Latest Resources

South Africa – GMO Act 15

Submission To Chairpersons Of Portfolio Committees Of: Agriculture And Land Affairs, Environmental Affairs And Tourism, Science And Technology, Health, Trade And Industry, Water Affairs And Forestry, Labour Mariam Mayet, April 2006. Read here. Supported by South African Freeze Alliance on Genetic Engineering, Earthlife Africa, Safe Food Coalition, Ekogaia Foundation, Farmers Legal Action Group-South Africa, Noordhoek […]

The status of Genetically Modified (GM) pharmaceutical crop research in South Africa

Genetically modified (GM) pharmaceutical crops are crops which have been genetically engineered / modified to produce pharmaceuticals. These pharmaceuticals can be vaccines, anti-bodies or therapeutic proteins. Pharma-crops (as they are known) are a contested and little-known terrain, with remarkable benefits being claimed for them in South Africa. Other voices ask about the contamination of the […]

Biohazard Map of GM Field Trials in SA

Now that the dust is settling after industry’s aggressive PR hype about the unsubstantiated increase in South Africa’s GM commercial plantings for 2006, we bring to you, based upon empirical data, a short briefing paper on the field trials of GMOs grown in South Africa during 2006, compiled by ACB researcher, Rose Williams. This briefing […]

Zambia – GMO Legislation

INTRODUCTION The Draft Labeling Standards are non-binding in the sense that they do not create legally binding obligations and responsibilities. As such, they are also not legally enforceable. The lack of teeth of the standards is not cured by the fact that the Zambian Bureau of Standards, a statutory body, produces the standards. However, the […]

Act now for GM free food!

You can make a difference by keeping the pressure on food producers. Consumer pressure works.. Especially if it is constant and relentless… We have won many victories and we can win the big one’s too. Consumers have the power! Let’s take back our food supply… Keep writing to them To demand GM free food the […]

BT Cotton

BT cotton in South Africa – the case of the Makhathini farmers – Apr 2005 By Elfrieda Pschorn Strauss, GRAIN. Read here. Global agriculture and genetically modified cotton in Africa. By Stephen Greenberg. Read here.

Comment on Zimbabwe’s National Biotechnology Authority Bill, 2005

Comment on Zimbabwe’s National Biotechnology Authority Bill, 2005 Read here.

Pioneer Hi-Bred, Dow Agrosciences wants SA to approve risky GM maize

During January 2005, Pioneer Hi-Bred RSA (Pty) Ltd and Dow Agrosciences Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd applied to the Executive Council and the Registrar: GMO Act, for a food and feed safety approval for its GM maize HerculexT RW. This GM maize variety is not currently grown commercially anywhere in the world; and is under investigation […]

A glimpse through the crack in the door: South Africa’s permitting system for GMOs

During 2004, the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) spent a considerable amount of time monitoring the South African permitting system for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In the course of its work, it lodged comprehensive objections to numerous applications for the import, marketing and field- testing of GMOs. Read here.

Explanation And Comments On The Cameroon Biosafety Law Mariam Mayet, April 2004

The Cameroon Biosafety Law No 2003/006 titled “Law No 2003/006 of 21 April 2003 To Lay Down Safety Regulations Governing Biotechnology in Cameroon” (“Biosafety Law”) was signed by the President of Cameroon on the 21 April 2003, and passed by the Cameroon Parliament during November 2003. Cameroon is a Party to the Cartagena Protocol on […]