Latest Resources
31 January 2011
ACB comments on Regulations to the Consumer Protection Act related to labelling of Genetically Mo...
Download the Report.
10 November 2010
Opposition to Pioneer Hi Bred’s merger with Pannar, submitted to Competitions Commission
As a stakeholder, the ACB was requested by the Competition Commission to make written comments on the proposed merger between Pioneer Hi Bred and Pannar, which we submitted to the Commission on the 21st of October, 2010. In this submission, we raise the following further pertinent issues: We provide in several annexes, the seeds under […]
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 […]
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 […]
20 February 2008
ACB’s Submissions to the SA’s govt’s position on International Liability and Re...
Concerns with South Africa’s Biotechnology Strategy Detailed comments on draft operational text Preferred Options. Read here.
28 January 2008
Public Participation in context of Patent Laws in South Africa
The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has only recently commenced its work in the fi eld of bioprospecting and biopiracy. A booklet as part of our Biosafety, Biopiracy and Biopolitics series titled, “Bioprospecting, Biopiracy and Indigenous Knowledge: two case studies from the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa” by Koyama and Mayet, has been published. In […]
27 July 2007
ACB Submission on Bioprospecting & ABS Draft Regulations, 2007
SUBMISSIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM ON THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: BIODIVERSITY ACT, 2004: REGULATIONS ON BIOPROSPECTING, ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING. Read here.
27 July 2007
ACB Submission on IPRs from Publicaly Funded Research Bill, 2007
Currently, South African intellectual property legislation is highly fragmented, a situation that gives rise to a number of gaps and anomalies that undermine the rights of indigenous people. “Indigenous people” is not clearly defined by NEMBA or it Draft Regulations except to refer to such people as residing in a defined geographical area to which […]
20 July 2007
Submission on the Draft Biofuels Industrial Strategy
By: Earthlife Africa eThekwini Branch – African Centre for Biosafety – GRAIN – SAFeAGE – Ekogaia -The Third World Investment Gateway Trust To: Department of Minerals and Energy 31 March 2007 Read submission here.