MEDIA ADVISORY
Friends of the Earth International
GLOBAL RULES ON GM ORGANISMS NOW 'UP AND
RUNNING'
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) / Brussels
(Belgium), 27 February 2004 --Friends of the
Earth today welcomed the conclusion in Kuala
Lumpur of the first meeting of the parties to
the Biosafety Protocol - the global agreement
on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) - as
an important step forward for protecting
consumers, farmers and the environment from
the dangers of GMOs.
"Dozens of governments committed to
biosafety defeated a US-led coalition that
tried to undermine the right of consumers,
farmers and citizens to choose
non-genetically modified crops and food. The
right to choose non-GM crops and food is
crucial since GMOs pose a real danger to the
environment and to the health and livelihoods
of people around the world," said Juan Lopez,
of Friends of the Earth International.
"A strong Biosafety Protocol is a positive
step towards an international liability
regime for GMOs. We hope that the European
Union will take this opportunity to establish
a comprehensive legal framework that counters
genetic contamination. This is urgently
needed, especially in the area of liability,
where rules to make polluters pay for damage
caused by GMOs are practically non-
existent," added Geert Ritsema of Friends of
the Earth Europe.
The three key areas in which decisions were
made:
1. Liability
There are currently no international
liability rules for GMO damage but thanks to
the commitment of countries such as Ethiopia
, Malaysia and Colombia in four years from
today we will be many steps closer to an
international liability regime. A Working
Group was created with a strong and clear
mandate to complete the international rules
and procedures for liability and redress by
2007.
The US strongly objected to the text, but as
a non-Party their demands were rightly not
taken into consideration by the chair.
2. Compliance
Crucial compliance measures have been
agreed. (The objectives of compliance
mechanisms are to promote compliance of
Parties with their obligations and address
cases of non-compliance.) A 15-member
committee on Compliance has been created and
will be effective immediately. Cases of
non-compliance can be reported by other
parties. Measures that can be taken to
address non-compliance include both providing
issuing cautions and publishing cases.
For persistent offenders even stronger
measures could still be agreed on the basis
of consensus in future meetings. The EU has
fought for strong compliance rules.
3. Identification
Rules to develop and implement clear
identification of Genetically Modified
Organisms were agreed and do not please the
lobbyists from the biotechnology industry.
While the likes of the International Grain
Trade Coalition were pressing for many
loopholes to be included, in fact Parties,
such as the EU, India and China , opted for
strong identification requirements.
This means that countries can require
exporters to provide clear detailed
information about exactly what GMO is
involved in a shipment and could refuse the
shipment if this information was not
provided. This would represent a huge
improvement on many current trading
practices.
For more information contact in Kuala
Lumpur:
Juan Lopez, Friends of the Earth
International,
Tel: +60-123952149 or
juan.lopez@foeeurope.org
Geert Ritsema, Friends of the Earth
Europe,
Tel. +60-176570825 or
geert.ritsema@foeeurope.org
Liana Stupples, England, Wales, Northern
Ireland,
Tel. +44-7785365178 or lianas@foe.co.uk
More Background Information:
GM CROPS REPORT SHOWS A DECADE OF FAILURE
AND URGENT NEED FOR LIABILITY RULES released
on Feb. 23rd. available from
http://www.foei.org/media/2004/0219.html
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