President of Ecuador opens the door to Terminator seeds
Terminating Food Sovereignty in Ecuador? President opens door to Terminator seeds
ETC Group News Release
April 17, 2009
On February 18, 2009, the Ecuadorian Congress approved a new Law on Food Sovereignty, which, among other important points, declared the country “free of transgenic crops and seeds.” However, in spite of vocal popular opposition, the legislation left the door open to approvals of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in “exceptional” cases. Now, President Rafael Correa has proposed several changes to the legislation – in what is known in Ecuador as a partial-veto – and sent it back to the Congress. The president's changes dangerously weaken the law and open the door to Terminator seeds.
Terminator technology is designed to make “suicide seeds,” genetically engineered to be sterile in the second generation. The technology has been widely rejected around the world by farmers’ movements, governments, research institutions and UN agencies as dangerous, immoral and undesirable.
Alarmed by President Correa's proposals, civil society is now calling on him to drop his amendments and to explicitly ban Terminator technology.
“It's very disturbing that a law that aims to affirm food sovereignty could instead clear the way for a technology that was designed to prevent it,” said Silvia Ribeiro of ETC Group. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the companies that designed suicide seed technology did so explicitly to replace what they called peasants’ 'old seeds.' Since 2000, when a de facto moratorium against Terminator technology was agreed at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity [CBD], these companies have re-branded Terminator as a 'biosafety' tool. This is the interpretation reflected in the president's amended text. Ribeiro adds, “We're worried that this kind of language is showing up in several countries in the global South and we see it as a new push by the biotech industry to overturn the moratorium on Terminator at the CBD's meeting next year in Japan.”
Article 26 of Ecuador's Law on Food Sovereignty, entitled “Regulation of biotechnology and its products,” allowed for the import and processing of “raw materials containing transgenic inputs, provided they meet the requirements of health and safety, and that the reproductive capacity of the seeds is disabled by breaking [of grains] (…)”
The explicit clarification of “seed disabled by breaking” was included to ensure that if transgenic seeds were imported through food aid, or for processing, accidental gene flow from these grains would not contaminate crops in Ecuador, as has tragically happened in Mexico and other countries.
The partial-veto of President Correa removes the phrase “by breaking”[1] from this article, arguing that breaking the grains would mean increased costs. The result is that the amended wording now allows for the importation of GM materials provided only that the “reproductive capacity of seeds is disabled.” Such language equals an
acceptance of grains with Terminator technology.
Elizabeth Bravo of Acción Ecológica, an internationally-respected environmental civil society organization in Ecuador, comments, “Unfortunately, the president's changes to the legislation reflect the influence of his biotech industry-friendly advisors. Terminator is an experimental technology that has never been proven. Scientific reports submitted to the CBD demonstrate that the complexity and instability of Terminator seeds mean that, in practice, there will still be leakage of GM traits. We could face a worst-case scenario: Ecuador enabling both GM contamination and suicide seeds. That is a direct threat to agricultural biodiversity, an essential basis for food sovereignty in Ecuador.”
Bravo added, “This text works against the provisions of article 73 of Ecuador's Constitution, which 'prohibits the introduction of organic and inorganic material that can alter in a definitive way the national genetic heritage.'
Maria José Guazzelli from Brazil and the international Ban Terminator Campaign (made up of hundreds of organizations throughout the world), also voiced concern. “It would be outrageous for Ecuador, which always
supported the international moratorium against Terminator, to open the gate to this terrible technology at the national level. Instead, Ecuador should legislate a ban on the import, development, trials and commercialization of Terminator seeds, as Brazil has already done.”
For more information:
Silvia Ribeiro, ETC Group (México) etcmexico@etcgroup.org, tel +52
(55) 5563 2664
Elizabeth Bravo, Acción Ecológica (Ecuador) ebravo@rallt.org, tel +
593 (2) 254 7516
María José Guazzelli, Ban Terminator Campaign, (Brazil), mariajose.guazzelli@gmail.com
End Note:
[1] The second paragraph of article 26 of the Law on Food Sovereignty approved February 18th 2009, by the Ecuadorian National Assembly said : Las materias primas que contengan insumos de origen transgénico únicamente podrán ser importadas y procesadas, siempre y cuando cumplan con los requisitos de sanidad e inocuidad y que su capacidad de reproducción como semillas sea inhabilitada por trozamiento, respetando el principio de precaución, de modo que no atenten contra la salud humana, la soberanía alimentaria y los
ecosistemas. (…)
The text proposed by President Rafael Correa on March 19th says: Las materias primas que contengan insumos de origen transgénico únicamente podrán ser importadas y procesadas, siempre y cuando cumplan con los requisitos de sanidad e inocuidad y que su capacidad de reproducción como semillas sea inhabilitada, respetando el principio de precaución, de modo que no atenten contra la salud humana, la soberanía alimentaria y los ecosistemas.(…)
President of Ecuador opens the door to Terminator seeds
April 17, 2009
Terminating Food Sovereignty in Ecuador? President opens door to Terminator seeds
Take Action: You can write to the President of Ecuador - Click here to send an instant email.
Bill to Ban Terminator in Canada re-introduced - Support Bill C-353
March 3, 2009
Click here to send an instant email to the Prime Minister
Click here for more information on taking action in Canada.
New Democratic Party (NDP): RIGHTS OF CANADIAN FARMERS SHOULD COME FIRST
Atamanenko re-introduces Private Members Bill to ban terminator seed technology
OTTAWA –NDP’s Agriculture Critic Alex Atamanenko (British Columbia Southern Interior) re-introduced his Private Member’s Bill from the last parliament yesterday to ban ‘terminator seed technology’ in Canada.
“The only goal of “Terminator” is to make sure that farmers are forced to buy new seed each season,” stated Atamanenko. “This is a technology where plants with a built in suicide characteristic will still have the ability to cross pollinate with neighbouring crops of the same species and wreak havoc on farmers who haven’t even planted them.”
Bill C-353, the Terminator Seed Ban Act, is designed to protect the right of Canadian farmers to save and re-use seeds by banning the release, sale, importation and use of Variety Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (V-GURTs). More commonly known as “Terminator”, these seeds are genetically engineered to be sterile after the first harvest. The promoters of this technology do not make the claim that there will be any agronomic benefits to farmers.
“We share the conviction that Canada should join the ranks of countries like India and Brazil, whose governments have already legislated bans on this technology in order to protect their farmers,” said Atamanenko.
“Our government needs to make the commitment to our farmers and to the international community that terminator seeds will not be allowed to take root in Canada,”
Since 2005, the federal government has been working against global consensus on banning “Terminator”. It does not recognize the current moratorium and says it will assess the technology on a case-by-case basis – a position which has been rejected by the U.N Convention on Biodiversity.
“The international community would rejoice if Canada were to pass this law. We have an opportunity to bring the world a major step closer to eliminating this detestable technology,” concluded Atamanenko. “I urge Canadians to appeal to the government to support this legislation.”
Potential Impacts of Terminator on Agricultural Production: New Study with Statements From Brazilian Farmers
April 3, 2008
"Potential Impacts of the Termiantor Technology on Agricultural Production: Statements from Brazilian Farmers"
Click here to download the report
Prepared by: Angela Cordeiro, Julian Perez, Maria José Guazzelli
Florianópolis, December 2007
Study contracted to Centro Ecológico by ETC Group
Brazil's Environment Commission Rejects Effort to Roll-back Ban on Terminator
September 13, 2007
On 13 September Brazil's Commission on the Environment rejected , by a vote of 15-4, a bill seeking to overturn Brazil's national law to prohibit Terminator technology. Supported by the biotech industry and agribusiness interests, the bill proposed to allow research and patenting of genetic seed sterilization. Social movements and civil society organizations campaigned against the bill. According to Julian Perez, of the Ban Terminator Campaign in Latin America, "allowing Terminator would weaken our biosafety law and increase the vulnerability of our agricultural system by making our farmers more dependent on a handful of multinational seed companies."
Industry Tries to Repeal Brazil's National Ban on Terminator
September 7, 2007
In the past, several multinational seed corporations have publicly pledged not to commercialize Terminator seeds - but, not surprisingly, there is intense industry pressure to overturn Brazil's national law prohibiting suicide seeds. Bill number 268 (2007) in the Brazilian Congress proposes to:
EU "Transcontainer" Research Turns Terminator into Zombie
June 13, 2007
ETC Group News Release
13 June 2007 www.etcgroup.org
Suicide-Seed Sequel: EU's "Transcontainer" Turns Terminator into Zombie
ETC Group today releases "Terminator: The Sequel," a Communique reporting on new research related to "suicide seeds" and other genetically modified (GM) seed technologies that pose unacceptable threats to farmers, biodiversity and food sovereignty.
Monsanto Acquires Delta & Pine Land and Terminator
June 1, 2007
On June 1, 2007 the United States Justice Department gave the green light for Monsanto's $1.5 billion takeover of the world's largest cotton seed company, Delta & Pine Land (D&PL) -- the US company that developed and patented the world’s first Terminator seed technology.
Bill to Ban Terminator Introduced in Canada
May 31, 2007
(Click here to take action in Canada)
News Release, ETC Group, www.etcgroup.org
May 31, 2007
A bill to prohibit field testing and commercialization of Terminator seed technology was introduced in the Canadian Parliament today. Terminator refers to plants that are genetically engineered to render sterile seeds at harvest – a technology that aims to maximize seed industry profits by preventing farmers from re-planting harvested seed.
“Canada needs to pass this bill into law because genetic seed sterilization is dangerous and blatantly anti-farmer – suicide seeds threaten to intensify corporate control over Canadian agriculture and offers no benefits for farmers,” said Colleen Ross of the National Farmers Union.
Initially developed by the US Department of Agriculture and multinational seed companies, “suicide seeds” have not been commercialized anywhere in the world due to an avalanche of opposition from farmers, indigenous peoples, civil society and some governments. In 2000, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity recommended a de facto moratorium on field-testing and commercial sale of Terminator seeds; the moratorium was re-affirmed in 2006. India and Brazil have already passed national laws to prohibit the technology.
“Canada has led a behind-the-scenes push to undermine the United Nations moratorium,” points out Pat Mooney, Executive Director of the Ottawa-based ETC Group, “so it’s time the Canadian Government listened to the people.”
“Researchers are continuing to develop and win patents on Terminator because seed sterility is simply too lucrative for industry to abandon,” said Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.
“A national law to prohibit the technology is the only way to insure that Terminator is never commercialized in Canada. The Government of Canada must show its commitment to the international community and not bow to industry pressure,” said Sharratt.
Read the full text of the Canadian bill (pdf)
For further information:
Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, tel: +1 613 241 2267 email: coordinator@cban.ca
Hope Shand, ETC Group, tel: +1 919 960 5223 email: hope@etcgroup.org
National Black Farmers Association Call for Boycott of Monsanto Products
April 5, 2007
The National Black Farmers Association is calling on its 66,000 members to launch a nationwide boycott of agricultural giant Monsanto to protest a proposed a $1.5 billion merger by the company that would reduce competition and crush small farmers.
U.S. group calls on the Justice Department to oppose Monsanto takeover of Delta & Pine Land
February 22, 2007
A new report from the Center for Food Saftety unconditionally opposes the merger of Monsanto and Delta & Pine Land, noting that it would increase chances for the introduction of the internationally-condemned sterile seed technology known as “Terminator.” (www.centerforfoodsafety.org)