Latest Resources
31 January 2018
ACB’s Objection to Monsanto’s Application for Commodity Clearance of MON 87708 × MON 89788 × A554...
ACB is objecting to the commodity clearance of the triple-stacked GM soybean event MON 87708 x MON 89788 x A5547-127, due to concerns surrounding the lack of safety assessment data for this crop and the known toxicity of the three pesticides it is designed to tolerate. Its tolerance to three pesticides, glyphosate, glufosinate and dicamba […]
18 September 2017
MVIWATA and ACB Opposing Application for Field trials of Stacked GM Maize MON 87460 X MON 810
The Tanzania National Farmers Network Organisation, Mtandao wa Vikundi vya Wakulima Tanzania (MVIWATA) and the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) are objecting to an application submitted by the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) for confined field trials of Monsanto’s stacked GM maize MON 87460 X MON 810 (GM drought tolerant stacked with throw-away […]
10 August 2017
RNA interference GMOs to enter South Africa and Nigeria
In this alert, the ACB warns that the South African government received an application for the commodity clearance (import for food, feed and processing) of a ‘multi-stacked variety’ of genetically modified (GM) maize – MON87427 × MON89034 × MIR162 × MON87411, which represents the entry of the second generation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in […]
20 July 2017
Call to public meeting on corporate seed Bills ahead of public hearing
The Plant Breeders’ Rights and Plant Improvement Bills restrict the saving, trading, exchanging, and sale of seed. This can have massive ramifications on seed and food sovereignty, agricultural biodiversity, access to diverse seed, and increasing the disparities and inequalities in South African agriculture, food and nutrition. We urgently need to protect and preserve our food […]
13 July 2017
GM Agrofuel maize to enter SA food system!
In this GMO Alert, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) shares information that the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Senzeni Zokwana, has in February 2017, granted Syngenta SA a commodity permit to import genetically modified (GM) maize that is genetically engineered for enhanced ethanol production for the agrofuels industry. (The maize expresses an enzyme, […]
25 May 2017
War Chemical 2,4 D GM maize in SA: in the fields and coming to our plates soon
Press Release from the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE) and the Commercial & the Stevedoring, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU) Thursday, 25 May 2017 The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has published a briefing paper today titled, ‘South Africa and 2,4 D GM maize: Biosafety, Socio economic […]
9 May 2017
South Africa’s Competition Commission gives conditional approval for Bayer-Monsanto merger
In December 2016 Monsanto shareholders voted in favour of the sale of the company to Bayer for US$66 billion, making it the largest-ever foreign corporate takeover by a German company. The deal requires approval from about 30 regulatory agencies around the world. The Competition Commission of South Africa (CCSA) was the first to be officially […]
25 April 2017
Objection to commercial release of MON87460 X NK603 X MON89034 (triple stacked involving drought ...
In this objection, ACB raises numerous concerns with the application by Monsanto for the commercial release of the triple stacked event. Drought tolerance is a highly complex genetic trait that cannot be addressed by single gene insertions, as shown by the lack of data backing up the applicant’s claim that this GM variety shows “improvements […]
25 April 2017
Profits, power and myth making: Monsanto’s ‘bogus’ GM drought tolerant maize challenged in South ...
The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has lodged an appeal to the High Court of South Africa to overturn decisions of the GMO authority, the GMO Appeal Board and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, to commercialise Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) drought-tolerant (DT) maize seed. More than 25 000 concerned citizens have signed petitions […]
13 February 2017
Bayer-Monsanto merger: An existential threat to South Africa’s food system
In December 2016 Monsanto shareholders voted in favour of the sale of the company to Bayer for US$66 billion, making it the largest-ever foreign corporate takeover by a German company. Both Bayer and Monsanto are major global manufacturers of agrochemicals and seeds, including genetically modified seed. A merged entity would be the world’s largest supplier […]