Saliem Fakir
INTEREST in South Africa as a testing ground for genetically modified organisms is increasing. This interest is shown mainly by multinationals such as Calgene, Pannar, Monsanto and Hoescht.
But South Africa has no regulations to control modern biotechnology – the craft of creating artificial organisms – despite the threat it could pose to human health and the environment.
Voluntary guidelines are administered by the South African Committee for Genetic Experimentation, a government advisory body, and a Bill to establish a regulatory system is making its way through Parliament. But there is a prevailing perception that the Bill is lopsided and cumbersome, and does not adequately address the country’s inability to manage potential risks to the environment.
The local biotechnology industry is about three decades old, but the issue of regulating it has only recently entered the public domain. In October, the Department of Tourism and Environmental Affairs released the Green Paper on Biodiversity, which pointed out the potential threats of this modern science.
What separates biotechnology from other scientifcic endeavours is that it can fundamentally transform living organisms. These can interact with other organisams, changing them and sometimes causing them to become extinct. The threat is similar to that of invasive alien plants.
South Africa is not a signatory to the International Convention of Biodiversity, which aims to protect the world’s biological resources. The countries that have signed agree that an international protocol on biosafety is needed to ensure the safe handling and transfer of genetically modified organisms between countries.
This move is regarded as a victory for developing countries, which fear that they could become the dumping grounds of genetic experimentation by the developed countries.
The Department of Tourism and Environmental Affairs held a workshop in October to discuss the South African position on the proposed international protocol. But there is still a general reluctance within the local industry to engage in this debate, and to large extent the industry is opposed to an international protocol.
Saliem Fakir is co-ordinator of a natural- resource management programme at the Land and Agriculture Policy Centre (LAPC) in Johannesburg