Section 43: Interpretation

43. In this Act:
“Agency” means National Biosafety Management Agency establishment under section 1 (1) of this Act;
“Appropriate authority” includes the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission”;
“Biosafety Clearing House” means a pool of information mechanism established under Article 20 of the Protocol for exchange of scientific, technical, environment and legal information on and experience with genetically modified organisms, as part of the clearing house mechanism under Article 18 of the Convention;
“Biosafety” means the application of measures, policies, knowledge, techniques, equipment and procedures for minimizing potential risks that modern biotechnology may pose to the environment and human health;
“Board” means the National Biosafety Management Agency Governing Board established under Section 11 (1) of this Act;
“Committee” means the National Biosafety Committee referred to under Section 32 (3) of this Act;
“Contained use” means any operation using modern biotechnology undertaken within a facility, installation or other physical structure, such as a building, laboratory or greenhouse;
“confidential business information” consist of trade secrets and other proprietary information of commercial value;
“confined field trial” means a small scale experimental release into the environment of a genetically modified organism under physical and biological confinement conditions that limit the genetically modified organism's persistence in the environment after the experiment is completed;
“commercial release” means the release of genetically modified organism into the market as a product that can be purchased and use by any individual, such as a genetically engineered seed or animal;
“Conservation” means the protection of maintenance of nature while allowing for its ecologically sustainable use;
“convention” means the Convention on Biological Diversity;
“Court” means the Federal High Court;
“food and feed product” means a genetically modified organism or its product that is used for food, feed or processing and is primarily intended for consumption by humans or animals or for the consumption of both humans and animals;
“genetic material” means any part of a plant or animal or microbial containing functional units of the heredity;
“genetically modified organisms” means any organism living or non living that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology;
“modern biotechnology” means the application:
(a) in-vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA) and direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles; or
(b) fusion of cells beyond the taxonomic family that overcome natural physiological reproductive or recombination barriers and that are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection;
“member” means a member of the committee and includes the Chairman;
‘Minister” means Minister in charge of Environment;
“Director-General” means Chief Executive Officer of the Agency;
“Protocol” means the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity;
“products thereof” means processed materials that are of genetically modified origin containing detectable novel combination of replicable genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology;
“Institutional Biosafety Officer” means officer who is knowledgeable in Biosafety and has a degree in any of the biological science that is, Medical Science, Zoology, Genetic, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science, Soil Science, Agronomy or Plant Science (Botanist) and Ecology and appointed by the Institute dealing with Modern biotechnology for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the provisions of this Act.