Governments and Inter- governmental Bodies
Terminator technology will become a commercial reality unless governments develop legislation to prohibit the field testing and commercial use of Terminator seeds. Experience shows that we cannot rely on corporate promises not to use Terminator.
Terminator is currently being developed and promoted by seed companies. However, there is currently an international moratorium on Terminator at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The moratorium was recently upheld and even slightly strengthened at the March 2006 meeting of COP8 in Brazil. Click here for details.
What is COP8
Governments upheld, and slightly strengthened, the moratorium on Terminator at the 8th Conference of the Parties (COP8) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity March 20-31 2006 in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. COP9 will be held in Germany in the autumn of 2008. COP is:
- is the governing body of the CBD
- Governments from countries across the world send delegations of officials to debate and make decisions in these negotiations
- COP has authority over the UN moratorium on Terminator
National Bans: Brazil and India have both banned Terminator. National bans are needed in order to make sure that the technology is never field tested or commercialized.
Brazil: Click here to read Brazil's ban
India: Click here to read India's ban
The CBD commissioned the "Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group report on the potential impacts of genetic use restriction technologies on smallholder farmers, indigenous and local communities" (AHTEG report). The report found that the potential negative effects of GURTS (Genetic Use Restriction Technologies or Terminator) far outweigh the positive impacts and thus require the ongoing implementation of the precautionary principle to insure the rights, safety, and food security of Indigenous and local communities are not threatened.