GMOs to eradicate poverty: govt
Zibonele Ntuli
14 July 2004
The National Department of Agriculture says the use and application of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) will play a crucial role in eradicating poverty.
However, the department has raised concerns of the risks involved in the application of biotechnology.
GMOs are organisms in which the genetic material has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or natural recombination.
The added characteristic on plants reduces the need for chemical pesticides, therefore increasing the resistance to insects, diseases and other pests that destroy crops.
All genetically modified foods are carefully assessed in laboratories to ensure that they are equal or better than the conventional product and will not increase allergenicity or toxicity.
Genetic Resources Director Julian Jaftha said government had passed the Genetically Modified Organisms Act to ensure that all activities involving the use of GMOs limited the
possible harmful consequences to the environment.
Jaftha said the Act also made provision for the determination of requirements and criteria for risk assessment that would ensure GMOs were appropriate and not hazardous to the environment or human and animal health.
The GMO Act is administered by the Directorate Genetic Resources and makes provision for a Registrar, two regulatory bodies: the Advisory Committee and Executive Council and Inspectors.
"The Registrar is responsible for the administration of the Act, the Advisory Committee is responsible for evaluation of risk assessment data within every application and the Executive Council for taking a decision on whether a specific activity should be authorised or not," said Jaftha.
He said the inspectors were responsible for monitoring authorised activities with GMOs throughout the country.
He said the Advisory Council and the Executive Council had produced the guidelines for applying for the use of
GMOs.
"These guidelines aim to provide general information on the provisions of the Act, the functioning of the bodies appointed in terms of the Act, how applications are processed and provide assistance to the applicant on how to apply for a permit.
"The guidelines will assist the public to understand the administration of the Act and increase transparency towards the regulation of GMOs in South Africa," he said.
The Department of Agriculture has since approved the planting of three GMO crops, namely the insect resistant cotton, herbicide resistant cotton and insect resistant maize.
Source: BuaNews
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