Countries in the South African Development Community (SADC) are not yet ready to accept the introduction of genetically modified seed varieties due to a lack of infrastructure.
This means that the piloting countries Malawi, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia are not touching on issues of genetically modified seed varieties. In as much as genetically modified seed varieties are eligible to withstand the climate change conditions, some countries in the SADC region, including Swaziland, still have no legal frameworks to regulate their introduction.
“It could be very risky if seed is imported without having a bio-safety regulation framework in place. Countries with no bio-safety regulations should be more vigilant on the imports by multinational seed producing companies because it might happen that genetically modified seeds illegally infiltrate countries with no bio-safety regulations,” said industry legislation expert Wynand van der Walt.
Read the full, original article: GM seeds not accepted in the SADC seed variety catalogue
