LETTER TO BE COPIED AND EMAILED IN OBJECTION TO THE TRIAL GMO CROPS IN GEORGE. Deputy Director General Agricultural Production Health and safety, Dr Modisane, BotlheM@daff.gov.za I am writing to you in response to the advert that was published in the George Herald on the 24th May 2013. “Application for the trial release of genetically modified organisms” by Dow Agri Sciences South Africa. I am concerned with the effects of GE on biodiversity through gene-flow from modified crops, and I urge you to support long term research into the effects of GE on human and animal health and on the environment. I also note the heavy use of poisons and chemical fertilizer in the area, and I’m worried about the effects of chemicals on human and animal health and on the environment. I urge you to apply the precautionary principle and to adopt measures which promote organic farming, to support research into methods of reducing the impact of agriculture on the environment, and to unite farmers in working towards an agro-ecological approach to promote climate smart farming. Dow claims in their application that their technology will reduce chemical use, making our environment safer and reducing the impact on human health. This is simply untrue; herbicide-resistant crops invite greater use of chemicals, not less. Claiming in the application that “exposure to the environment outside the experimental sites and other maize crops will be avoided through both physical measures as well as spatial and temporal isolation” is not possible unless grown in a sealed off tunnel as you cannot control the wind. What problems are associated with glufosinate and glyphosate – the herbisides they want to use? Glufosinate Studies have shown that this chemical negatively affects the cardiovascular, nervous and reproductive systems in rodents and mammals . In 2009 the European Parliament voted to ban glufosinate, along with 21 other pesticides classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction. The use of glufosinate will be completely phased out in the European Union by 2017. Glyphosate (Roundup) Glyphosate is one of the world’s most traded active ingredients in the global herbicide market. Although the agro-chemicals industry has claimed that glyphosate is not harmful to humans and animals, many studies have shown otherwise: • Glyphosate can cause cell death in human umbilical, embryonic and placental cells. • Serious impacts on embryonic kidney cells have been observed. • In Ontario, Canada, glyphosate use has been associated with an increased risk of spontaneous and late abortions among farm-workers . Similar evidence has emerged from Argentina.