South African court orders re-evaluation of Monsanto’s decade-long maize variety permit

SOUTH AFRICA – The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ruled that the South African Executive Council (EC) must re-evaluate its 2014 permit approval for the genetically modified maize variety MON87460.

This ruling comes after nearly a decade-long legal dispute led by the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), which has contested the approval since 2015.

The SCA’s judgment does not challenge the safety of MON87460 or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in general; rather, it criticizes the procedural process the EC followed in granting the permit.

The crux of the decision is the EC’s failure to clarify whether Monsanto, which developed MON87460 before being acquired by Bayer, should have submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as part of the application.

 Although an EIA is not a mandatory requirement, the court noted that the EC should have explicitly decided if it was necessary.

In the ruling, the SCA stated that “it was a relatively straightforward matter for the state to have presented evidence that a determination was made one way or the other, but it had failed to do so.”

The court thus deemed that the EC’s approach amounted to rubber-stamping Monsanto’s application without adequately applying the “precautionary principle”, a requirement for caution when there’s uncertainty about environmental risks.

Mariam Mayet, director of the ACB, celebrated the ruling, stating it exposes the EC’s uncritical acceptance of Monsanto’s claims regarding MON87460’s safety.

“The court recognized that the EC merely accepted Monsanto’s evidence without independently verifying the environmental or health impact,” Mayet said.

Annelize Crosby, head of legal intelligence at Agbiz, expressed a different view, explaining that the onus is on the company to submit scientific data for permits, as government bodies do not conduct independent trials.

“Environmental monitoring is primarily the role of the South African National Biodiversity Institute, which has not indicated any issues requiring an EIA,” Crosby added.

Bayer Crop Science, which acquired Monsanto, responded to the judgment through Liza Bohlmann, their external communications lead for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Bohlmann clarified that MON87460 is unique to this case and that other GMO traits on the market remain unaffected.

“We remain confident that our trait technology and seeds are safe and effective, as they have been for over two decades in South Africa and globally,” she said, adding that Bayer’s next steps will involve consultation with legal experts and industry stakeholders.

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