GM Yeasts

Wines of South Africa would like to emphasise that:

In a statement issued on 15th October 2006, the SA Wine Council objected to the commercial use of GM Yeasts. As at 20 October, a decision from the Registrar on this is now awaited, and he is expected to turn down the application for the use of GM yeast.

The proposed field trials on GM grapes will be be done in accordance with the strictest research protocol, details of which are available on www.winetech.co.za, and provide information on how secure the process is, as well as how the the risk of contamination is controlled.

It is currently not legal to produce GM wine in South Africa and the Wine and Spirit Board have no plans to change this.