SA defends gene modified maize exports to Kenya
Workers offload maize at the Mombasa port. South Africans seem surprised that an advance consignment of 40,000 tonnes had been detained at the port of Mombasa. Photo/FILE
South Africa has defended the export of genetically modified maize to Kenya, saying Nairobi approved the shipments.
The 240,000 tonnes of the cereal had been passed for human and animal consumption but not for planting, Pretoria’s department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries said in a statement.
Kenya authorised the consignment before South Africa issued an export permit, as required by the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, an international agreement on the safety of modified organisms.
“On receipt of this authorisation, the department of agriculture issued an export permit in February this year,” says the statement posted on the department’s website.
The South Africans seem surprised that an advance consignment of 40,000 tonnes had been detained at the port of Mombasa.
Following reports in the local and international media, the department says it had contacted the Kenyan Government to confirm the status of the maize cargo.
“Reports from the Kenyan Plant Health Inspectorate Services (Kephis) say the consignment has been transferred to a warehouse. No further reports are available,” says Ms Noncedo Vutula, chief director at the department of agriculture.
The development contradicts the Kephis position that the maize is not genetically modified but was contaminated accidentally.
Last week, Kephis director James Onsando said tests found traces of contamination with modified genes but at extremely low rates that are harmless.
The statement also bears out the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition which said the importation of genetically modified maize was done with the full knowledge of the government.
The South Africans’ statement also negates plans by the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture to send samples of the consignment for further tests abroad.
The government has been silent on the issue, with the National Biosafety Committee saying it is unaware of the importation of the genetically modified maize.
Last Friday, the new minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology, Mr William Ruto, gazetted the first board of the yet-to-be-formed National Biosafety Authority.
