Government position on GM grain clarified
Angola Peace Monitor (London), January 26, 2005

The Angolan government has formally confirmed the ban on importing genetically modified grain into the country. The decision was made last April to put the country in line with other countries in the Southern African Development Community.
The decision to ratify the ban was taken by the Angolan Council of Ministers in January, and states that the only acceptable GM grain allowed in the country will be food aid, which must be milled before distribution. This is to ensure that seeds are not planted which could lead to GM strains growing unregulated.
There are two arguments put forward for the ban. Firstly, the government does not have the capacity to regulate the growing of GM crops. Other countries such as Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Mozambique have taken the same steps. South Africa does allow GM crops to be grown, but it considers that it has the capacity to regulate the crops.
The second argument put forward is that if Angola is unable to guarantee that its crops are GM free, it will be detrimental in the future to exports to some markets in Europe, where there is widespread scepticism amongst the public as to the safety of GM crops.
The ban last year had the effect of reducing donations from the United States, where GM crops are grown widely. The United States produces a huge grain surplus that benefits from subsidies from the government. Whilst the US government's USAID organisation could easily fund the milling of its maize donations, it has been unwilling to do so on ideological grounds.
Another alternative would be for donor nations to stop dumping their surplus grain on Angola, and instead buy surplus grain from countries such as neighbouring Zambia, which has produced a surplus of non-GM maize but has limited markets for its farmers.