South Africa generally sides with the United States in favour of genetically modified foods. But the World Conservation Union, to which we belong (and of which Valli Moosa is president), has voted for a moratorium on the release of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) until they are proved safe. Will the Government modify its stance?

Genetically Modified foods are foods in which the genetic make-up has been manipulated directly in order to replicate the desired gene, and give the foods special characteristics, such as making them resistant to weedkillers or insects. Insect-resistant maize, for example, is modified by inserting a bacterium gene that produces toxins and acts as an insecticide. Others have a gene that makes them indestructible when sprayed with certain herbicides.

The pro-GM faction – mainly GM seed producers such as Monsato, Du Pont, Dow, Bayer and Syngenta - say GM increases crop yields, reduces farming costs and increases food security for developing countries. Environmental bodies worldwide argue that this is a dangerous experiment with health and could have a disastrous effect on the environment. They say it violates a natural organism’s intrinsic value; that modified genes are being spread through pollination; and it allows a few giant corporations to control food production worldwide, forcing farmers to buy new, expensive, patented seed from them year after year.

Biowatch South Africa says a large proportion of GM crops in Africa were planted not to feed impoverished people but to feed the livestock of people in rich counties. The pro-GM camp slams this as ‘agriculturally proven rubbish’, using the example of the ‘emergent’ farmers of Hlabisa in rural Kwa Zulu Natal, who have seen their yields increase by an average of 220 percent as a result of planting GM maize.

Many countries, including most of Europe, most Australian states, Angola, Sudan, Venezuela and Zambia have declared themselves GM free zones, and refuse to grow GM crops. So strong is the anti-GM lobby in the UK that the GM industry has abandoned all attempts to get GM seeds approved for growing in that country. South Africa, on the other hand, has adopted the crops wholeheartedly, along with the United States, Argentina, China and Canada. Since 1997, South Africa has grown GM crops- including maize, soya beans and cotton - commercially. The Government does not require GM crops to be separated from non GM crops during production, processing and distribution, which means there is no way of tracking GM food from farm to plate; if one strain caused adverse effects in humans or animals, it would be virtually impossible to trace the offending variety.

The short answer is, you can’t. The Regulations Relating to the Labelling of Foodstuffs Obtained Through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification, published last year, do not require GM foods currently imported, marketed and sold in South Africa to indicate the presence of GM ingredients on the label. ‘South African consumers are given no choice regarding the current generation of GM foods’, says environmental lawyer Mariam Mayet, on behalf of the African Centre for Biosafety. ‘ The regulations do not require to be labelled GM, or foods from animals fed with GM feed, such as meat, milk and eggs’.

The Department of Health says that compulsory labelling would increase the cost of food and is not practical, because GMOs could be in 30 000 products that contain maize and soya. By contrast, the European Union recently agreed that all GM derivatives in food, as well as GM ingredients, must be labelled.

The Union, a network of the governments and NGOs of about 180 countries, has voted to approve a moratorium on the ‘further release’ of GMOs ‘until such a time that they a can be demonstrated, beyond reasonable doubt, to be safe for biodiversity, human health and the health of livestock’. The resolution also ordered the undertaking of a full scientific report on the effects of GMOs within a year.

When asked how the resolution will affect South Africa’s GMO activities, Dr Chippy Oliver, Director-General of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, said it wasn’t binding on member countries. ‘It would first have to go through a UN forum such as the Convention of Biodiversity’, he said. ‘The real debate concerns whether risk assessment tools are adequate. We are proposing to tighten ours significantly, requiring the release of any GMO to be a listed activity, requiring a full environmental impact assessment. In effect, we’ll have a proper, independent assessment mechanism built into the law’.

The following foodstuffs in processed food: soya and corn derivatives, soya oil, soya-protein isolate, soya lecithin, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose and maltodextrin.