Mae Won Ho Letter to President of Brazil

Dear Mr. President,

Please allow me to entreat you, in the strongest possible terms, not to give in to pressure from Monsanto to approve planting of GM soya until this and other GM crops have been proven safe for human health and biodiversity.

I am a scientist who visited Brazil not so long ago to speak at the International Seminar on Biodiversity Law, and am among the 333 scientists from 39 countries who have signed an Open Letter to All Governments calling for a global moratorium on GMOs on grounds that there is already sufficient evidence for actual and potential hazard. I enclose the full text of our letter, which contains detailed references to scientific papers. There is certainly no scientific consensus on the safety of GM crops. And many eminent scientists on our list of signatories have reasons to believe that genetic engineering technology, at least, at this stage of development, is inherently uncontrollable, unpredictable as well as hazardous. The regulatory system currently in place cannot offer any safeguard against those hazards. We have a moratorium in Europe at least until 2003.

I have debated in 23 countries within the past 2 years, and I shall be in Brazil and 10 other countries - 6 of them for the first time - before the end of this year. It is clear to me that world wide resistance to GM crops is growing, and it would be economic suicide to give in to Monsanto at this stage, as the market is rapidly shrinking to zero.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Mae-Wan Ho Director
Institute of Science in Society
www.i-sis.org 
c/o Dept of Biological Sciences Open University
Walton Hall, Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA UK
Tel:44-1908-653113
Fax: 44-1908-654167
E-mail: m.w.ho@open.ac.uk