Article

New Plant Breeding Techniques

Published: 14/02/2022

The GMO Council announced on 27 October that NPBTs (New Plant Breeding Techniques) will be treated as GMO.  (NPBTs) need to be evaluated outside the ambits of the current GMO Act.  It is necessary to introduce NPBTs faster and more cost-efficiently into the South African market.  The response on the application for appeal is still being awaited from the GMO Council.  Early 2021, Agbiz (Dr. John Purchase) organized a meeting with the DG: Agriculture, Mr. Ramasodi.  In this meeting, the DG referred the whole matter to the Chairperson of the GMO Executive Council, Dr. Julian Japhta.  By the end of November, Agbiz assisted SANSOR and Croplife to lodge a formal appeal based on science against the GMO Council’s decision.