SAY NO TO GM WINE!

'Wines of South Africa', the body for exporters of South African wines, inexplicably seems to be backing GM trials - just click the link below to automatically send them an e-mail. It only takes a minute: http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=87&page=1 (please paste this link into your browser, if necessary)

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GM grapes earn wrath of growers
BOBBY JORDAN
The Sunday Times, 22 October 2006
http://www.suntimes.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=ST6A214039

The University of Stellenbosch's planned planting of 'super-grapes' has top wine exporters seeing red

AN EFFORT to produce South Africa's first genetically modified Chardonnay wine has sparked ferment among top winemakers, who want the country's wines to remain 'pure'.

The 'super-grapes' already in incubation inside a greenhouse at the University of Stellenbosch, are due to be grown at the university's experimental farm.

But the trial first needs the go-ahead from the government's Executive Council on Genetically Modified Organisms, which will debate the matter next month amid a chorus of opposition from wine authorities, including premier estates such as Spier, Lanzerac and Distell.

This week the national Wine Council, chaired by former Cabinet minister Kader Asmal, opposed another application from the university - to use genetically enhanced yeast in wine production.

The row over super-grapes highlights a broader spat over GM foods such as maize, soya and cotton, which are already widely cultivated in South Africa despite concerns about possible health risks and environmental contamination.

A Free State University study has found traces of GM ingredients in 90% of soya products and 61% of maize products tested from the local market. Maize meal is one well-known GM product.

South African companies at present do not have to label food products containing GM material unless they show 'significant difference' from other products - a term yet to be clearly defined.

Wine farmers opposed to GM foods fear their non-GM grapes might become contaminated by GM seed, which in the case of wine would be a disaster for the country's eco-friendly reputation. Anti-GM lobby groups such as Biowatch South Africa also warn of intellectual property issues - the patents on GM organisms are retained by the companies that produce them.

However, pro-GM scientists and companies believe GM crops offer significant benefits such as resistance to disease and higher nutrient content. They argue that GM products are already widely available throughout much of the developed world as well as in South Africa. About 30% of yellow maize and 10% of white maize is already derived from GM crops.

Among other things, GM grapes could lower alcohol content in wines and reduce headaches resulting from particular grape sugars.

GM maize is resistant to some harmful weeds and bugs, thereby reducing the need for pesticides. Some GM herbicides contain insect genes that make crop sprays more effective.

Dr Sarita Groenewald, GM field trial manager at Stellenbosch University Institute for Wine Biotechnology, said the whole point of the GM trials was to produce more environmentally friendly grapevines.

Groenewald said: 'It is really vital that we do these trials. The actual aim is to produce a grapevine that can be used in more environmentally friendly production on wine farms. These trials are for research purposes only.'

Groenewald said the trial site would be completely sealed off to minimise the risk of contamination. All flowers would be bagged and grapevines covered with nets to prevent seed dispersal by birds or other animals during fruiting stages.

'The genes that have been inserted into these plants [come from] from E. coli, which is generally present in nature anyway,' Groenewald said.

But Leslie Liddell, director of Biowatch South Africa, said: 'The nets and bagging of flowers will not ensure that small insects and micro-organisms don't get to the GM plants.'

GM vineyard trials are a thorny issue in several other wine-producing countries, including the US and France, where science is making inroads in the fight against harmful crop viruses.

A GM vineyard under lock and key in Colmar, the heart of France's famous Alsace wine region, has angered fiercely traditional French farmers, some of whom say they'd rather live with viruses.

South African winemakers this week expressed concern about the university's ability to completely isolate its vineyard trial. The head red winemaker at Spier Estate, Kobie Viljoen, said even the slightest exposure to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), such as a GM yeast, could contaminate a wine cellar and have serious repercussions for wine exports.

'For us on the production side, GMOs are a no-go,' he said.

The head of grape and wine buying at Distell, Ernst le Roux, said consumer doubts about GM products outweighed the need for innovation in agriculture.

'From a commercial point of view we can't afford to even say we are thinking of using this [GM] material,' Le Roux said, adding that Distell had no plans to buy GM grapes. 'We won't be pressing to make it legal either.'

Consumer doubts are well founded, according to Chris Viljoen, head of the University of the Free State GMO testing facility in the faculty of Plant Sciences.

'Most scientists who are pro-GM have no problems with GM plants. But when you talk about producing GM babies then suddenly viewpoints become quite varied. One wonders if people would want labels on GM human beings,' he said.

'This debate is not about accepting or rejecting technology. It's about making sure that technology is relevant. One can't just say because we used technology to produce something then we have to use it because it's better.'