GMW: Fear of Boycotts as NZ De-rails International Agreement/SHAME ON BRAZIL AND

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GMW: Fear of Boycotts as NZ De-rails International

Agreement/SHAME ON BRAZIL AND NEW ZEALAND!

" GM WATCH " <info

Sun, 5 Jun 2005 12:17:21 +0100

 

 

 

 

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1.Fear Of Boycotts as NZ De-rails International Agreement

2.Denuciation of Brazil's behaviour

3.SHAME ON BRAZIL AND NEW ZEALAND!

 

COMMENT

 

We have the text of two powerful speeches given to delegates at the end

of the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in

Montreal (MOP2), which broke up on Friday after the negotiations had

been wrecked by New Zealand and Brazil.

 

One observer told us, " NZ and Brazil tried everything to block the

negotiations. Juan Lopes from FOE made a powerful statement to point that

out loudly and many delegations I am sure appreciated what he said...

Most of the participants were very disappointed about the outcome.

Tewolde made a great statement. "

 

Juan's statement (item 3) was headed, " SHAME ON BRAZIL AND NEW ZELAND! "

and others in the hall held up placards expressing the same sentiments

- http://www.iisd.ca/biodiv/bs-copmop2/

 

Particularly galling, as Juan notes, was the fact that the Brazilian

and New Zealand delegations lacked the biosafety expertise and arguments

to even pretend to back up their position.

 

And speaking before Juan, Marijane Lisboa of IDEC Brazil stressed that

the Brazilian delegation did not represent the real interests of the

Brazilian people (item 2).

 

We've had many e-mails from people in New Zealand expressing their

disgust at the behaviour of the NZ delegation, and GE Free NZ's press

release (item 1) emphasises that de-railing of the agreement is likely to

backfire.

 

That's particularly the case as NZ's wrecking tactics in Montreal

follow on from its playing patsy for the US and the GM industry over

Terminator and the WTO action against the EU.

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1.Fear Of Boycotts as NZ De-rails International Agreement

 

GE free NZ Press Release, June 5 2005

 

International consensus on a system to regulate GM organisms is being

undermined by New Zealand and causing anger amongst nations around the

world.

 

The shock moves by New Zealand have been reported from the Montreal

meeting on the Cartegna Protocol and have caused a wave of stinging

criticism.

 

" New Zealand's international standing and economic wellbeing is now

being compromised by our government who are actively lobbying for one

specific sector of industry at the expense of other sectors and the

country

as a whole, " says Jon Carapiet from GE Free NZ in food and environment.

 

The government and exporters must be prepared for a backlash from

overseas which could even include boycotts of NZ-made products as the

news

of the conference spreads.

 

" We are extremely worried that the attempt to de-rail the agreement

will backfire on New Zealand. We are writing to the government asking for

urgent action to rebuild our standing in the international community, "

says Mr. Carapiet.

 

ENDS

 

Jon Carapiet 0210 507 681

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2. Civil Society Statement at Final Plenary MoP 2

 

Marijane Lisboa (IDEC)

 

3 June 2005, Montreal (Canada)

 

I make this statement on behalf of environmental NGOs and civil society

organizations attending this meeting.

 

It is disappointing and shocking that some Parties arrived at this

meeting with no spirit of cooperation and compromise. Indeed, it is

obvious

that some came to obstruct and disrupt positive decision-making. As a

Brazilian, I can tell you that the delegation from Brazil does not

represent the real interests of the Brazilian people.

 

It was disappointing and shocking to hear the opening remarks of the

representative of UNEP. Instead of a balanced overview, we heard a

pro-Industry statement.

 

It is shocking to see the role played by Industry at these

negotiations, to witness their highly funded and brazen lobbying and

their

sponsorship of organizations claiming to speak for public, independent

scientists and whole regions.

 

It is disappointing to note that the voices of the people who work with

nature – the farmers and indigenous peoples – have not been heard here.

 

On the other hand, it was delightful to witness the confident and

constructive biosafety leadership displayed by many countries who

remembered

that this is a Protocol about biosafety and not a treaty about the

promotion of trade, who understood that these negotiations are about

protecting biodiversity and not protecting a single industry.

 

We can assure delegates that when we return to our countries, we will

share with those at home what we have seen here and who exactly were the

actors.

 

We know that civil society around the world wants strong biosafety

rules and we urge all delegations to negotiate with this goal in mind in

the future.

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3.SHAME ON BRAZIL AND NEW ZELAND!

 

Statement delivered at the Closing Session of the Plenary by Juan

Lopez, Friends of the Earth International

 

Two countries block the will of over 100 countries commited to

Biosafety and environmental protection

 

On behalf of Friends of the Earth International I would like to express

our big disappointment about the failure to come to a decision on the

identification requirements of article 18.2a.

 

We are particularly disappointed about the behaviour of the Brazilian

and the New Zealand delegation. It has been clearly shown during the

week that both delegations came to these negotiations with a clear spirit

to block and to prevent a decision on Living Modified Organisms for

feed, food and processing, as required by the Biosafety Protocol. Both

delegations acted with bad faith, and constantly blocked, and blocked,

and

blocked, and blocked…. systematically any constructive moves, and

previously planned and agreed that no decision should be adopted here in

Montreal.

 

Both delegations have proved to have big expertise in hypocrisy and

untruthfulness. Moreover, they have proved to have no expertise at all on

biosafety issues and environmental protection, but on the contrary have

a huge deal of biased expertise on trade, market, exaggerated grain

handling costs, etc. In fact the Brazilians kept on blocking every

progressive step, without giving any reason or valid argument to

defend their

position. Taking into account that Brazil will host the next Meeting of

the Parties on BIOSAFETY, it would be important if the Brazilian

delegations considers seriously attending a good biosafety and

environmental

protection training course, so they can gain knowledge. And maybe a

miracle can happen and in 9 months at the Third Meeting of the Parties in

Brazil, we could have a Brazilian delegation which has more knowledge

and respect for biosafety and the environment.

 

Brazil for the first time has sent a clear signal to the world in this

meeting. Brazil has shown no commitment to Biosafety, and a clear

opposition to further development of biosafety regulations. Brazil has

shown

that their own interest is on the free release of Genetically Modified

Crops without any international biosafety regulations.

 

In a way what has happened here reflects the reality of GM crops in the

world today. Over 90% of the world surface planted with GM crops is

only in three countries. The products of one company alone, Monsanto,

accounts for over 90% of the total area cultivated with GM crops. In

these

negotiations 2 countries have blocked and prevented the desire of over

100 delegations that clearly stated during the whole week its desire to

have a decision on identification of transboundary movement of LMOs.

 

Brazil and New Zealand have proved here that they are serving the

interests of the biotech industry, and the non Parties, which are major

producers of GM crops. The United States, Canada, and Argentina, while

not

actively participating during the negations, were strongly active

behind the scenes supporting and encouraging the position of both

delegations.

 

The positive note is to see that over 100 countries have manifested a

clear support for biosafety, and for the need to clearly identify the

shipments of LMOs around the world. This huge commitment is really

encouraging and shows that the development of national and regional

biosafety

frameworks will be the key priority in the future for all those

countries committed to Biosafety. The need to implement adequate

biosafety

frameworks is clear... biosafety is here to stay and despite the

opposition of the biotech industry and this minority of GM producing

countries,

the majority of the world has already made clear that there is no way

to stop the implementation of protective measures to tackle the

potential risks derived from the movement of Living Modified Organisms

around

the world.

 

 

 

 

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