South Africa: Objection to GM sugarcane trials

The South African Sugarcane Research Institute (SASRI) has applied to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for permission to conduct field trials for four varieties of GM sugarcane. Having viewed SASRI's applications in terms of the Public Access to Information Act (PAIA), the African Centre for Biodiversity issued a statement saying: 'It is our opinion that the information provided is so inadequate that it is virtually impossible to conduct any meaningful independent assessment of the applications. Further, throughout the application runs the assumption that the genetically modified lines under discussion are 'equivalent' to their conventional counterparts. This is a view not supported by the published literature.' Read the rest of the statement through the weblink provided.