David defeats Goliath in South Africa
The commercial approval of a GM maize that is claimed to be drought tolerant has been quashed in South Africa “after nine long years of arduous litigation” by the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).
The ACB claimed that authorities rubber-stamped Monsanto’s application for authorisation of MON87460, “uncritically accepting its paucity of evidence that the genetically modified organism (GMO) poses no threat to human health or the environment and ignoring the contrary expert evidence tendered by ACB’s experts.”
The precedent-setting decision by the South African Supreme Court of Appeal in October overruled the GMO Act Executive Council, an Appeal Board, a Minister and a 2023 High Court judgement. It was a ruling in favour of the applicability of the precautionary principle.
According to the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER), which supported the ACB in the case: “biotech companies typically submit the same data of the same experiments for a particular GM crop to all regulators in different jurisdictions… including the EU and its member states, which are also legally obliged to apply the precautionary principle.” It called on European jurisdictions to consider the bearing of the case, noting that they had also been criticised for failing to implement the precautionary principle.From left to right: Legal Aid South Africa Senior Strategic Litigation Attorney Nzame Skibi, Advocate Nikki Stein, Scientific Consultant Dr Angelika Hilbeck, Advocate Karrisha Pillay and ACB Director Mariam Mayet. Image: African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).