Latest Resources
4 July 2012
Comments on COMESA’s Draft Policy on Commercial Planting, Trade and Emergency Food Aid Invo...
On the 8th and 9th May 2012 COMESA held a meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, to review a draft policy on the regulation and trade of GMOs for the region. While the Biotech Industry was very well represented at the meeting, civil society was completely left out of the process. This policy is being drafted behind […]
2 March 2011
Title Submission to the Dept of Justice on the Promotion of Access to Information Amendment Bill-...
Following the promulgation of the Genetically Modified Organisms Act in 1997, numerous GMOs have been approved in South Africa. The 1997 GMO Act was amended in 2006, and the new regulations took effect on the 26th of February 2010. This submission sets out details of our problems in accessing information from government with regard to […]
2 March 2011
ACB submission to the Secretariat of the Biosafety Protocol – discussions on socio-economic...
28 May 2011 The Secretariat of the Biosafety Protocol is engaging in discussions on socio-economic provisions related to decision-making and GMOs (Article 26). The ACB has submitted several studies from South Africa to enrich this discussion and has applied to participate in online discussions. These documents highlight South African experiences regarding the rejection of GM […]
31 January 2011
ACB comments on Regulations to the Consumer Protection Act related to labelling of Genetically Mo...
Download the Report.
19 October 2010
ACB Submission to the Department of Trade and Industry on the Intellectual Property Amendment Bil...
The Intellectual Property Amendment Bill aims to strengthen intellectual property rights relating to traditional performances, traditional work, traditional terms of expressions and traditional designs. The Bill has been widely condemned as sounding the death knell for traditional knowledge as it attempts to provide protection for Traditional Knowledge (TK) within a western intellectual property regime, originally […]
13 July 2010
Comments on COMESA’s Draft Policy on GMOs
The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) was very recently handed a copy of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’s (COMESA) ‘Draft policy statements and guidelines for commercial planting of GMOs, Trade in GMOs and Emergency Food aid with GMO content’. Having perused the policy we are alarmed and outraged that COMESA appears to […]
6 July 2010
Letter re South Africa’s non-compliance with information sharing requirements of the Cartag...
This is our third appeal to the Minister of Agriculture to comply with obligations under the Cartagena Protocol. This document lays out our concerns to the Minister and details the minimum requirements for information on GMOs that must be posted to the Biosafety Clearing House (BCH) according to the Protocol. It highlights the shortfalls in […]
25 January 2010
GM Cassava update from the African Centre for Biosafety
During 2006, the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) submitted an application to the South African GMO Authority, the Executive Council: GMO Act, for permission to conduct field trials of GM Cassava. The ACB and the international NGO, GRAIN, submitted comprehensive objections to the application on 8 September 2006, widely supported by local and international groups and […]
13 July 2009
Comments on Nigeria’s Draft Biosafety Bill
An Act to Provide for the Management of Biosafety and other related matters, 2007 Environmental Rights Action (ERA) (Friends of the Earth, Nigeria) has approached the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) to provide them with our comments on the latest draft of their country’s biosafety bill. The ACB has in the past, provided formal and […]
11 June 2009
COMMENTS ON THE NATIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY SAFETY BILL OF UGANDA
We have in the past, commented on several drafts of Uganda’s biosafety law and will not repeat the issues canvassed therein regarding the role and influence of the United States. We have been requested by civil society groups to comment on the National Biotechnology Safety Bill, 2008, approved by Uganda’s Cabinet during April 2008. Uganda […]