E-mail:
Country:
South Africa
Organization/agency name (Full name):
Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries
Contact person name:
Nompumelelo Mkhonza
Website:
Physical full address:
30 Hamilton street, Harvest House building, Arcadia, Pretoria, 0001
Phone number:
+2712 319 6382
Fax number:
+2712 319 6298
Country introduction
Summary:
Framework
Regulatory framework:
My country has a regulatory framework that requires the competent authority to conduct safety assessment of GM food.
Structure for GM food safety assessment:
My country has competent authority, agency, organization, ministry, department, committee, commission or a system/mechanism that is tasked to conduct or review GM food safety assessment.
Supplemental information:
All activities with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in South Africa are regulated under the Genetically Modified Organisms Act, 1997 (Act No. 15 of 1997) as amended by Genetically Modified Organisms Act, 2006 (Act No.23 of 2006). The GMO Act is administered by the Directorate Genetic Resources, within the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and makes provision for the appointment of a Registrar, the Advisory Committee, the Executive Council and Inspectors. All GMO applications must be submitted to the Registrar and applications that are compliant to the provisions of the GMO Act are submitted to the Advisory Committee (AC). The Advisory Committee (AC), comprising of scientific experts is responsible for the evaluation of risk assessment data of all applications as it relates to food, feed and environmental impact, following which a recommendation is submitted to the Executive Council (EC). The EC is the ultimate decision-making body and it consists of members from different government departments. The EC before taking a decision to permit an activity or not, considers the recommendations of the AC, compliance with various policies and comments from members of the public or interested parties. All applications for field trials, commodity clearance (i.e. food/feed/processing) and general release are published for the information and inputs of the general public.
Contact details of the competent authority(s) responsible for the safety assessment and the product applicant:
Department of Agriculture,Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) http://www.daff.gov.za
Assessment
GM food safety assessment guidelines:
My country follows the relevant Codex Guidelines or national/regional guidelines that are in line with the Codex Guidelines in conducting safety assessment of GM food.
Conduct of GM food safety assessment:
My country regularly conducts food safety assessment of GM food.
Supplemental information on the implementation:
Stacked events
Regulation of stacked events:
In my country, GM food/feed that contains stacked event(s) is considered as a new product even if all single events that are stacked have already approved.
Supplemental information on the stacked events:
South Africa does not have a specific review/authorization mechanism for stacked events. Stacked events just like single events are subjected to a safety assessment as per the GMO Act.
Production and trade
GM food/feed production:
My country produces GM food or feed for commercial and research purposes.
GM food/feed imports:
My country allows imports GM food or feed upon authorization.
Supplemental information on the production and trade:
LLP/AP incidents
LLP/AP incidents:
I do not know if my country has faced any LLP/AP issues in the last 10 years.
Supplemental information on the LLP/AP incidents:
Labelling requirement
Labelling requirement:
My country has a mandatory and positive labeling regulation & allows a voluntary and negative labeling on GM food.
Supplemental information on the Labelling requirement:
Relevant links to documents and information prepared by the competent authority responsible for the safety assessment
Other relevant documents:
Country information last modified:
23/04/2018
