A large consignment of genetically modified seed to Indonesia raises questions about South Africa’s failure to sign an international treaty. Stefaans Brmmer reports
When a South African cargo plane was offloaded at the military section of Indonesia’s Makassar airport a few weeks ago, demonstrators and reporters were not allowed nearby. The cargo: 39 tons of cottonseed.
If the consignment had been ordinary cottonseed, no one would have bothered. But this seed was genetically modified.
Activists on two continents are angry over the transfer they see it as the proliferation of dangerous technology and at the heavy-handedness that allegedly accompanied the transfer.
The incident has increased pressure on the South African government to sign an international protocol regulating cross-border trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which include seed.
Genetic engineering is an emotive subject. Genetically modified crops where genes from other organisms are inserted to change the plant’s genetic structure have altered characteristics, such as resistance to pests.
Proponents claim this relatively new technology is environmentally friendly and is increasing crop yields to benefit especially small farmers. Environmental activists, on the other hand, argue that there are major health, environmental and economic risks; and that until the technology is better understood, caution should be exercised.
According to the Jakarta Post, which witnessed the South African consignment being offloaded on March 15, the difference of opinion over GMOs is reflected at the highest level of the Indonesian state: The agriculture minister issued a decree allowing the distribution of the seed to farmers in the province, while the state environment minister criticised the decree and questioned the safety of the crops.
The Jakarta Post says authorities “apparently concealed” the consignment from the press they denied at first that it was arriving. When reporters noticed a “tightly guarded” Ilyusin cargo plane, chartered from Johannesburg, offloading the seed at Makassar airport, soldiers refused access. Environmental protesters, demanding the consignment be quarantined, tried unsuccessfully to stop trucks bearing the cottonseed but marked “logistic depot rice” from leaving the airport.
The consignment the first of GM cottonseed to Indonesia was confirmed this week by the Monsanto corporation, a multinational and holder of the patent for the exported cottonseed, which bears the trade name “Bollgard”. The cottonseed is produced in South Africa under licence from Monsanto by D&PL South Africa Inc.
Danie Olivier, general manager of D&PL, confirmed exporting the consignment to Indonesia, where he said the agriculture department had issued a permit allowing the seed to be used for experimental and farming purposes.
South African activists, meanwhile, have launched a petition decrying “the fact that South Africa is allowing its land, resources and regulatory systems to be used and abused to distribute GMOs to the international marketplace”.
The petition was drafted by SAFeAGE (South African Freeze Alliance on Genetic Engineering), an alliance of groups calling for a five-year moratorium in the GMOs field until health, environmental, social and ethical issues have been resolved.
The petition, which SAFeAGE says has been signed so far by 110 local and international groups and individuals, points out that the trade in GMOs remains largely unregulated in the Third World a problem that should have been addressed by the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, adopted by more than 130 countries, including South Africa, in January last year after about six years of negotiations.
The protocol, sponsored by the United Nations, will force risk assessments and informed government consent before transfer. But it is not yet in operation, since it first has to be ratified by 50 countries. Only two have done that so far.
More than 50 countries, however, have signed the protocol a first step towards ratification. South Africa, although prominent in the negotiations, has failed to sign. The SAFeAGE petition says the transfer of GM cottonseed to Indonesia “ignored the spirit and intent of the protocol”.
Karen Kallmann, SAFeAGE coordinator, says: “The idea is to apply wisdom and judgement about the potential effects of a new technology before flooding the marketplace … Widespread commercialisation of these crops has come before not after thorough examination of the associated risks and benefits.”
Miriam Mayet, an environmental lawyer who was an NGO representative on the South African government delegation to the Cartagena negotiations, says: “South Africa took very progressive positions at Cartagena. We are very shocked that they didn’t sign.”
Mayet says the protocol would have forced an assessment of the risks to health and the environment, and socio-economic impact, in Indonesia before the transfer of the seed from South Africa. The Indonesian government would have had to signal its “informed consent” before allowing the import. “This would have been a clear case of non-compliance [with the protocol].”
But it is not only the GM sceptics who support Cartagena and want South Africa to sign. Jocelyn Webster is the executive director of AfricaBio, a pro-GM body representing many stakeholders in the GM industry from scientists to producers to consumers. Webster describes the cottonseed export as “a very important technological transfer they’re doing to Indonesia”, but says proper safeguards makes sense. “We believe the technology will prove itself, but we need to make sure that it is properly managed … We are actively encouraging [South Africa] to sign the protocol.”
But it seems South Africa is not ready. JP Louw, communications director at the Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism, says: “South Africa is in the process of carefully studying the implications of the Cartagena Protocol. This is more so because it does not only have legal implications, but also requires of us to have capacity in terms of skills, and technological and institutional support.
“A number of departments (including the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism) are in the process of completing their studies on the implications of the protocol. This will be followed by the presentation of a recommendation to Cabinet where a final decision will be made on the matter.”