SEPTEMBER 2017 SEEDWORLD.COM / 81 STATUS THAILAND At a high-level dialogue with government officials includ- ing Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives General Chatchai Sarikulya and other key policymakers, vegetable seed company East-West Seed encour- aged the Thai government to improve the country’s global seed sector ranking. It’s ranked 32nd among 62 economies. Bert van der Feltz, CEO of East-West Seed, cited the 2017 World Bank study “Enabling the Business of Agriculture” (EBA), which measures and compares countries’ laws and regula- tions that impact the business environment for agriculture. In terms of seed sector development, Thailand lags behind its ASEAN neighbor the Philippines (ranked #11) and ranks closely to Myanmar (#34) and Vietnam (#42). The Netherlands, a global seed industry powerhouse, tops the list followed by Spain and Denmark. “We want to take part in Thailand’s improvement in the areas measured by EBA to develop the seed sector: plant breeding, variety regis- tration and seed quality con- trol,” says Van der Feltz, who was one of the chairpersons of the mission. Van der Feltz cited the fol- lowing measures as crucial to developing the seed sector: protecting plant breeder’s rights to ensure innovation; access to germplasm and benefit sharing; efficiency in time and cost to register new varieties; more robust variety testing and releasing pro- cedures; better seed quality control and certification (third party or self accreditation); and seed labeling to ensure farmers of product quality. The dialogue took place at the Thailand Business Mission, organized by the Europe- ASEAN Business Alliance to bring together the private sector with high-level key policymakers to learn more about regulatory trends and policy initiatives. “As co-chair of the Europe- ASEAN Business Alliance, I was very inspired to see such active participation from European compa- nies coming from a diverse range of industries,” Van der Feltz says. “This is so far our biggest business mission, and it showed the growing engagement and interest of European companies in Thailand and our commit- ment toward Thailand 4.0. “It benefits all of us to create a positive business climate in Thailand. We hope to use this opportunity as a first step in strengthening the relation- ship between the Royal Thai Government and European companies. We are grate- ful for this opportunity to engage with the government leaders of Thailand and find areas for synergy. STATUS UGANDA Elioda Tumwesgye, Ugandan Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, has reaffirmed govern- ment support toward the passage of a Biosafety Bill under parliamentary debate. The Minister spoke as he officially opened the Agri- biotechnology and Biosafety Communication (ABBC) 2017 Africa Symposium. “Agri-biotech communica- tors must remain steadfast in sharing factual information on the technology, amid mis- information, myths and mis- conceptions,” he said. While acknowledging that there are concerns and knowl- edge gaps that need to be addressed, he commended Ugandan researchers for their relentless effort in engaging parliamentarians and provid- ing factual information on the science amid controversies delaying passage of the bill. “When scientists undertake to communicate about their innovations, there is usually a positive impact in adoption,” Minister Tumwesgye said. ABBC 2017, whose theme was strengthening com- munication for improved biosafety management was attended by more than 100 participants, mainly heads of regulatory agen- cies and their communica- tion spokespersons. It is a partnership between ISAAA AfriCenter, New Partnership for Africa’s Development- African Biosafety Network of Expertise, National Agricultural Research Organization, and Uganda’s Biotechnology Information Center and Program for Biosafety Systems. In her opening statement, Margaret Karembu, ISAAA AfriCenter director, said that ABB’s idea was conceived to provide a platform for agri-biotech and biosafety stakeholders to actively exchange experiences and best practices toward improving communication on the technology. “At this conference, we converge to be aware that biosafety communication is an often neglected aspect of the risk analysis and decision- making process for geneti- cally modified organisms,” she said. Karembu urged participants to innovate communication techniques that can address communication gaps, thus building confidence in the biosafety systems and ena- bling the safe and beneficial use of agri-biotechnology especially in Africa. The keynote speaker at the conference, Mahaletchumy Arujanan from Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre challenged agri- biotech communicators to counter misinformation. “In adopting agri-biotechnol- ogy, we must ask ourselves whether it is a matter of lifestyle or safeguarding liveli- hood,” she said. SW