety Commission, Agus Pakpahan, expected that through the seminar, Indonesia stakeholders would be well-informed about the assessment process of biotech products in Indonesia. The regulations are made to minimize the risks and uncertainty. Ms. Yusra Egayanti of the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (NA-DFC) gave an overview of the Food Safety Regulation in Indonesia and Ms. Bess Tiesnamurthi, Head of Indonesian Center for Animal Research and Development (ICARD) introduced the new Indonesia regulatory system for feed safety to the public. Meanwhile Ms. Bahagiawati of Indonesian Center for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Research and Development (ICABIOGRAD) discussed issues and facts about biotech products in response to black campaigns in social media recently. After the lectures, an open forum with a panel of resource persons tackled issues on the new regulation and GM crops.

The event was organized by Indonesian Biotechnology Information Centre (IndoBIC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Agency of Drug and Food Control, SEAMEO BIOTROP and International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA). For more information about developments of biotechnology in Indonesia, contact Dewi Suryani at catleyavanda@gmail.com.