Rooibos and honeybush, stalwarts of tea time on the platteland stoep, could be on the verge of taking the health and beauty spas of Europe by storm in a new range of products from corporate giant Nestlé.

But Nestlé has thrown a veil of secrecy over its plans, which have sparked international allegations that the Swiss-based company committed biopiracy in South Africa.

Two nonprofit groups, Berne Declaration in Switzerland and Cape Town-based Natural Justice, last month accused Nestlé of "rooibos robbery", saying it had obtained the herbs for research without complying with South Africa's Biodiversity Act.

The act also makes it compulsory for companies seeking to exploit the country's plants to sign benefit-sharing agreements with local communities, as in the case of hoodia.

Johanna von Braun of Natural Justice said Nestlé subsidiary Nestec SA had applied in Switzerland for five patents using rooibos or honeybush in skin-and hair-care products, and a treatment for inflammation.

"We are hoping that Nestlé and the SA government would enter into negotiations with respect to them formally submitting a permit application that includes a benefit-sharing agreement," Von Braun said.

"Basically, the government would have to come up with a way of how to distribute funds."

Von Braun said Nestlé should have begun the permit process under the act before starting research, but Nestlé spokesman Ravi Pillay said the company would do so only if and when it decided to market a product.

"We've not contravened the Biodiversity Act," he said. "If we decide to make commercial use of the patents, we will of course fully comply with the benefit-sharing provisions."

He said the company was in touch with the departments of Science and Technology and of Environmental Affairs over the research. Asked if South Africa could expect a rooibos bonanza from Nestlé products, Pillay said: "That would be commercially sensitive information."

Was there a product coming on the market imminently?

"That would be commercially sensitive information."

Was the research complete?

"That's the sort of information that's commercially sensitive."

A spokesman for the Rooibos Council, Donnee MacDougall, said Nestlé had also kept it in the dark.

"We don't have more detail than what's been reported in the press," she said.

The council, which represents the local industry, has invested R2-million in research into the health properties of rooibos, which is believed to help prevent diseases like cancer and heart failure.

"We think it's fabulous that the plant can be used internationally, but it must be done equitably without unfairly seeking to exploit the local industry's investment in research or marketing," MacDougall said.

She said the council was concerned that the Nestlé patents might block South Africans from making commercial use of their own plants.

"We don't know exactly what Nestlé plans to do with it; it's about understanding exactly what their patent would exclude in terms of who has usage of the plant ... that for us is really important."

MacDougall said many coloured people depended for a living on the industry, centred in the Cederberg.

"I'm not saying Nestlé is planning to take that livelihood away, but it's just understanding the implications.

"Would there be a benefit that should accrue to people who've been in the industry a very long time?"