GMW: US may press Africa on GMOs, Africans vow to resist

[Guest guest]

GMW: US may press Africa on GMOs, Africans vow to resist

" GM WATCH " <info

Wed, 8 Feb 2006 14:05:41 GMT

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

---

US may press Africa on GMOs, Africans vow to resist

Staff and agencies

By Shapi Shacinda

 

Reuters, 8 February, 2006

http://za.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews & storyID=2006-02-0\

8T134127Z_01_ALL849230_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-TRADE-WTO-GMOS-AFRICA-REFILED-20060208.XM\

L & archived=False

 

LUSAKA - The U.S. may push Africa to accept gene-altered (GMO) food

now that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled the EU broke rules

by barring GMO foods and seeds, but Africans vowed on Wednesday to

resist.

 

" We do not want GM (genetically modified) foods and our hope is that

all of us can continue to produce non-GM foods, " Zambian Agriculture

Minister Mundia Sikatana told Reuters in Lusaka.

 

" The decision by the WTO does nothing to change our stand in this

matter. "

 

The WTO ruled on Tuesday that the European Union and six member states

had broken trade rules by barring entry to genetically modified crops

and foods.

 

A U.S. trade official confirmed findings of the preliminary ruling,

contained in a confidential report sent only to the parties. The closely

watched verdict addressed a complaint brought against the EU by leading

GMO producers the United States, Argentina and Canada.

 

The European Union's opponents asserted that the moratorium, which

Brussels argued was never official, hurt their exports and was not

based on

science.

 

Manufacturers of the biotech seeds, designed to increase yields and

resist pests better than normal seeds, maintain they are safe for human

consumption.

 

European consumers, fearing the effects of " Frankenstein foods " have

resisted them. Even African countries facing food shortages, such as

Zambia, have refused to accept gene-altered food donations, arguing their

safety had not been ascertained.

 

Those countries that take in GMO-food demand stringent certifications

and milling before it arrives on their borders.

 

Regional heavyweight South Africa is one of the few countries on the

continent to embrace the controversial technology.

 

Campaigners and analysts saw the U.S. using the World Trade

Organization ruling to press Africans to accept GMO food imports on

the basis that

Europe, which has usually backed the obstinate African position, will

itself have to take them.

 

" Politically, I think it is very clear that the U.S. will try and use

this case to force GMOs into African markets. American industry is

already saying that the result is a signal to the rest of the world, "

Daniel

Mittler, trade adviser at Greenpeace International, told Reuters by

telephone.

 

" They are implying that while the EU may be able to resist an outlawing

of national bans on GMOs, developing countries will not and will have

to open their markets, " Mittler said.

 

Africans argue that better technology to increase irrigation, more

widespread use of fertilizers and pesticides, and improved monitoring of

market trends will help deliver improved harvests and defeat hunger.

 

" It is obvious to everyone that the U.S. will interpret the WTO ruling

as a message to Africans that it is now time to eat GMOs and stop the

noise-making ... after all, the EU has been put on a leash in the

matter, " said an agriculture consultant in Malawi, one of the

countries that

often require food aid.

 

But Zambian minister Sikatana said there was no looking back: " We made

a decision based on facts and those facts have not changed. We hope no

one in Africa feels they have to change their views based on that

ruling, it will not do. "

 

Additional reporting by Ed Stoddard in Johannesburg

 

 

------------------