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Fair Trade Petition disproves UN claims about GM crops
Full text of the petition below the press release.
NEWS RELEASE
10th July2001
For Immediate Release
Fair Trade Petition disproves UN claims about GM crops
The UK-based food and crop campaign Genetic Food Alert (GFA) have condemned
a report, to be launched on Tuesday 10th July by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP). They say that a petition, so far endorsed by 291 groups
from 54 nations, clearly disproves the claims made in the UN's report1.
GFA claim that The Human Development Report 2001, entitled "Making
New Technologies Work for Human Development" contains frightening
echoes of recent biotechnology industry propaganda. The report sings the
praises of GM crops as the way forward to 'feed the world', and is expected
to claim that opposition to the crops comes only from western environmental
groups who supposedly 'stand in the way of the technology' and are uncaring
about the needs of the 'third world'2. It has already
been condemned in a report by the hunger campaign Food First3
and a statement by leading Indian food rights campaigner Devinder Sharma.
GFA, in response to appeals from farmers groups in India, have compiled
a petition (see below) addressed to 'Fair Trade' organisation in Europe,
the USA and Japan calling for 'Fair Trade' products to remain free from
GMOs for reasons of social justice. Crops such as GM cotton4
and GM coffee5 may soon threaten the livelihoods of tens
of millions of smallholders and landless peasants in dozens of the poorest
nations.
Robert Vint, the GFA National Co-ordinator said:" The vast majority
of signatories to our petition are 'third world' groups - farmers unions,
welfare groups, development programmes, women's groups - we have generally
excluded western environmental groups because fair trade is a separate
issue. I now have a pile of letters from 50 Indian farmer and welfare
groups, all headed 'Stop the Sale of Genetically Modified Crops'.
These come from the very people the biotech industry is claiming it wants
to feed and here they are appealing to rich world organisations to represent
their interests and help stop GMOs. The UNDP would do well to listen to
them. The simple fact is that it is not just in affluent Europe that GM
crops are being rejected4 "
"The problem faced by the hungry in the 'third world' is unfair
distribution of land and other resources for food production." he
continued. "If the poor lose their jobs and land because crops are
introduced that favour total automation, 'prairie farming' and the needs
of the largest farms then theycannot access food - however much is produced
globally. Already food-grade crops from poor countries are fed to animals
in rich nations because the poor cannot afford to buy them. This technology
will only make the inequality worse. The UNDP ought to be ashamed of themselves.
It is about time we had the courage to deal with the real problems of
world hunger, and not take quick fix pseudo-solutions marketed by corporations
out to make a fast buck."
"This is another shameless move by an industry that is seeing it's
markets disappear in the face of global resistance. Well respected development
organisations are having to divert valuable funds from their work in the
'third world' to counter these insidious claims."5,
6.
ENDS
For more information contact:
Robert Vint 01803 868523 / coordinator@geneticfoodalert.org.uk
NOTES FOR THE EDITOR
1 The petition (see below) is an invitation to fair trade
certifying bodies "to support a worldwide appeal to avoid the use
of genetically modified crops in the manufacture of Fair Trade products".
The groups supporting it are overwhelmingly 'third world' groups. Very
few of the environmental groups accused of 'hindering progress' for the
poor are signatories.
2. The UNDP report has been criticised as a "yet
another biotechnology industry sponsored study" by a leading Indian
food rights campaigner, Devinder Sharma <dsharma@ndf.vsnl.net.in>
3. Food First report: "Genetic Engineering of Food
Crops for the Third World: An Appropriate Response to Poverty, Hunger
and Lagging Productivity?" by Dr. Peter Rosset
http://www.foodfirst.org/progs/global/biotech/belgium-gmo.html
4. This petition comes hot on the heels of a successful
campaign by Indian organisations to prevent the commercialisation of GM
Cotton in India www.hindubusinessline.com/stories/142103s7.htm The decision
to commercialise was postponed by a year. GMOs have been strongly resisted
by farmers' groups, who have even taken to pulling up and burning trial
plots to defend the livelihoods of 20 million workers.
5. ActionAid have recently launched a campaign against
GM Coffee, fearful of the damage it could do to the livelihoods of 60
million small farmers. [www.actionaid.org ]
6. Christian Aid have produced a report "Selling
Suicide" condemning the use of so called 'terminator' genes. [www.christian-aid.org.uk/indepth/9905suic/suicide1.htm
]
***************************************
Genetically Modified Crops
should not be used in the manufacture of
Fair Trade Products
A Global Petition
to Fair Trade Certification Bodies
from 291 Organisations in 54 Nations
****
An introductory message from P.V. Satheesh,
General Secretary, Deccan Development Society, Andhra Pradesh, India....
FAIR TRADE MEANS JUSTICE FOR FARMERS
GM CROPS MEAN INJUSTICE
Across the Third World farmers are protesting at the threat to their
livelihoods posed by Genetically Modified (GM) crops. From Brazil to India
farmers have been destroying GM crops. The majority of these crops are
designed to increase herbicide-dependence because they only yield well
when
used in conjunction with a herbicide provided by the seed company, thus
trapping farmers yet more effectively in the 'agrochemical treadmill'.
'Terminator' crops are being developed that are designed to be sterile
so
that farmers have to buy new seed each year, thus threatening farmers'
traditional right to save seeds. 'Traitor genes' are being added to
crops to prevent them yielding in the absence of a proprietary chemical.
Most of
these crops are being designed specifically to benefit the most mechanised
and largest farms - so threatening to increase landlessness and rural
unemployment and to widen yet further the gap between rich and poor.
Genetically Engineered crops are far easier to patent and control than
conventional crops. This increases the control by transnational seed
companies over seed varieties and threatens local, traditional varieties
and
biodiversity. Patent legislation enables biotech companies to impose
exploitative contracts on farmers and also encourages 'biopiracy' - the
plundering of the genetic wealth of Southern nations for the profit of
Northern companies.
The latest of many threatening crops is a GM Controlled-Ripening Coffee
being developed in the USA by Integrated Coffee Technologies Inc to enable
the mechanisation of coffee-picking. This utilises 'traitor genes' to
prevent ripening until a chemical is sprayed on the crop. This directly
threatens the livelihoods of up to 50% of the world's 60,000,000 coffee
workers and could ultimately replace millions of socially and ecologically
benevolent smallholdings with vast and lifeless corporately controlled
plantations.
In the next few years the USA and biotech companies are likely to attempt
to introduce Genetically Modified cacao, tea, bananas, sugar cane and
other cash crops in order to cut dependence on labour and to maximise
their control over the global seed and cash crop trade and the agricultural
economies of Southern nations.
The FairTrade Movement cannot effectively campaign against such exploitation
and oppose the development of such crops until the FairTrade Certification
bodies have made a clear commitment to avoid the use of GM raw materials
in
their own products. Some national certifiers, such as Comercio Justo México,
have already taken this step whilst some others have yet to act. Meanwhile
the majority of FairTrade manufacturers are actively avoiding GM ingredients
(and many are going organic to help their farmers out of the 'agrochemical
treadmill'). Many of the wholesalers and shops that promote and sell
FairTrade products now refuse to sell anything containing GM ingredients.
The organisations listed below are calling upon FairTrade Certification
bodies around the world to support small farmers by saying NO to these
GM
crops and by banning them from FairTrade products.
P.V. Satheesh
****
PETITION
Bearing in mind that the vast majority of Genetically Modified crops
are
designed to exploit farmers by forcing them to buy new seed each year,
to
make then dependent upon purchases of specific agrochemicals or to tie
them
in to inequitable and unjust commercial contracts,
Bearing in mind that any benefits of GM crops to farmers are likely to
be
reaped disproportionately by the largest farmers, resulting in bankruptcy
for smaller competitors and the replacement of labour-intensive with
capital-intensive agriculture,
Bearing in mind the widespread opposition of peasant farmers unions,
of NGOs
involved in development work and of the purchasers of FairTrade products
not
only to Terminator and Traitor technologies but to patented crops and
GM
technologies in general,
Bearing in mind that even biotechnology companies have admitted that
GM
crops will not feed the world and that many organisations see these
crops as
a major threat to local food security in many nations,
And noting that most FairTrade certified products are currently GM-free
[because GM coffee, tea, cocoa or sugar cane have yet to be commercially
developed, because many FairTrade products are organic or are sold via
wholefood/health food manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers who boycott
GM ingredients and because most consumers of FairTrade products wish to
avoid GM ingredients],
We, the undersigned, call upon FairTrade certifiers in each nation to
refrain from supporting the spread of exploitative genetically modified
cash
crops by refusing to certify products containing GM ingredients.
SIGNATORIES AS OF 5th July 2001.
[291 Organisations from 54 Nations]
INTERNATIONAL
* EFTA - European Fair Trade Association
* Fair Trade Federation (North America)
AUSTRALIA
* Action for World Development
AUSTRIA
* ARGE Weltläden (World Shops)
BANGLADESH
* Aranya Crafts Ltd. (IFAT)
* Bangladesh Krishok Federation (Peasant Federation)
* DEW - Development Wheel (IFAT)
* Nayakrishi Andolan (New Agriculture Movement)
* NRDS - Noakhali Rural Development Society (IFAT)
* The Swallows Association for Social Voluntary Service (IFAT)
* SHISUK- CARAM Bangladesh
* UBINIG (Policy Research Centre for Development Alternatives)
BELGIUM
* AEFJN - Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network
* OXFAM Wereldwinkels Vzw (OXFAM World Shops) (IFAT)
BENIN
* OBEPAB (Organisation Béninoise pour la Promotion de l'Agriculture
Biologique)
BELIZE
* Toledo Cacao Growers Association (fair trade)
"GM CROPS MEAN INJUSTICE TO BELIZEAN FARMERS AND DESTRUCTION OF OUR
PLANET
On behalf of the TOLEDO CACAO GROWERS ASSOCIATION and all cacao farmers
in
Toledo, we wish to strongly oppose and completely reject the production
or
use of GM cacao or any other crops.
Biotech companies who also produce chemicals are NOT concerned about the
development of our poor and marginalized farmers in third world countries;
their only aim is huge profits and they don't care if they are destroying
our planet and mankind. This in fact is widening a huge gap between the
rich
and the poor. Its time that all good men and women join in the fight
against such injustices.
We stand firm in our support for the petition 'Fairtrade product should
remain GM-FREE'. We say 'NO to GM'
>From the staff and management of TCGA
and all the cacao farmers in Toledo BELIZE, 28th May, 2001"
BOLIVIA
* AGRUCO - Agroecología Universidad Cochabamba
* ASARBOLSEM - Asociación Artesanal Boliviana Señor de Mayo
(fair trade)
* Asociación de Organizaciones Campesinas Económicas"Moto
Méndez"
* Centro De Investigacion Y Promocion Del Campesinado, Regional Santa
Cruz
(Centre for the Study & Furtherance of the Peasantry)
* CIOEC - Bolivia (Networking Committee of Peasant Economic
Organisations of
Bolivia)
* Foundation of Our Lady of La Paz
* FOBOMADE (Bolivian Forum for Environment & Development)
BRAZIL
* Associação de Estudos Orientação e Assistência
Rural (Assoc for Studies
Directed to Rural Assistance)
* AS-PTA - Assessoria e Serveços a Projetos em Agricultura Alternativa
* CAPA - Centro de Apoio ao Pequeno Agricultor - Santa Cruz (Centre for
the
Support of Small Farmers)
* CETAP (Centro De Tecnologias Alternativas Populares) (Peoples' Centre
for
Alternative Technology)
* CTA-ZM (Centre for Alternative Technology of Zona da Mata)
CAMEROON
* INADES/Formation (an agriculture & development training group)
CANADA
* Alternative Grounds (fair trade coffee)
* La Siembra Co-operative Inc (fair trade chocolate - FTF member)
COLOMBIA
* Ad hoc Group on Biodiversity of Colombia
* Centro de Debate y Acción Ambiental (centre for Environmental
Debate &
Action)
* ECOSUR -Asociación de Productores Ecológicos del Suroccidente
Colombiano
* ILSA (Latin American Institute for Alternative Legal Services)
* Swissaid Foundation Seeds Programme - Colombia
COSTA RICA
* COOCAFE - Consorciode Cooperativas de Caficultores (IFAT)
* Mesa Nacional Campesina
* Programa CAMBIOS-UNA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
* Fundacion Agricultura y Medio Ambiente Inc. (Environment & Agriculture
Foundation Inc)
EL SALVADOR
* Friends of the Earth International
* Voluntariado ecologico-UCA
EQUADOR
* ALLPA JANPIRINA - Instituto de Regeneración Ecológica
* CAMARI (IFAT)
* CEAS - Corporacion Ecuatoriana Amazonia Sustentable
* Cooperacion Belga (Belgian Cooperation)
* Red por una America Latina Libre de Transgenicos
* RELACC (Red Latinoamericana de Comercializacion Comunitaria)
ETHIOPIA
* Environmental Protection Agency
* Institute for Sustainable Development (Dr Tewolde Egzhiabher)
"Small farmers will be squeezed out of the market with GM coffee.
It is a
shift from a labour-intensive to a capital-intensive system, from small
farmers to large farmers," [Financial Times (UK) 16th May 2000]
Dr Tewolde Egziabher
Ethiopia's spokesperson at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation
(Coffee exports account for nearly 70 per cent of Ethiopia's foreign
earnings)
FINLAND
* Tampereen Kehitysmaakauppa (IFAT)
FRANCE
* AlterEco (IFAT)
* Ecoropa - France
* IHEAL - Instituto de Altos Estudios de America Latina
GERMANY
* TopQualiTea (IFAT)
GHANA
* GOAN - Ghana Organic Agriculture Network
GUATEMALA
* Manos Campesinas
HONDURAS
* Via Campesina
INDIA
* ACTION (Association for Rural & Tribal Development)
* All Backward Classes Welfare Association
* Amar Educational Academy
* Ambedkar Rural Development Society
* Andhra Pradesh Rytu Sangham (AP Farmers Union)
* ANTHRA (serving small farmers and promoting sustainable development)
* Andhra Pradesh Coalition in Defence of Diversity [120 NGOs]
* ARISE (Agricultural Renewal in India for a Sustainable Environment)
* ARTIC (Appropriate Reconstruction Training & Information Centre)
* Arundhati Mahila Mandali
* Bharathi Devi Harijana Mahila Mandali
* CAMP (Christian Association for Medical Mission and People's Development)
* Creative Action for Necessitous Development from Living Environment
* Deccan Development Society
* Deena, Christava, Sarvodaya Seva Sangham
* Development of Peace Church of Christ
* Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security
* Girijana Deepika (mass-member organization working for the Adivasi
indigenous peoples)
* Harijana Mahila Mandali
* Harijana Seva Mahila Mandali
* Indira Priyadarshini Girijana Backward Class Mahila
* Indira Memorial Weaker Section Development Society
* International Group for Grassroots Initiatives
* Integrated Rural Development Organisation
* Jana Kalyan
* Kalabharathi Mahila Mandali
* Kamla Nehru Youth Association
* KRRS (Karnataka State Farmer's Association) [10 million small/landless
farmers]
* Mahila Action
* Needful Education & Welfare Society
* People's Action for Social Service
* People's Action In Development
* People's Organisation for Woman Raising
* Prajwala (charity serving the 'untouchable' castes of India)
* Prakasam Social Welfare Association
* Priyadarshini Mahila Mandali
* Research & Action in Natural Wealth Administration
* Rural Awareness Society
* Rural Development Society
* Samanvaya (a knowledge support organisation for agriculture groups)
* SAHARA
* SANFEC (South Asian Network for Food, Ecology and Culture) [200 NGOs]
"As India embraces free trade, foreign companies are taking control
of its
land, seeds and agricultural research --the vital tools which farmers
have
depended on to produce the nation's food stocks. As farming becomes the
target of big business -- aided and abetted by the unsound biotechnology
industry -- crop fields are being switched over to growing cash crops
for
export. The environmental and social effects of this are potentially
catastrophic.
Free trade in genetically modified food products and agricultural
commodities does nothing to further the survival of farming communities
in
India, where they form the basis of the economy. The corporate-driven
GM
technology, as part of the new trade regime, will eliminate only the hungry
and not hunger; the small and marginal farmers and not unsustainable
agriculture. And therein lies a grave danger." (31 May 2001)
Devinder Sharma, Food and Trade Policy Analyst
Chair, Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security, New Delhi, India
* Sarvodaya Youth Organisation
* SIPA (IFAT)
* Society for Environment & Eco Development
* Society of Science Students
* Sravanti Association
* SRED (Society for Rural Education and Development)
* Sri Chaitanya Mandali
* Sri Sai Yuvathi Mandali
* The Harijana Development Service Society
* Tara Projects Association (IFAT)
* TNWF (Tamil Nadu Women's Forum)
* Village Reconstruction Service Society
* YAKSHI (resource group for community initiatives and peoples movements)
INDONESIA
* Consumers Organization of South Sulawesi
* ELSPPAT (Institute of Development Study and Technology Service)
* JAKER PO - Indonesian Organic Agriculture Network
* LATIN - Indonesian Tropical Institute
* Organic Farmers Network
* OXFAM (Great Britain) Indonesia Office
* PAN Indonesia (Pesticide Action Network)
* World Food Day Farmers Movement
JAPAN
* A SEED Japan
* Association to Preserve the Earth
* The Association for Eliminating Food Pollution and Seeking Safe Food
* Consumers Union of Japan
* Global Village - Fair Trade Company (IFAT)
* Nepali Bazaro (IFAT)
* Polan Hiroba (fair trade)
* Organic Agriculture Network - Chiba
* Seikatsu Club Consumers' Co-operative Union
* Stop GM Seeds Network Japan
* US Greens Abroad - Japan
* Vision 21
* Wakachiai Project
KENYA
* Bombolulu Workshops for the Handicapped (IFAT)
* Intermediate Technology Development Group - Eastern Africa
* KISCOOP (IFAT)
* Machakos District Cooperative Union Ltd (IFAT)
KOREA
* CACPK (Citizens Alliance for Consumer Protection of Korea)
MALAWI
* Smallholder Coffee Farmers Trust
"We have had enough of the exploitive nature of the Coffee Industry
for over
Twenty years. Now that we manage and control the sector, and that we see
a
ray of hope on the horizon, new exploitive mechanisms are being designed
and
implemented to push us back into poverty through Genetically Modified
Coffee.
We urge you to continue fighting Multinational Companies to STOP the
exploitive GM programmes and save us from perpetual poverty. A World of
a
Shared Responsibilities, Rights and Obligations is for sure a better World"
(29 May 2001)
The Smallholder Coffee Farmers Trust
represents 4000 Growers in the 5 Co-operatives in Northern Malawi.
MALAYSIA
* PAN-AP (Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific)
* SEA Council (Southeast Asian Council For Food Security and Fair Trade)
* Third World Network
MEXICO
* CIEPAC (Centre for Economic & Political Research for Community Action)
* Consultants for Alternative Planning
* Despertar de Un Pueblo Maya, S.C, Chiapas
* Ecotianguis Viva la Tierra! Coop (Long Live the Earth! Coop)
* Espacio de Salud, A.C. (Space for Health)
* ERA - Estudios Rurales y Asesoría Campesina A.C.
* Gaia Gastronomica Natural
* Institute for Social Research, National Autonomous University Mexico
* Proyecto Gestión de Saberes (Project for the Management of Knowledge)
* Red de Permacultura México (Permaculture Network Mexico)
* Red de Consumidores de Café AC (Coffee Consumers Network)
* Revolucion accion
* Xochipilli A.C. y Xochiquetzal, SA de CV (IFAT)
MOZAMBIQUE
* Economic Justice Coalition
NAMIBIA
* Mud Hut Trading (IFAT)
NEPAL
* RRN - Rural Reconstruction Nepal
* USC Canada - Nepal
NETHERLANDS
* AKB - Alternative Consumers Association (fair trade)
* ASEED Europe
* EFTA - European Fair Trade Association (IFAT)
* Fair Trade Organisatie (IFAT)
NEW ZEALAND
* Fair NZ (Campaigning for Sustainability, Human Rights and the Environment)
* GE Free New Zealand
NICARAGUA
* ADAR (Association for Agroecological Regional Development)
* Centro de Derechos Constitucionales (Centre for Constitutional Rights)
* CARE
* FENACOOP, R. L.
* Friends of the Earth - Nicaragua
* GVC-Italia (Civilian Volunteer Group - Italy)
* RAPAL-NIC (Pesticide Action Network - Nicaragua)
NIGERIA
* ATNN - Alternative Trade Network of Nigeria (IFAT)
PAKISTAN
* Caritas-Pakistan
* Sungi Development Foundation
PANAMA
* Programa de Conocimiento Indígena (Indigenous Knowledge Program)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
* www.pngcoffee.com (fair
trade)
PERU
* Candela Peru (IFAT)
* CIAP (IFAT)
* MINKA S.R.L. (IFAT)
* RAAA (Network for Action on Alternatives to the use of Agrochemicals)
* RAP-AL Peru (Pesticide Action Network - Peru)
PHILIPPINES
* Alter Trade Corporation (IFAT)
* Asia Gender and Trade Network
* Farmgrid Credit and Marketing Cooperative
* Justice and Peace Desk - Social Action Center
* KMP (Peasant Movement of the Philippines)
* MASIPAG (Farmer-Scientist Partnership for Development)
* PhilNet-RDI, Inc
* SEARICE- SouthEast Asia Regional Institute for Community Education
"Warm Greetings of Solidarity!
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (The Peasant Movement of the
Philippines) wishes to express its support and solidarity to the GM Coffee
Campaign & Genetic Food Alert and your petition "Fair Trade Products
Should
Remain GM-free". KMP has long and strongly opposed the promotion
and
implementation of genetically modified crops here in the Philippines and
throughout the world. The Philippine peasantry knows first-hand the dangers
and threats GM crops pose to farmers and local food security. Instead
of
reaping the so-called benefits of food security and bountiful harvests
of
these monster crops touted by Agrochemical Transnational Corporations
(TNCs)
and their cohorts, farmers in the Philippines and other countries have
only
reaped further exploitation, dependency on pesticides and herbicides,
poverty, and dangers to health and livelihood.
Moreover, we stand firm on our analysis that the use of poison seeds &
chemicals will only increase Philippine agriculture's dependence from
Agrochem TNCs and imperialist control. This will also worsen the Filipino
peasantry's fundamental problems of landlessness and monopoly control
of
landlords and foreign agro-corporations over our vast tract of lands.
It is
through the continued struggle of peasants, farmers, and their supporters
that we will raise awareness and fight GM crops and the Agrochemical TNCs
who benefit from its use
In Solidarity,"
RAFAEL MARIANO, Chair, KMP (Peasant Movement of the Philippines)
& Spokesperson, International Alliance Against Agrochem TNCs
SENEGAL
* PAN-Africa (Pesticide Action Network)
SPAIN
* Alternativa3, S.Coop. (IFAT)
* Amics de la Terra Eivissa
* Ecologists in Action
* Friends of the Earth - Spain
* La Aldea Del Sur (Comercio Justo) [The Village of the South (Fair Trade)]
* Marisatsa Ecological Consumers Association
* Platforma Rural (Rural Platform)
* Sección Sindical de CCOO-Euskadi (main workers union in Spain
- Basque
region)
* SOPEÑA (Cantabria)
SOUTH AFRICA
* SAFeAGE (South African Freeze Alliance on Genetic Engineering)
* Safe Food Coalition
SRI LANKA
* Central Council of Disabled Persons (IFAT)
* Gospel House Handicrafts (IFAT)
* MONLAR (Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform)
* People's Organisation for Development Import & Export (IFAT)
* Siyath Foundation (IFAT)
SWEDEN
* Swedish Consumer Coalition
* Swedish Worldshops' Association for Fair Trade
SWITZERLAND
* CARITAS Schweiz Fairness Handel (IFAT)
TANZANIA
* AMKA Trust
THAILAND
* Alternatives to Consumerism (Sulak Sivaraksa)
* Catholic Commission for Human Development
* GE SEA Campaign Project (Genetic Engineering - SouthEast Asia)
* Pesticide Legal Action Network Thailand
UGANDA
* NAWOU - National Association of Womens' Organisations of Uganda (IFAT)
U.K.
* AgroFair UK (fair trade)
* Arches Hotel
* Bishopston Trading company (BAFTS Member)
* Body and Soul Organic Foods (wholefood retailer)
* Centre for Alternative Technology
* Chiapaslink Collective
* Christian Aid (fair trade)
* Clearspring Ltd (wholefood manufacturer / importer)
* Cooks Delight (wholefood retailer)
* Community Foods (wholefood wholesaler)
* Daily Bread Workers Coop (wholefood wholesaler)
* Equal Exchange (IFAT)
* Essential Trading Workers Coop (wholefood wholesaler)
* Five Year Freeze Alliance (representing 120 NGOs)
* Food For All, London (wholefood retailer)
* Gaia Foundation
* Genetic Food Alert
* Genetics Forum
* Green & Black's Chocolate Ltd (fair trade)
* Green City Wholefoods (workers coop, wholesaler)
* Greenlife Wholefoods, Totnes (retailer)
* Guatemala Solidarity Network
* Highlands and Islands GM Concern
* India Development Group (UK) Ltd
* just fairtrade, Leicester
* Marigold Healthfoods Ltd (wholefood wholesaler)
* NAHS (National Association of Health Stores) (representing 300 shops)
* NEAD - Norfolk Education & Action for Development
* New Economics Foundation
* One World Shop, Edinburgh (BAFTS Member)
* Out Of This World (retailer / fair trade)
* PAN-UK (Pesticide Action Network UK)
* Planet Organic (wholefood supermarket)
* Salisbury Healthfoods (wholefood retailer)
* Suma Wholefoods (workers coop, wholesaler)
* The Green Shop, Berwick (BAFTS Member)
* The Tea and Coffee Plant, London (fair trade)
* The Village Bakery Melmerby Ltd (manufacturer / fair trade)
* The Cocoa Tree (fair trade chocolate)
* Totnes Genetics Group
* Tropical Wholefoods (fair trade)
* Twin Trading Ltd (IFAT)
* Uhuru Wholefoods, Oxford (wholefood retailer / fair trade)
* Unicorn Grocery (wholefood retailer)
* Wistbray Limited (fair trade)
U.S.A.
* 8th Day Center for Justice, Chicago
* Africa Faith & Justice Network
* Artisans' World Marketplace (FTF member)
* Austral Imports, IL / Ginger Blossom (FTF member)
* Cafe Campesino & Cooperative Coffees (FTF member)
* Center for Environmental Citizenship - Northwest Office
* Dagoba Chocolate (fair trade)
* Equal Exchange Fairly Traded Coffee (IFAT)
* Fair Trade Federation
* Food First
* Friends of the Third World, Inc., Cooperative Trading
* Gifts That Make A Difference (FTF member)
* Global Exchange (FTF member)
* IATP (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy)
* Made By Hand International Cooperative (FTF member)
* Marin Interfaith Task Force on Central America
* Meridian Arts, Inc., ME
* Mexico Solidarity Network
* Nicaragua Center for Community Action, CA
* Nicaragua Network of Washington, DC
* Organic Consumers Association
* Peace Coffee (FTF member)
* Peacecraft fair trade retail, NM (FTF member)
* Royal Gardens Tea Company (fair trade)
* Taylor Maid Farms (fair trade)
* Thanksgiving Coffee Company (fair trade)
* The Human Bean Company (fair trade)
* WorldFinds (FTF member)
VENEZUELA
* RAPAL-Venezuela (Pesticide Action Network)
ZIMBABWE
* Organic Products Inc
"GM crops are taking us down a dangerous farm track creating classic
preconditions for hunger and famine: ownership of resources concentrated
in too few hands - inherent in farming based on patented proprietary products
- and a food supply based on too few varieties of crops widely planted,
are the worst option for food security. The new techniques also leave
untouched growing gaps between rich and poor"
Christian Aid Report:
"Selling Suicide: farming, false promises and genetic engineering
in developing countries"
****
Background information 1.
LET NATURE'S HARVEST CONTINUE
Statement from delegates for all African nations (except South Africa)
to UN FAO negotiations on the International Undertaking for Plant Genetic
Resources, June 1998
During the past few weeks European citizens have been exposed to an
aggressive publicity campaign in major European newspapers trying to
convince the reader that the world needs genetic engineering to feed the
hungry. Organised and financed by Monsanto, one of the world's biggest
chemical companies, and titled "Let the Harvest Begin", this
campaign gives
a totally distorted and misleading picture of the potential of genetic
engineering to feed developing countries.
We, the undersigned delegates of African countries participating in the
5th
Extraordinary Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources, 8 - 12 June
1998, Rome, strongly object that the image of the poor and hungry from
our
countries is being used by giant multinational corporations to push a
technology that is neither safe, environmentally friendly, nor economically
beneficial to us.
It is time to look at some of the facts about the company behind this
campaign: Monsanto is one of the world's largest pesticide companies.
During
the past two years only it spent over US$6,000 million to take control
over
other seed and biotechnology companies and is now the major industrial
player in this field. Its major focus is not to protect the environment,
but
to develop crops that can resist higher doses of its best-selling chemical
weedkiller "Roundup".
Rather than stretching a helping hand to farmers, Monsanto threatens
them
with lawsuits and jail. In the USA, the company employs detectives to
find
and bring to court those farmers that save Monsanto soybean seeds for
next
year's planting. Backed by patent law, the company demands the rights
to
inspect the farmers' fields to check whether they practise agriculture
according to Monsanto conditions and with Monsanto chemicals.
Rather than developing technology that feeds the world, Monsanto uses
genetic engineering to stop farmers from replanting seed and further develop
their agricultural systems. It has spent US$18,000 million to buy a company
owning a patent on what has become known as Terminator Technology: seed
that
can be planted only once and dies in the second generation. The only aim
of
this technology is to force farmers back to the Monsanto shop every year,
and to destroy an age old practice of local seed saving that forms the
basis
of food security in our countries.
In "Let the Harvest Begin" the Europeans are asked to give
an unconditional
green light to gene technology so that chemical corporations such as
Monsanto can start harvesting their profits from it. We do not believe
that
such companies or gene technologies will help our farmers to produce the
food that is needed in the 21st century. On the contrary, we think it
will
destroy the diversity, the local knowledge and the sustainable agricultural
systems that our farmers have developed for millennia and that it will
thus
undermine our capacity to feed ourselves.
In particular, we will not accept the use of Terminator or other gene
technologies that kill the capacity of our farmers to grow the food we
need.
We invite European citizens to stand in solidarity with Africa in resisting
these gene technologies so that our diverse and natural harvests can
continue and grow.
We agree and accept that mutual help is needed to further improve
agricultural production in our countries. We also believe that Western
science can contribute to this. But it should be done on the basis of
understanding and respect for what is already there. It should be building
on local knowledge, rather than replacing and destroying it. And most
importantly: it should address the real needs of our people, rather than
serving only to swell the pockets and control of giant industrial
corporations.
Signed by the following United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation
delegates for African nations:
Jean Marie Fodoun, Cameroun; George A. Agbahungba, Benin; Paul Therence
Senghor, Senegal; Koffi Goti, Cote d'Ivoire; Mokosa Madende, Congo Democ;
Jean Jacques Rakotonalala, Madagascar; Juvent Baramburiye, Burundi; Worku
Damena, Ethiopia; Gietaturn Mulat, Ethiopia; M.S. Harbi, Sudan; Eltahir
Ibrahim Mohamed, Sudan; Maria A. Calane da Silva, Mozambique; Kohna Nganara
Ngawara, Tchad; Nkeoua Gregoire, Congo; Mugorewera Drocella, Rwanda; H.
Yahia-Cafrif, Algeria; Abebe Demissie, Ethiopia; G.P. Mwila, Zambia; Dr
S..H.
Raljtsogle, Lesotho; Naceu Hamza, Tunisia; Hambourne Mellas, Morocco;
Elizabeth Matos, Angola; Tewolde Berhane Gebre Egziabher, Ethiopia
[
www.oneworld.org/panos/news/biodoc5.htm ]
****
Background information 2.
INTERNET RESOURCES ON GM CROPS AND THE THIRD WORLD
THIRD WORLD NETWORK www.twnside.org.sg/bio.htm
PEOPLES CARAVAN 2000 www.poptel.org.uk/panap/caravan.htm
GRAINS OF DELUSION: Golden Rice Seen From the Ground: Joint report by
BIOTHAI (Thailand), CEDAC (Cambodia), DRCSC (India), GRAIN, MASIPAG
(Philippines), PAN-Indonesia and UBINIG (Bangladesh) February
2001www.grain.org/publications/reports/delusion.htm
[Also available as a PDF File: Adobe Acrobat needed to read it]
www.geneticsforum.org.uk/delusion.pdf
KMP Peasant Movement of the Philippines www.geocities.com/kmp_ph/
KARNATAKA STATE FARMER'S ASSOCIATION
www.ethicalinvesting.com/monsanto/news/10027.htm
GM Third World Warning (BBC News)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_339000/339240.stm
Third World rejects GM (Independent) www.connectotel.com/gmfood/gm990228.txt
INDIA TOGETHER / SAMANVAYA REPORT ON GOLDEN RICE
www.indiatogether.org/reports/goldenrice/vitaminA.htm
USDA PUSHING GENE FOODS ON THIRD WORLD By Devinder Sharma, Pakistan Observer
www.connectotel.com/gmfood/po270699.txt
ACTION AID GM COFFEE CAMPAIGN www.actionaid.org
CHRISTIAN AID REPORTS:
Selling suicide - farming, false promises and genetic engineering in
developing countries
www.christian-aid.org.uk/indepth/9905suic/suicide1.htm
Biotechnology and genetically modified organisms
www.christian-aid.org.uk/indepth/0001biot/biotech.htm
The Biosafety Protocol - controlling trade in GMOs
www.christian-aid.org.uk/indepth/0003bios/biosafet.htm
WORLD DEVELOPMENT MOVEMENT www.wdm.org.uk/campaign/GMOs.htm
WDM REPORTS ON GMOs:
GMOs and the WTO: Overruling the right to say no
www.wdm.org.uk/cambriefs/GMOs/GMOs_WTO.htm
The Biosafety Protocol: Agreed in Montreal
www.wdm.org.uk/cambriefs/GMOs/GMOs.htm
The Battle for International Rules on GMOs: The biotech industry versus
the
world's poor www.wdm.org.uk/cambriefs/GMOs/battle.htm
Genetically modified seeds: Corporate control over farmers in the Third
World www.wdm.org.uk/cambriefs/GMOs/farmers.htm
GRAIN: Genetics Resources Action International www.grain.org/latestnews.htm
Rural Advancement Foundation International http://64.4.69.14/web/about.shtml
Food First www.foodfirst.org/progs/global/biotech/
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy www.iatp.org/
Corner House Briefing 10 on Genetic Engineering & World Hunger
www.icaap.org/Cornerhouse/briefings/10.html
Genetic Engineering: Can it Feed the World? GeneWatch Briefing
www.genewatch.org/Publications/Briefs/Brief3.htm
Feeding the World? Jules Pretty examines the myths and realities of
sustainable farming's quiet revolution www.geneticsforum.org.uk/feeding.htm
Suspend GM Crops For 5 Years demand Scientists from South & North
www.netlink.de/gen/Zeitung/2000/000602.html
Corner House Briefing 10 on Genetic Engineering and World Hunger
http://cornerhouse.icaap.org/briefings/10.html
****
Genetic Food Alert
Genetic Food Alert is a campaign started by the UK wholefood trade in
1998.
Its members, who now include all the wholesalers for the trade, the National
Association of Health Stores and many manufacturers and retailers, have
for
many years promoted fair trade, ecological agriculture and healthy food
through the products they manufacture and sell. The campaigns of Genetic
Food Alert are relevant to all these concerns. Members sell a large
proportion of the Fair trade products sold in the UK and, for reasons
of
justice, ecology and health, refuse to sell products containing GM
ingredients. This petition is an integral part of our work.
Genetic Food Alert
www.geneticfoodalert.org.uk
info@geneticfoodalert.org.uk
4, Bertram House, Ticklemore Street, Totnes Devon TQ9 5EJ UK
Tel: +44 1803 868523
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