INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY MARCH 8, 2006

Statement of Second Women Farmers' Conference on Food Sovereignty

Islamabad, 8 March 2006: On the occasion of International Women's Day 2006, we, women farmers, farmers' organizations, Lok Sanjh Foundation, South Asia Network on Food, Ecology, and Culture (SANFEC), Bedari Fikr Forum, and human rights activists, gathered here at Dhok Gaji, a small village about 30 kilometers in the south of Islamabad to participate in the second women farmers' conference on food sovereignty. "National security is closely linked to food security and respect for local cultures", said Mr. Mahmood Ali, Federal Minister for Cabinet division. The Terminator seeds can no way be categorized as development technology. It will destroy biodiversity of the region. This region is very rich in biodiversity. Obviously, Terminator seeds will affect food production of the country.

The Independent and the Sunday Herald both reported March 5 that the UK government has abandoned its opposition to Terminator in plans unveiled in a new official document buried in a government website.

A Feburary 21 press release from the Ban Terminator Campaign reported that Monsanto had revised its 1999 public commitment not to commercialize Terminator technology. Its new pledge suggests that it would use Terminator seeds in non-food crops and does not rule out other uses in the future. Now Monsanto's Director of Public Policy has written an apology to the Ban Terminator Campaign, saying that it did not really mean it would consider using Terminator in non-food crops. Monsanto will now change their pledge again to remove this suggestion. Click here to read Monsanto's "pledge" on Terminator.

1) Monsanto Responds
2) Ban Terminator Campaign Follow-up Letter

Biotech Giant Revises Pledge on Sterile Seed Technology as Global Alliance Calls for a Ban.

Granada's Grim Sowers Plow up Moratorium on Terminator,Clear the Path for its Approval at UNTerminator Opponents Prepare for Battle at COP8 in Curitiba, Brazil March 20-31, 2006

Today in Granada, Spain approximately 120 people, mostly local environmentalists, marched through the streets of Granada Spain to arrive at the United Nations meeting of Working Group Article 8(j) to protest Terminator technology. Inside the Congres Centre, delegates to the UN meeting waited anxiously for the second round of Terminator negotiations to start. Terminator will now be discussed tomorrow.

• Spanish Environment Ministry on GURTs, welcoming speech, 23 jan 06, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, Working Group on 8j, Granada
• International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, Opening Statement on Terminator

Ecologistas en Acción take to the streets

"Ban Terminator Technology – Free Seeds Instead of Dead Crops"