Suspend GM crops for at least 5 years - scientists

The East African 2jun00

Nairobi - Several countries, among them Kenya, Uganda, Brazil, South Africa, and India, are making major human and financial investments in biotechnology to improve food security and reduce poverty.

But the question remains whether genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or living modified organisms (LMOs) - the products of biotechnology - are indispensable for feeding the world, protecting the environment and reducing poverty in developing countries, as biotechnology engineering companies claim.

A growing body of scientists, farmers, NGOs, institutions, and governments opposed to the technology are convinced that it is designed to have the opposite effect. They argue that the introduction of GMOs in developing countries will exacerbate inequality and prevent the essential shift to sustainable agriculture that can provide food security and health.

In a letter to delegates at the fifth Conference of Parties (COP5) on the Convention on Biological Diversity at Gigiri, Nairobi, some 310 scientists from both the developed and developing countries demanded a moratorium on the use of GMOs and LMOs. They said they were concerned about the dangers these products posed for biodiversity, food safety, human and animal health.

"We call for the immediate suspension of the release of genetically modified crops and products, both commercially and in open field trials, for at least five years, for patents on living processes, organisms, seeds, cell lines and genes to be revoked and banned, and for a comprehensive public enquiry into the future of agriculture and food security for all."

They argued that genetically modified crops intensify corporate monopoly on food. In order to protect their patents, corporations continue to develop genetic use restriction technologies (GURTs) like terminator and trait-specific technologies.

Terminator technology makes seeds sterile in the second generation, preventing farmers from saving and replanting seed, as is common in developing countries. Under the genetic technologies, farmers are dependent on the genetically modified seed, which is protected under the intellectual property rights.

Trait-specific GURTs make it possible to switch on and off specific characteristics of a plant, such as resistance to diseases. The result is that farmers are obliged to apply particular chemicals to ensure that their crops thrive.

The scientists said this not only increased farmer dependency on chemicals and genetic engineering companies, it was likely to drive many to destitution.

The consortium of more than 25 NGOs at the COPS has expressed concern that almost all the major companies that controlled agricultural engineering technology markets - such as AstraZeneca and Novartis Monsanto of the US and Advanta Seeds of the UK - have patents on the terminator technology. Despite promises last year that they would abandon the technology, 50 new GURTs patents have been issued.

The scientists want the patents banned on grounds that they threaten food security, sanction biopiracy of indigenous knowledge and genetic resources, violate basic human rights and dignity, compromise health care, impede medical and scientific research and work against the welfare of animals.

Products resulting from GMOs could be hazardous. The genetically modified bovine growth hormone, injected into cows to increase milk yields, not only causes excessive suffering and illness for the animals, but also increases IGF- 1 in milk, a substance linked to breast and prostate cancer in humans.

Secret memoranda of the US Food and Drug Administration revealed that it ignored the warnings of its own scientists that genetic engineering is a new departure and introduces new risks. According to the documents, the first GM crop to be commercialized - the FlarSavr tomato - did not pass the required toxicological tests.

In response to concerns on the potential risk of biotechnology and the absence of control systems in developing countries, the legally binding Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is now in place to protect the environment from the potential risk caused by LMOs. Some 63 governments, including Kenya, have signed it.

Under the protocol, strict informed agreement procedures will apply to seeds, live fish, and other LMOs introduced into the environment.