Here comes a disaster

By Nico van Burick

Landbouweekblad
Regulations for the labeling of products that contain ingredients from plant materials
grown by a process of genetic modification (GM), is expected to be published soon. I
cant wait to see in what mess this will end up!
At great expense, there will be attempts to regulate something that is impossible to
regulate and, according to many experts, do not need to be regulated because it poses
no health or security threat.. More than 600 independent scientific studies worldwide
have shown that commercial biotech crops are just as safe as conventional crops.
Biotechnology plays a role in probably 90% of corn and soybeans grown in this country.
There is hardly a person or animal in this country who have not, for almost 20 years,
daily consumed foods containing GM ingredients. Globally, 17 million farmers are
planting GM crops on 170 million ha without any proven negative effect to anyone ever.
The motivation for labeling is that consumers have the right to know and must be in a
position to make a choice. It sounds noble, but it is just not worth the effort.
Firstly, more than 80% of food products will have to be labelled at a great expense.
Furthermore, it will virtually be impossible to enforce it if every ingredient in a product
cant be traced back to its origin and also it will be very difficult and expensive to test.
Farmers at a recent business breakfast organized by AfricaBio were quick to give
ezamples of the difficulties waiting: Mutlatsi Musi, a maize farmer, is selling green
mealies to informal traders who in turn sell it on the street corners. He asked whether
every cob should get a label?
Tepsy Ntseoane, also a maize farmer, says her cows are fed on GM maize. If they are
slaughtered, and finally end up as steaks on a plate in a restaurant, should there be a
notice to indicate what the cattle had eaten earlier in life? She also asked whether GM
and other crops would be stored separately in silos and who would pay the extra costs.
Even the officials drafting the regulations admit that without traceability and clear
evidence prosecution is not possible and that tests will only be carried out where it is
economically feasible.
They will probably act on complaints from consumers. It will be the task of the National
Consumer Commission to prosecute and prove that the law is violated and the penalties
are harsh: 10% of annual turnover or R1 million whichever is the largest amount.
In the US and Canada the approach is that bioengineered foods do not differ from other
foods in any meaningful way and there is no greater safety concern than with other
food. Therefore, labeling is voluntary and no one does it anyway.
Couldnt we just follow the example set by the first world countries with a lot more
knowledge and expertise to base their decisions on?
All we will achieve in a time where there is a need to produce much more food with
viewer resources, is to curb technological development and to create more unnecessary
red tape.
If someone wants to avoid GM products for one or other obscure reason, there is the
option to buy certified organic products.