News & Updates

News Release ETC Group 16 August 2006
www.etcgroup.org
www.banterminator.org

More than 10,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Australian Minister of Agriculture to ban research, development and use of Terminator seeds in the country.

Delta & Pine Land, the US-based transnational seed giant that vows to commercialize Terminator seed technology, is expanding its global reach with the recent acquisition of Syngenta's global cotton seed business. The new acquisition gives Delta & Pine Land's cotton seed business a bigger stake in India, Brazil and Europe. The company is the world's leading cotton seed company. In 2005, DPL had revenues of US$366 million.

The General Secretary of the World Council of Churches today issued a strong condemnation of Terminator seeds and called on churches and ecumenical partners to take action to stop the technology. Dr. Samuel Kobia warned that sterile seed technology would increase economic injustice all over the world.

The WCC's news release is available at oikoumene.org.

Farmers in Pakistan have gathered togther in a Pakistan Dehqan (farmers) Assembly and rejected the idea of Terminator seeds. More than two hundred representaives of farmers from different regions represented thousands of farmers and categorically said that they will resist any move to introduce terminator seeds in the country. They demanded that Pakistan government take steps to ban Terminator seeds and any research towards development of Terminator seeds.

Worldwide Movement of Farmers, Indigenous Peoples and Civil Society Organizations Calls for Ban

The President of Brazil, Lula Inácio Lula Da Silva, has declared his clear support for a strong international moratorium on Terminator. President Lula made the statement at the opening of the High Level Segment of the UN COP8 Conference in Brazil where Ministers of Environment from around the world are gathered this week. The Government of Brazil currently has a ban on Terminator seeds.

Terminator Moratorium Upheld!

CURITIBA, BRAZIL, March 24th - A broad coalition of peasant farmers, indigenous peoples and civil society today celebrate the firm rejection of efforts to undermine the global moratorium on Terminator technologies - genetically engineered sterile seeds - at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Indigenous peoples, youth and the Ban Terminator Campaign called to defend life against Terminator in strong statements at the opening of discussions on Terminator at COP8. The statements were met with resounding applause and built on eachother to form a resounding and united voice.

For some photographs see
http://www.iisd.ca/biodiv/cop8/23march.html

On Wednesday March 23 at the very end of the day, the Plenary heard from Argentina, and the G77 and China (the G77 is a Group of 77 developing countries who self-organize at the United Nations)

Intervention by G77 and China – made by Malaysia: