Latest Resources
27 July 2006
Can the poor help GM crops? Technology, Representation, and Cotton in the Makhathini Flats
The adoption of Genetically Modified (GM) cotton in South Africa’s Makhathini Flats in 1998 was heralded as a case in which agricultural biotechnology could benefit smallholder farmers, and a model for the rest of the continent to follow. Using historical, political economic and ethnographic data, we find the initial enthusiasm around GM technology to be […]
4 June 2006
Article 18(2)(a): The Trojan Horse of the Biosafety Protocol
Read the article here. By Mariam Mayet African Centre for Biosafety July 2006 The “may contain” labels flood the feed sector. Even transboundary movements which could pass as GM-free under existing legislation for LMO-FFPs are labelled as “may contain”. Grain trade and important ports are leading in this clever move which actually ridicules the Protocol. […]
4 June 2006
Pharma Crops and GE Vaccines
HIV Vaccine Clinical Trial Of Genetically Modified Organism (MRKAd5 HIV1 gag/pol/nef) African Centre for Biosafety Jun 2006. Read here. The Status Of Genetically Modified (gm) Pharmaceutical Crop Research In South Africa Mar 2006 Rose Williams. Read here.
29 May 2006
Bioethanol-Maize / Syngenta
COMMENTS BY THE AFRICAN CENTRE FOR BIOSAFETY AND THE CENTRE FOR FOOD SAFETY (USA) Comments on Syngenta’s Application for Commodity Clearance of Genetically Modified Maize, Event 3272 African Centre for Biosafety & Centre for Food Safety, 29 May 2006 Read here. OVERVIEW Syngenta’s Event 3272 maize represents the very first genetically modified (GM) industrial crop […]
6 May 2006
South Africa, Bioethanol and GMOs: A Heady Mixture
On the 12th of May 2006 Syngenta South Africa (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of Swiss chemical giant Syngenta, notified the public of its intention to seek commodity clearance for its GM maize for the use in the production of ethanol. This is the first GM application for commercial approval in the world for a non-feed, […]
1 March 2006
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 […]
11 February 2006
South Africa – GM Food Labelling Regulations
Why Do We Need To Label Genetically Modified (gm) Food Products? Facts For South African Consumers African Centre for Biosafety, Feb 2006. Read here. Critical Analysis Of South Africa’s Labelling Regulations For Genetically Modified Food, Feed And Products Derived From Gm-fed Animals Mariam Mayet, Oct 2004. Read here. Regulations Relating To The Labelling Of Foodstuffs […]
28 January 2006
Out of Africa: Mysteries of access and benefit sharing
In late 2005 the Edmunds Institute and the African Centre for Biosafety contacted famed bio-pirate hunter Jay McGowan to investigate incidences of access and benefit sharing in Africa. Despite many constraints on the research, McGowan found a plethora of incidents where transnational corporations had utilised African biodiversity without concluding benefit sharing agreements with the local […]
28 January 2006
The Long, winding road to a Biosafety Protocol – a South African view
At the negotiations for the Biosafety Protocol in Cartagena, the South Africa government surprised critics by displaying a maturity and understanding of the issues and concerns facing developing countries on the question of genetically engineered organisms. This in spite of attempts by the ‘Miami group’, a negotiating group representing the largest producer nations of biotechnology, […]
27 January 2006
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 […]