GM_papaya_scandal_in_Thailand_-_contamination_of_major_food_crop

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> Subject:

_GM_papaya_scandal_in_Thailand_-_contamination_of_major_food_crop

> " GM_WATCH " <info

> Tue, 27 Jul 2004 13:22:10 +0100

 

> GM WATCH daily

> http://www.gmwatch.org

> ------

> FOCUS ON ASIA

>

> Packages of papaya seeds being sold by the

> Department of Agriculture's research station in the

> province of Khon Kaen have tested positive for GM

> seeds.

>

> " This is potentially one of the worst cases of

> genetic contamination of a major food crop in Asia

> as this station is one of the largest suppliers of

> papaya seeds in the country, " - Varoonvarn

> Svangsopakul, GE campaigner in Southeast Asia.

> ------

> GE papaya scandal in Thailand

> Illegal GE seeds found in packages sold by

> Department of Agriculture

> GREENPEACE, Tue 27 July 2004

> THAILAND/Khon Kaen

>

http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?item_id=547563

>

> We warned the Thai government over a year ago not to

> play with genetically engineered (GE) papaya but

> they didn't listen. Although trials of the

> engineered food crop are banned, it seems they

> couldn't resist having a go themselves. Now they

> have left the whole country's papaya crop wide open

> to contamination.

>

> Independent laboratory tests carried out in Hong

> Kong showed that packages of papaya seeds being sold

> by the Department of Agriculture's research station

> in the province of Khon Kaen contained GE seeds. We

> identified one of the fields at the research station

> as the source of the GE seeds. It turns out that the

> experimental field was only segregated from the

> other papaya by barbed wire and banana trees.

>

> " This is potentially one of the worst cases of

> genetic contamination of a major food crop in Asia

> as this station is one of the largest suppliers of

> papaya seeds in the country, " said Varoonvarn

> Svangsopakul, our GE campaigner in Southeast Asia.

> " This is the hard evidence we needed to prove that

> GE contamination has broken in Thailand. "

>

> Thai activists sealed off the GE papaya at the

> agricultural research station of the Department of

> Agriculture. Dressed in protective suits they

> removed the GE papaya fruit from the trees then

> secured them in hazardous material containers. They

> also demanded that the government complete this

> process and immediately destroy all papaya trees,

> fruit, seedlings, and seeds in the Khon Kaen

> research station to prevent further contamination.

>

> " The purpose of the ban on field trials imposed in

> 2001 was to prevent GE contamination. But we now

> have proof that not only has this ban failed, but

> the Department of Agriculture itself has committed a

> crime that threatens an essential food with

> widespread contamination, " said Svangsopakul.

>

http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/features/details?item_id=290584 "

>

> Last year we warned the Thai public of the

> environmental and health risks posed by GE papaya

> and called on the government to stop all planting of

> the crop anywhere in the country. We also pointed to

> Hawaii as an example of GE papaya gone wrong.

>

> When GE papaya was introduced into Hawaii the

> biotech industry said it was a 'solution' to the

> papaya ringspot virus problem. But instead it has

> caused serious environmental and economic problems

> for farmers. The selling price of GE papaya has

> fallen to 30-40 percent below production costs, and

> the price that farmers get for their GE papaya is

> 600 percent lower than the price for organic papaya.

>

> The consequences of growing GE papaya in Thailand

> are feared to be even more serious than Hawaii. Not

> only is green papaya eaten as a daily staple food,

> it is also grown everywhere - in farmers' fields,

> schoolyards and gardens.

>

> " We've been calling for an end to this genetic

> experiment on the grounds that genetically modified

> organisms (GMOs) are uncontrollable. There can no

> longer be any doubt that this is true. And the

> government must take action to stop this experiment

> now, " said Jiragorn Gajaseni, Executive Director of

> Greenpeace Southeast Asia. " The government must act

> now to impose a total ban on GE field trials,

> including those in government restricted areas and

> experimental stations, and must launch an

> investigation into this environmental crime. "

>

> Take Action

> http://activism.greenpeace.org/cyberwall/index_e.php

> Please help us to protect China from a similar fate

> by building a cyber Great Wall to keep GE Soya out

> of China!

> http://activism.greenpeace.org/cyberwall/index_e.php

>