The Regulatory Implications of New Breeding Techniques

Abstract

South Africa is one of only very few African countries that has commercialised GMOs. A plethora of recent developments in genetic engineering and related technologies has necessitated the reassessment of their possible value, biosafety implications and regulation. This led the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to commission this study by ASSAf. This study had two main objectives: to make sure South African policy appropriately and adequately addresses biosafety requirements of these new techniques to ensure safe and sustainable research, development and use of their products; and to ensure the regulatory requirements are appropriate to the technologies and/or their products. This consensus report provides an overview of the so-called new breeding techniques (NBTs), as well as an overview of current global approaches to the regulation of these NBTs and then makes recommendations on: •how to assess these new and future techniques and their products regarding their possible subjection to existing GMO legislation; • how current biosafety policy and regulations may need to be amended to accommodate the varying biosafety implications of these products; • if current risk analysis frameworks and practice are sufficient to assess the biosafety of these products.