Bid to grow harmful GM crop in South Africa
COMTEX Newswire
Johannesburg (Mail and Guardian, November 10, 2000) - Aventis, which has been
denied entry of its products into Europe by the EU, has applied to grow its
genetically modified crop in South Africa.
A company that has had to remove about 300 food products from United States
supermarket shelves because they contain a genetically engineered maize that may
cause human allergies now wants to grow the crop in South Africa.
The French-based pharmaceuticals giant Aventis has applied to the Department of
Agriculture for a permit to introduce the crop to South Africa. The maize is
known as StarLink and it has been engineered to contain a gene that is suspected
to cause allergies.
Aventis had permission to grow the crop in the US only for animal foods and
industrial use. But the discovery of StarLink in the human food chain in the
past weeks has caused mass hysteria among consumers.
Snacks, cereals and restaurant foods produced by major brand names like Kraft
Foods, Safeway and Western Family Foods have been recalled and two large food
companies shut down their production lines.
Many of the contaminated products are sold under different brand names, so it is
difficult for consumers to know whether the food in their pantry is suspect.
At least one lawsuit has been filed against Kraft by a Chicago man who claims he
suffered severe stomach cramps, diarrhoea, a headache and hives after eating
tacos made with contaminated maize.
StarLink contains a pesticide gene, Cry9C, that is resistant to heat and
difficult to digest. It is this gene that is suspected to cause allergies.
In its application to the Department of Agriculture in September, Aventis said
it wants to grow maize with the Cry9C gene in South African "research trials".
This involves testing the crop in local conditions before it can be grown
commercially.
"Even if StarLink maize is grown commercially for animal consumption or
industrial purposes only, can we stop the contamination of other foodstuffs?"
asks Mariam Mayet, a Johannesburg lawyer who specialises in legislation on
genetic engineering.
"South Africa does not require genetically modified food to be segregated from
that which has not been genetically modified.
Labeling is also not required, which means the consumer will be unaware that he
is consuming contaminated foods that have specifically not been approved for
human consumption."
The StarLink scare in the US has raised questions about whether it is
practically possible to segregate maize approved for human consumption from
unapproved crops.
It has not been established how the mix-up happened, but the problem starts with
the crop's tendency to cross-pollinate while it is growing. Aventis created
buffer zones of 22m around the StarLink maize fields, but now acknowledges the
distance may not be enough.
"This case clearly calls for South Africa to use the precautionary principle and
ban the import of any genetically modified crop that may cause harm to human
health or may enter the human food supply," says Mayet.
The European Commission, which is investigating the possibility that StarLink
products may have been exported to Europe, last week said it had invoked the
precautionary principle in dealing with StarLink.
"Until we have a risk assessment, it's better to keep it out," said Wilfried
Schneider, a representative of the European Union (EU) delegation to the US. The
EU has enforced mandatory labeling of genetically engineered products for the
past two years.
In Japan, where StarLink is not approved even for animal feed, the consumers'
union has reported detecting it in snack foods and animal feed sold locally. The
country is now trying to source its maize supply elsewhere.
Department of Agriculture representative Magriet Engelbrecht says the Aventis
application to bring StarLink to South Africa is being reviewed by an advisory
committee. She says a final decision is unlikely before January.
"What happens in other countries is going to be taken into account by the
committee," Engelbrecht adds. "The experience in the US will play a role."
Aventis has offered to buy back much of its maize crop grown in the US this
year. The company says it has new data to demonstrate that fears about allergies
are unfounded and has asked for temporary approval of the maize from the US
authorities so that it can wend its way through the food supply without
disrupting markets.
There is no record of StarLink maize shipments having been imported into South
Africa, though it may be present in foodstuffs imported from the US.
"In other countries the StarLink contaminations have been picked up by consumer
groups who insist on testing food for genetic modification," says Earthlife
Africa's Glenda Lindsay. "In South Africa the NGOs don't have the resources to
do this."
On December 1 last year the government finally pushed through the Genetically
Modified Organisms Act of 1997 in an attempt to tighten regulation of the fast-
growing field of genetic engineering.
But Mayet says the Act still falls short of international safeguards.
"Monitoring by civil society groups is extremely difficult. Information about
foreseeable impacts and emergency measures in the case of an accident is not
available," she says.
"These are typical risk-management measures and should be the hallmarks of any
bio- safety legislation. But they are not set out in the Act or its
regulations."
The Aventis application to introduce StarLink crops is one of 111 permit
applications received by the department between January and October relating to
genetically modified organisms. The applications, most from the US, are for a
variety of activities, including commercial releases, field trials, contained
use and commodity imports for human and animal consumption. A total of 106
applications have been successful and five are under review.
Before the Act was passed last year, 165 field trials were approved and two
commercial releases were authorised, for the commercial planting of an insect-
resistant maize crop and an insect- resistant type of cotton.
By Fiona Macleod
Copyright 2000 Mail and Guardian. Distributed via Africa News Online.
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