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Worldwide Illegal spread of GM crop !!

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GMW: Report reveals worldwide illegal spread of GM"GM WATCH" <infoWed, 8 Mar 2006 14:56:41 GMTGM WATCH dailyhttp://www.gmwatch.org---PRESS RELEASE: 8th March 2006First contamination report reveals worldwide illegal spread ofgenetically engineered cropsGreenpeace and GeneWatch UK call for urgent adoption of internationalbiosafety standardsThe first report into the extent to which genetically engineered (GE)organisms have 'leaked' into the environment - released today - revealsa disturbing picture of widespread contamination, illegal planting andnegative agricultural side effects.The report is a

summary of incidents uncovered by the on-lineContamination Register (1) set up by Greenpeace and GeneWatch UK. Itreveals acatalogue of highly disturbing incidents right across the world,including* Pork meat from genetically engineered pigs being sold to consumers* Ordinary crops being contaminated with GE crops containingpharmaceuticals* Growing and international distribution of illegal antibioticresistant Maize seeds* Planting of outlawed GE crops which have been smuggled into countries* Mixing of unapproved GE crops in food, including shipments of foodaid* Inadvertent mixing of different GE strains even in high profilescientific field trialsThe report reveals 113 such cases worldwide, involving 39 countries -twice as many countries as are officially allowed to grow GE crops sincethey were first commercialised in 1996. Worryingly, the frequency ofthese cases is increasing, with 11

countries affected in 2005 alone.Contamination has even been found in countries conducting supposedly"carefully controlled" high-profile farm-scale evaluations, such asthe UK."This may well only be the tip of the iceberg, as there is no officialglobal or national contamination register so far," said Dr. Sue Mayerof GeneWatch UK, who leads the team of investigators. "Most incidents ofcontamination are actually kept as confidential business information bycompanies as well as public authorities."Greenpeace is calling for a mandatory international register of /all/such events to be set up, along with the adoption of minimum standardsof identification and labelling of all international shipments of GEcrops. "Without such biosafety standards ,the global community will haveno chance of tracing and recalling dangerous GMOs, should this becomenecessary." said Benedikt Haerlin of Greenpeace International's BiosafetyProtocol

delegation.The publication of the report comes only days before the latest meetingof the 132 countries who have signed the Biosafety Protocol (2), whichis to establish standards of safety and information on GE crops inglobal food and feed trade. At their last meeting an imminentagreement wasblocked by only two member states, Brazil and New Zealand. They werebacked by the major GE exporting countries USA, Argentina and Canada, whoare not members of the Protocol and want to restrict requiredidentification to a meaningless note that a shipment "may contain" GE."All of these countries have national legislation to protect themselvesfrom illegal GE imports. Still they want to deny the same rights andlevel of information to less developed countries, with no nationalBiosafety-laws and means to enforce them," concluded Haerlin. "Do theyreallywant such unethical double standards and create dumping grounds forunidentified

and illegal GE imports? We hope that Brazil, who will behosting this meeting, will not betray the developing countries andcater tolarge agro-businesses at the expense of the environment."For further details contact:Benedikt Haerlin, tel +49 30 27590309, fax +49 30 27590312 mobile +49173 9997555Greenpeace USA: Prof. Doreen Stabinsky , tel. +1-202-285-7398Greenpeace China: Isabelle Meister +86 10 655 46931 ext 135GeneWatch UK, Dr Sue Mayer, tel +44 1298 871898Notes to editors1. The GM Contamination Register is online at/www.gmcontaminationregister.org.The full report is also available at www.greenpeace.org/bsp2006 andwww.genewatch.org/publications/reports/contamination report final.doc2. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety under the Convention onBiological Diversity is an international treaty to establish minimuminternational safety standards for genetically engineered organismsratified by132

states. http://www.biodiv.org/biosafety3. An overview of national legislation on imports and labelling of GEorganisms world wide including a map of potential GE dumping grounds aswell as import and export figures is available online athttp://www.greenpeace.org/bsp2006----------------- "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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