Daily News Archive
From March 16, 2006                                                                                                        

Upcoming Talks In Brazil Expected To Highlight Problems With GE Food
(Beyond Pesticides, March 16, 2006) United Nations talks on the global trade in genetically engineered (GE), or biotech foods and crops will highlight the gap between countries demanding the right to regulate imports of GE products and the huge business interests that seek to benefit from weak rules.

The identification and labeling of imports of GE products will be the key debate in Curitiba, Brazil at the 3rd Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety on March 13-17, 2006. The biotech industries consistently opposed clear identification and labeling requirements for any of the GE crops on the market today. Without clear labeling many countries, especially developing countries with their limited resources, are unable to protect their food supply and environment from GE contamination.

Nnimmo Bassey, International Coordinator of the Friends of the Earth GE Campaign said: " These talks are key to protecting the environment and the world's food supply from contamination from the biotech industry. Every country should have the right to know what is being imported and to decide if they want to eat genetically modified foods or not. African countries and other developing countries will not be the dumping ground for genetically modified crops that no one else wants."

The Cartagena Biosafety Protocol, which was originally agreed to in January 2000, provides basic international rules that allow mainly developing countries to regulate the safety of GE foods, crops and seeds. It has been ratified by 132 countries but the three main countries that grow GE crops - the United States, Argentina and Canada - have refused to support it. Talks broke down in Montreal in June 2005 after Brazil and New Zealand blocked proposals that would have allowed the majority of developing countries to know if GE grains were being imported.

Ten years after the first significant planting of GE crops, no plants with benefits to consumers or the environment have materialized and GE crops have failed to deliver the promises of the biotech industry. More than 80% of the area cultivated with biotech crops is still concentrated in only three countries: the US, Argentina and Canada. Friends of the Earth International recently published a report that concluded:

* GE crops are not 'green'. Monsanto's GE soybeans, the most extensively grown GE crop today, has led to an increase in herbicide use. The intensive cultivation of soybeans in South America is fostering deforestation, and has been associated with a decline in soil fertility and soil erosion.

* GE crops do not tackle hunger or poverty. Most GE crops commercialized so far are destined for animal feed, not for food, and none have been introduced to address hunger and poverty issues. In Argentina, the second biggest producer of GE crops in the world, only 2% of the soy stays in the country. Other developing countries, such as Indonesia and India, have experienced substantial problems with Monsanto's GE crops, often
leaving farmers heavily indebted.

* The biotech industry has failed to introduce the promised 'new generation' of GE crops with consumer benefits. After 30 years of research, only two modifications have made it to the marketplace on any scale: insect resistance and herbicide tolerance.

For more information contact: Friends of the Earth International

Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International / Friends of the Earth Nigeria
Tel: +234 8037274395 (Nigerian mobile) or email nnimmo@eraction.org

Adrian Bebb, Friends of the Earth Europe
Tel +49 1609 490 1163 (German mobile) or email adrian.bebb@foeeurope.org

Juan Lopez, Friends of the Earth International
Tel +34 6259 805 820 (Spanish mobile)