South Africa: Leading African Biotechnology
23 July 2007 The South African government is supportive of biotechnology. Transgenic varieties of cotton, corn, and soybeans are approved for commercial planting, and account for approximately 92% of South Africa’s cotton, 44% of corn, and 59% of soybeans.
The country’s regulatory decisions are made by an Executive Council with representatives from eight departments. An Advisory Committee (AC) consisting of experts from around the nation carry out risk analyses on biotech products and give their recommendations to the Council for the final approval of any biotech product.
Recently there have been public objections from anti-GM lobby groups. These groups are demanding unscientific information from the GMO Registrar’s office of the National Department of Agriculture and have effectively slowed the process for new approvals. However, South African farmers fervently plant genetically modified (GM) corn, cotton, and soybeans. According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Application (ISAAA), South Africa’s (SA) acreage of GM crops rose to 1.4 million hectares (Ha) in 2006, placing the country eighth among the top fifteen growers of GM varieties.
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