Latest Resources

GM Wines TSGn and TCGn

Objections to the Application Made by the Institute For Wine Biotechnology, Stellenbosch University in Respect Of A Trial Release Application for GM Wines TSGn and TCGn to the National Department Of Agriculture, South Africa. Read here.

Wine Yeast ML01

Objection in Respect of the Application to the National Department Of Agriculture, South Africa by the Wine Research Centre (ubc) and Warrenchem Specialties for the Commercial Application of Ge Wine Yeast ML01. Read here.

GM Cassava fails in Africa

The Donald Danforth plant science centre (the ‘Danforth Centre’), who’s partners include Monsanto corporation, has been pursuing disease-resistant Cassava since 1999 for its projects in Kenya. Despite initially claiming a breakthrough, the group has subsequently conceded (on the 26th of May, 2006) that its GM virus resistant Cassava has now lost resistance to the African […]

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 […]

Adenovirus type 5 with HIV gag, pol and nef genes / Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital

Comments and Concerns on the application made by Prof. Glenda Gray in respect of HIV vaccine clinical trial of genetically modified organism (MRKAd5 HIV-1 gag/pol/nef) Comments and concerns It should be noted that this submission is written in the context of a country that is devastated by HIV-AIDS at every level. That solutions are needed […]

LibertyLink-Rice / Bayer CropScience

Application Made By Bayer Cropscience Gmbh In Respect Of A Commodity Clearance Application For Event Llrice62 To The National Department Of Agriculture, South Africa African Centre for Biosafety, supported by various organisations, groups, companies, and individuals. Read here.

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. […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]