Latest Resources

6 September 2007
World Bank Projects on Biosafety Harmonisation
In Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Mali, Senegal A disclaimer addressed to the attention of GEF CEO and GEF council members by the Coalition for the Protection of African Genetic Heritage (COPAGEN). Read more here.

17 August 2007
SA Rejects GM bulbs & flowers
Failed Application for Contained Use of Genetically Modified flowers and bulbs involving Ornithogalum dubium x thyrsoides Line A2 The South African GMO Authority, the Executive Council (EC), established under the GMO Act has refused the first ever application for experimentation of GM bulbs and flowers outside a laboratory facility. Read here.

17 August 2007
Thumbs down for GM Mosquitocide
The Executive Council acting under the Genetically Modified Organisms Act has rejected out of hand, an application by Biological Control Products SA (Pty) Ltd, to test in open water sources, a genetically modified mosquitocide. The mosquitocide has been genetically engineered to destroy mosquito larvae. Read here.

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 […]

27 July 2007
GM Crops for Africa? No Thanks!
“Most African countries, like many other poor countries cannot advance GM crop research because their national policies or regulatory systems are not prepared to deal with safety requirement for approving general use.” Joel Cohen of the International Food Policy Research Institute based in Washington DC was reported to have said. Read here.

27 July 2007
Rural Communities Express Dismay: “land grabs” fuelled by Biofuels Strategy
More than sixty people met in Durban on March 5th 2007, to discuss the South African government’s Draft Industrial Biofuels Strategy, which is open for public comment until the end of March. The undersigned NGOs, individuals, farmer organisations and rural communities from KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga who attended the workshop, express our extreme […]

27 July 2007
ACB ALERT: Spate of New GM Experiments in SA
ACB ALERT: NEW GM EXPERIMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA, JULY 2007 It is with extreme disquiet that the African Centre for Biosafety notes the recent spate of new applications for GM experiments in South Africa, see below. We are extremely concerned that our government has laid our country open to the wholesale experimentation involving a whole […]

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.

8 March 2007
Biofuels Africa Alert: Africa’s Biodiesel: Going Nuts
It is with extreme disquiet that the African Centre for Biosafety notes the recent spate of new applications for GM experiments in South Africa, see below. We are extremely concerned that our government has laid our country open to the wholesale experimentation involving a whole new range of GM applications, in a context where there […]