We call on the government to reverse approval of GM wheat into our country
Thank you to the 80+ organisations, listed below, who support this ACB submission to the South African Biosafety authorities, the Executive Council (EC): GMO Act, to review and reassess its decision to grant approval for the importation into South Africa of genetically modified (GM) wheat HB4, and set such approval aside. If your organisation or company wishes to endorse this submission, please email comms@acbio.org.za.
Please also see our full briefing titled, Unsafe GM wheat to enter South Africa’s food systems: Disaster capitalism, biotech industry in decline & instrumentalisation of wheat in Africa. In our submission, we argue that the EC failed to adhere to the precautionary principle in that it did not adopt a risk-averse and cautious approach when it approved the entry of GM wheat, an important staple food in South Africa, consumed by millions of people daily.
There is no indication that the EC evaluated and engaged critically with the paucity of information and lack of food safety data, assessments, and evidence before it. Astonishingly, the EC’s decision that there was no need to pursue whole food and feed studies suggests that there was no rigorous scientific assessment conducted in relation to the safety and efficacy of GM wheat. To make matters worse, the EC failed to call for an independent risk assessment despite there being no data at all on the safety of the GM wheat in question, particularly since no feeding studies had been undertaken.
Further, the EC failed to consider the grave concerns raised by the research community, with 1 400 scientists warning that the introduction of GM wheat would perpetuate an agribusiness model that is harmful to the environment and biodiversity while failing to solve the problems of the food system.
We are also extremely concerned about the contamination of the national wheat supply and the implications this may also have for countries to which South Africa exports wheat in the region, including Botswana, Lesotho, Zambia, and Namibia.
We are of the view that the approval signifies governance failure on the part of the EC and that it is incumbent upon the EC to review its decision and set this aside as a matter of urgency.
Below is the list of 80+ organisations that have signed the submission calling on the Executive Council to review its decision to approve GM Wheat for import into South Africa as food, feed and processing.
Endorsements
- Abalimi
- Advocacy Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture (ACSA), Uganda
- African Circular Economy Network
- African Climate Reality Project
- African Volunteers Association
- All Nepal Peasants Federation
- Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)
- AllisOne
- Asociacion Red de Coordinación en Biodiversidad de Costa Rica
- Association Togolaise pour le Développement de l’Agriculture Durable, une organisation qui fédère les (ATODAD)
- Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA)
- Bafo and Busi Organic Farming (Pty) Ltd
- Bench Marks Foundation
- Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya (BIBA-K)
- Bioscience Resource Project
- Biowatch
- Caritas Uganda
- Caritas Zambia
- Central Archdiocesan Province Caritas Association (CAPCA)
- Centro Internazionale Crocevia
- Centre d’expérimentation et de Valorisation de L’ Agroécologie des Sciences et Techniques Endogènes (CEVASTE), Benin
- Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT)
- Confédération Paysanne, France
- Consumers’ Association of Penang
- EarthLore Foundation
- Eastern and Southern Africa Small-scale Farmers (ESAFF)
- Eco Hope
- Enviromental Monitoring Group (EMG)
- Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria
- European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC)
- FAEB – Benin Agroecological Federation, Benin
- Fédération Nationale pour l’Agriculture Biologique (FENAB)
- Femmes Environnement Nature Entrepreneuriat Vert (FENEV), DRC
- Food First Information and Action Network (FIAN) International
- Fish Hoek Valley Residents and Ratepayers Association (FHVRRA)
- Food Garden Community: Sutton Park Pool
- Food Sovereignty Ghana
- Friends of the Earth (FOA), International
- Friends of the Earth (FOA), Africa
- GE Free New Zealand in Food and Environment
- Genethics Foundation
- Global Environmental Trust (GET)
- GMO/Toxin Free USA
- Good Food Network
- Grain
- HumanTouchAI
- Jiinue Mazingira
- Justiça Ambiental (JA!)
- Kebulwet
- Klerksdorp Christian Academy
- Kos en Fynbos Urban Farmer
- Kraut and Krunch
- La Grande Puissance de Dieu
- Les Amis de la Terre, Togo
- Let’s Collaborate
- Little Big Tree Farm
- Melca, Ethiopia
- Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO)
- Murrough Trust
- Mtandao wa Vikundi vya Wakulima Tanzania (MVIWATA)
- Nkuzi Development Association NPC
- Noordhoek Environmental Action Group
- Ntaamba Hiinta development Trust, Zambia
- Nzoia Grains and Marketing Cooperative society
- Organic Consumers Alliance
- Pan-Africanist International, Belgium
- Participatory Guarantee Systems South Africa
- Partners for the Land & Agricultural Needs of Traditional Peoples (PLANT)
- Rye Bakery
- Sacred Earth & Storm School
- Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI)
- South African Organic Sector Organisation (SAOSO)
- Seed2harvest
- SeedChange
- Sahabat Alam, Malaysia
- Sierra Leone Network on the Right to Food (SiLNoRF)
- Society of African Earth Scientists
- Surplus Peoples project
- Tabita Mission
- Tanzania Alliance for Biodiversity (TABIO)
- Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE)
- Tshintsha Amakhaya
- Ukuvuna
- UnPoison
- Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) Secretariat
- Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum (ZIMSOFF)
We strongly urge individuals to write to the Executive Council in their personal capacity, calling for a review of their decision, via
Julian B. Jaftha
Chairperson, Executive Council GMO Act
Chief Director: Plant Production & Health
julianj@dalrrd.gov.za
Harvest House Room 234
Hamilton Street Arcadia Pretoria, 0001
Tel: 27 12 319 6536 Fax: 27 12 319 6347 Cell: 060 973 1645
