Varietal Release Committee suspends 4 GM cottons pending NBMA clearance

 

The National Varietal Release Committee ( NVRC) has suspended  four (4) Genetically Modified ( GM) cotton varieties recently released for commercialization at its 36th meeting held in Ibadan.

This was contained in a press statement made available to Food Farm News that had earlier reported the registration and release of the 4 GMO cotton varieties for commercialization in Nigeria.

The statement clarified why the NVRC had initially registered and released the four cotton varieties saying that " The NVRC acted in accordance to law and established technical procedures, evaluating DUS and VCU trial results and the NBMA- permits submitted with the application, before approval was given"

Read the full text of the press release below...

" NATIONAL VARIETY RELEASE COMMITTEE (NVRC) CLARIFIES REGISTRATION AND RELEASE OF FOUR GM COTTON VARIETIES"

The National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties also known as National Variety Release Committee (NVRC) issues this statement to clarify recent reports suggesting that four genetically modified (GM) cotton varieties were registered and released without the knowledge or involvement of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA).

The NVRC wishes to state the facts clearly as follows:

The National Variety Release System was established under Decree 33 of 1987 (now the National Variety Release Act, 2016). The NVRC is statutorily responsible for registration and release of new crop varieties, livestock breeds and fisheries, including transgenic varieties and breeds (Genetically modified organisms-GMOs).

All crop varieties, conventional and transgenic, must satisfy Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) as well as Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) test requirements before registration. For genetically modified (GM) varieties, additional biosafety permits or certificates from the NBMA are required and must be submitted as part of the application.

" The NVRC received an application in October 2025 from Mahyco Nigeria Ltd and Fiyah Global Concept Ltd, submitted through the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Samaru, for the registration and release of four GM cotton varieties. The application included the required DUS and VCU trial data and copies of biosafety permits/certificates issued by the NBMA to the applicant companies, attached herewith"

After review of the DUS and VCU trial results and accompanying documents, the NVRC approved the registration and release of the four GM cotton varieties together with 53 conventional varieties of other crop species at its 36th meeting held on 26 March 2026.

We had already requested NBMA to urgently examine the permit certificates (Permit Code No. NBMA/CM/004) issued to Fiyah Global Concept Limited with effect from 3rd June 2022 to 31st May 2025 for general release of hybrid Bt cotton and (Permit Code: NBMA/IC/HBC/002) issued to Mahyco Nigeria Pte Ltd with effect from 12th December 2022 to 31st December 2026 for the introduction and commercialization of hybrid Bt cotton Seed. We are still awaiting the response of NBMA.

The NVRC confirms that the four cotton varieties satisfied the statutory requirements for registration and release.

 Biosafety permits are normally issued to applicant companies by the NBMA; the NVRC relies on submission of those permits and the mandated trial data in evaluating applications. 

Pending clarification of the certificates/permits and resolution of outstanding issues between NBMA and the companies concerned, all actions relating to the cotton varieties have been suspended.

The NVRC remains committed to conducting its work in accordance with the law and in coordination with relevant agencies, including the NBMA. 

Statement

“The NVRC acted in accordance with law and established technical procedures; evaluating DUS and VCU trial results and the NBMA-issued permits submitted with the application, before approval was given”