Biosafety regulations in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa has an active national biosafety advisory committee knows as SAGENE (the South African Committee for Genetic Experimentation). The activities of SAGENE are backed by various pieces of legislation. New comprehensive legislation is currently being drafted by an inter-departmental government working groups, with the active participation of SAGENE, which will promote the responsible development, production, use and application of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In terms of the legislations, a new committee will be formed which will be considerably strengthened and will have the power to make binding decisions.