NO TO GM WHEAT IN SOUTH AFRICA! first published by African Centre for Biosafety
10 MAY 2023
NO TO GM WHEAT IN SOUTH AFRICA!: We call on the government to reverse approval of GM wheat into our country
Thank you to the 80+ organisations, listed below, who support this ACB submission to the South African Biosafety authorities, the Executive Council (EC): GMO Act, to review and reassess its decision to grant approval for the importation into South Africa of genetically modified (GM) wheat HB4, and set such approval aside. If your organisation or company wishes to endorse this submission, please email comms@acbio.org.za.
Please also see our full briefing titled, Unsafe GM wheat to enter South Africa’s food systems: Disaster capitalism, biotech industry in decline & instrumentalisation of wheat in Africa. In our submission, we argue that the EC failed to adhere to the precautionary principle in that it did not adopt a risk-averse and cautious approach when it approved the entry of GM wheat, an important staple food in South Africa, consumed by millions of people daily.
There is no indication that the EC evaluated and engaged critically with the paucity of information and lack of food safety data, assessments, and evidence before it. Astonishingly, the EC’s decision that there was no need to pursue whole food and feed studies suggests that there was no rigorous scientific assessment conducted in relation to the safety and efficacy of GM wheat. To make matters worse, the EC failed to call for an independent risk assessment despite there being no data at all on the safety of the GM wheat in question, particularly since no feeding studies had been undertaken.
Further, the EC failed to consider the grave concerns raised by the research community, with 1 400 scientists warning that the introduction of GM wheat would perpetuate an agribusiness model that is harmful to the environment and biodiversity while failing to solve the problems of the food system.
We are also extremely concerned about the contamination of the national wheat supply and the implications this may also have for countries to which South Africa exports wheat in the region, including Botswana, Lesotho, Zambia, and Namibia.
We are of the view that the approval signifies governance failure on the part of the EC and that it is incumbent upon the EC to review its decision and set this aside as a matter of urgency.
Below is the list of 80+ organisations that have signed the submission calling on the Executive Council to review its decision to approve GM Wheat for import into South Africa as food, feed and processing.
Endorsements
Abalimi
Advocacy Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture (ACSA), Uganda
African Circular Economy Network
African Climate Reality Project
African Volunteers Association
All Nepal Peasants Federation
Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)
AllisOne
Asociacion Red de Coordinación en Biodiversidad de Costa Rica
Association Togolaise pour le Développement de l’Agriculture Durable, une organisation qui fédère les (ATODAD)
Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA)
Bafo and Busi Organic Farming (Pty) Ltd
Bench Marks Foundation
Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya (BIBA-K)
Bioscience Resource Project
Biowatch
Caritas Uganda
Caritas Zambia
Central Archdiocesan Province Caritas Association (CAPCA)
Centro Internazionale Crocevia
Centre d’expérimentation et de Valorisation de L’ Agroécologie des Sciences et Techniques Endogènes (CEVASTE), Benin
Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT)
Confédération Paysanne, France
Consumers’ Association of Penang
EarthLore Foundation
Eastern and Southern Africa Small-scale Farmers (ESAFF)
Eco Hope
Enviromental Monitoring Group (EMG)
Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria
European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC)
FAEB – Benin Agroecological Federation, Benin
Fédération Nationale pour l’Agriculture Biologique (FENAB)
Femmes Environnement Nature Entrepreneuriat Vert (FENEV), DRC
Food First Information and Action Network (FIAN) International
Fish Hoek Valley Residents and Ratepayers Association (FHVRRA)
Food Garden Community: Sutton Park Pool
Food Sovereignty Ghana
Friends of the Earth (FOA), International
Friends of the Earth (FOA), Africa
GE Free New Zealand in Food and Environment
Genethics Foundation
Global Environmental Trust (GET)
GMO/Toxin Free USA
Good Food Network
Grain
HumanTouchAI
Jiinue Mazingira
Justiça Ambiental (JA!)
Kebulwet
Klerksdorp Christian Academy
Kos en Fynbos Urban Farmer
Kraut and Krunch
La Grande Puissance de Dieu
Les Amis de la Terre, Togo
Let’s Collaborate
Little Big Tree Farm
Melca, Ethiopia
Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO)
Murrough Trust
Mtandao wa Vikundi vya Wakulima Tanzania (MVIWATA)
Nkuzi Development Association NPC
Noordhoek Environmental Action Group
Ntaamba Hiinta development Trust, Zambia
Nzoia Grains and Marketing Cooperative society
Organic Consumers Alliance
Pan-Africanist International, Belgium
Participatory Guarantee Systems South Africa
Partners for the Land & Agricultural Needs of Traditional Peoples (PLANT)
Rye Bakery
Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI)
South African Organic Sector Organisation (SAOSO)
Seed2harvest
SeedChange
Sahabat Alam, Malaysia
Sierra Leone Network on the Right to Food (SiLNoRF)
Society of African Earth Scientists
Surplus Peoples project
Tabita Mission
Tanzania Alliance for Biodiversity (TABIO)
Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE)
Tshintsha Amakhaya
Ukuvuna
UnPoison
Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) Secretariat
Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum (ZIMSOFF)
We strongly urge individuals to write to the Executive Council in their personal capacity, calling for a review of their decision, via
Julian B. Jaftha
Chairperson, Executive Council GMO Act
Chief Director: Plant Production & Health
julianj@dalrrd.gov.za
Harvest House Room 234
Hamilton Street Arcadia Pretoria, 0001
Tel: 27 12 319 6536 Fax: 27 12 319 6347 Cell: 060 973 1645
#NoGMwheat