GMW: Bush suppresses GM crop warnings - Leaked report acknowledges genetic threat

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>

>

> GMW: Bush suppresses GM crop warnings - Leaked report

> acknowledges genetic threat

> " GM WATCH " <info

> ____

 

GM WATCH daily

 

> http://www.gmwatch.org

> ------

> " The recognition of real environmental risks of GE maize and the

> consequent recommendation to mill US maize upon entry into Mexico will

> clearly damage the US position in its WTO case against Europe. It is no

> wonder they worked so hard to try to prevent its release. "

> ------

> Bush suppresses GM crop warnings

> Leaked report acknowledges genetic threat

> Mon 18 October 2004

> MEXICO/Mexico City

> http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?item%5fid=617830

>

> Monsanto and the US Government have been telling the world that

> genetically modified crops pose no contamination threat to natural

> indigenous

> species. But Greenpeace has learned from a leaked report that NAFTA

> disagrees and is recommending steps to avoid a genetic threat to natural

> maize in Mexico. Surprise, surprise: the Bush Administration is

> attempting to suppress the report.

>

> The report, written by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation

> (CEC) of the North American Free Trade Agreement (US, Canada and Mexico)

> recommends that all genetically engineered (GE) maize imports be

> labelled as such and that all US maize entering Mexico should be

> milled upon

> entry, to prevent living seeds from being planted intentionally or

> accidentally.

>

> The Bush Administration has intervened several times to delay the

> publication of the report -- completed three months ago -- and there is

> still no official date for its publication.

>

> The scandal began in September 2001 when the Mexican government

> announced that scientists had discovered contamination of indigenous

> varieties

> of maize with genetically engineered (GE) varieties. The likely source

> of the contamination is imported maize from the USA.

>

> Indigenous and local communities in Oaxaca were horrified, and

> non-governmental environmental organizations in Mexico started a

> campaign to

> bring the contamination to the attention of the world.

>

> As the genetic home of maize, Mexico is on the forefront of natural

> diversity in the crop. There are hundreds of local and wild varieties of

> Mexican maize, all of which could be marginalised and overtaken by

> aggressive GE strains. Loss of these varieties would put the world's food

> security at risk since farmers rely on these genetic resources to create

> new varieties, especially ones adapted to changing environmental

> conditions.

>

> One of the first things Mexico did was to request the CEC to look into

> the matter. The CEC began a process to investigate the contamination;

> possible impacts on human health, communities, and the environment; and

> eventually to provide recommendations to the three NAFTA governments on

> how to address the contamination. The CEC finished the long-awaited

> report on the contamination of Mexican maize by US GE maize way back in

> June.

>

> " The recognition of real environmental risks of GE maize and the

> consequent recommendation to mill US maize upon entry into Mexico will

> clearly damage the US position in its WTO case against Europe. It is no

> wonder they worked so hard to try to prevent its release, " said Doreen

> Stabinsky, genetic engineering campaigner for Greenpeace International.

>

> There are at least two reasons why the US might want to delay

> publication of a report that highlights the environmental, human

> health and

> socio-cultural risks of GE maize. First, inside sources have alluded

> to the

> potential implications of the report on the WTO case being brought by

> the US and Canada against the European Union.

>

> In 2003, the U.S., Canada and Argentina launched a case against the

> European Union for a de facto moratorium on new approvals on GE varieties

> in place in Europe since 1998. The CEC report is likely to provide

> strong support for Europe's scientific arguments. It calls attention

> to the

> huge gaps in knowledge that exist regarding the impacts of GE maize in

> Mexico, stating explicitly that risk assessments carried out in the

> United States are not adequate to determine potential impacts in Mexico.

>

> " The WTO suit was clearly a politically motivated attack on the

> environment and on European consumers. It is highly significant that

> another

> trade body has now confirmed that there are unique risks to genetically

> engineered organisms and that there is scientific backing for a

> precautionary approach on genetic engineering, " said Stabinsky. " The only

> appropriate next step for the US government is to follow the CEC's

> recommendations and mill their maize exports. "

>

> The report will also clearly have an effect on the current US efforts

> to send GE maize as food aid. A number of African countries have

> rejected whole US maize as a potential threat to their environment, and

> requested only milled maize. The report backs up these demands as it

> concludes that there is insufficient data on which to conclude safety of

> transgenic maize for the Mexican environment and recommends milling of

> maize

> to reduce these risks.

>

> What Bush doesn't want you to see:

>

> Conclusions from the CEC Mexican Maize report (unoffical English

> translation)

>

http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/multimedia/download/1/618472/0/final_\

cec.pdf

>

> The CEC report on GE maize contamination in Mexico (Spanish)

>

http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/multimedia/download/1/618468/0/cec_ma\

ize_report_sp.pdf

>

> Confidential comments from US and Canadian governments on the CEC

> report.

>

http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/multimedia/download/1/618471/0/Coment\

arios_USA_24_jul_2004-1.pdf

>

http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/multimedia/download/1/618470/0/EC_Can\

ada_opiniones.pdf

>

> In-Depth:

>

> The CEC advisory group - who are they?

>

http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/multimedia/download/1/618045/0/adviso\

ry_group_members.pdf

>

> History of the CEC report on Mexican maize

>

http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/multimedia/download/1/618081/0/CEC_me\

dia_backgrounder_final.pdf

>

> Mexican Maize: the Truth

> http://weblog.greenpeace.org/ge/archives/001404.html#001404

>

> The CEC's scientific findings on Maize contamination in Mexico

>

http://weblog.greenpeace.org/ge/archives/CEC_Report_Mexico_CornContamination_Jun\

e2004.pdf

>

> CEC website

> http://www.cec.org/maize/index.cfm?varlan=english

>

> Maize Under Threat - GE Maize Contamination in Mexico

>

http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/multimedia/download/1/302811/0/maizeu\

nderthreat.pdf

>

>