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

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GMW: Bush suppresses GM crop warnings - Leaked report

acknowledges genetic threat

" GM WATCH " <info

 

Mon, 18 Oct 2004 22:54:31 +0100

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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" 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. "

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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

 

 

 

 

 

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