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36 Organic Mega-Countries – Organic Sector Calls for Strict Liability Under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety |
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May 30, 2005
36 Organic Mega-Countries – Organic Sector Calls for Strict Liability Under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety |
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Bonn, May 30th 2005 – Organic farming, the systematic conversion of land to certified practices that ensure food safety and security from the farm to the table, a comprehensive and fully traceable system, is developing rapidly throughout the world. According to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement’s study The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2005, 36 countries achieved organic mega-country status in 2004, meaning that over 50,000 hectares of certified organic land are currently being cultivated. In total, over 26 million hectares of land are currently certified worldwide, generating over $25 billion in revenue in 2003. |
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558,449 farms in 108 countries are currently certified, and many
millions of people are involved in the production, marketing,
processing and distribution of organic products, generating immense
income for a great number of people while simultaneously enhancing
biodiversity and protecting the environment for future generations.
Organic agriculture is a holistic system that promotes and enhances
biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity.
Certified organic products are those which have been produced, stored,
processed, handled and marketed in accordance with precise technical
specifications (standards) and certified as organic by a certification
body. The use of GMOs within organic systems is not permitted during
any stage of organic food production, processing or handling.
The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech
Applications (ISAAA) issues an annual report on the amount of global
biotech crop acreage. The 2005 report indicates that there were 14
biotech mega-countries in 2004 – countries where more than 50,000
hectares or biotech crops are being grown. The figures, however,
are dubious. For instance, whereas the report claims that 500,000
biotech hectares are being grown in South Africa, a report from
Agricultural Biotechnology in Europe, an industry coalition, and a
survey team from the University of Reading in the UK show that the
ISAAA’s figures are exaggerated by factors of 20 and 30 respectively,
and a recent report from GRAIN (www.grain.org) demonstrates that out of
3,000 farmers who originally grew Bt cotton there, only 700 continue to
do, and many farmers who chose to grow the cotton are now perilously in
debt. Also, 98% of the world's GM crops are still grown in only four
nations - USA, Canada, Argentina and a bit in China, which has remained
the same for the last five years.
Biotech crops grown in so-called biotech mega-countries are planted
indiscriminately without any substantive regulatory framework,
increasing reliance upon dangerous herbicides and pesticides, creating
super-weeds and destroying biodiversity in order to increase yields in
the short term, but ultimately rendering the cropland useless, while
simultaneously contaminating the world’s major food crops with
undesirable characteristics. This contamination is not something the
biotech industry should flaunt, but rather, the biotech industry should
be held strictly liable for all such contamination under the Cartagena
Protocol on Biosafety. Biotech crops have been riddled by scandal, from
StarLink corn, which was not approved for human consumption but
nevertheless entered the food supply, prompting the recall of over 300
contaminated food products from shelves in the USA and continues to
linger in the food supply, to the illegal entry of a 1000 tons of Bt10
into the European Union, also not approved for human consumption, and
the recent publication of internal Monsanto documents, reviewed by EU
scientists, revealing serious health damage to laboratory animals fed
Monsanto's new genetically engineered "rootworm-resistant" corn. Rats
who consumed the mutant corn developed smaller kidneys and exhibited
blood abnormalities.
Biotech crops containing industrial enzymes, pharmaceuticals, viruses,
antibiotic resistance markers and other traits have been planted in
large-scale field tests for years in the USA, but tests for those
experimental crops do not exist, and thus it is likely that
contamination of agricultural crops is much more widespread.
Alternatively, organic agriculture ensures food security and safety for
future generations, distributing income equitably among those involved
in the chain of production, and credibly backing up its claims with
thorough documentation. Organic agriculture also increases or
stabilizes yields in developing countries, particularly in marginal and
semi-arid areas, increasing productivity without dependency on
unaffordable chemicals. The IFOAM Basic Standards include social
standards that ensure the protection of workers’ rights. IFOAM
Accredited certifiers (www.ioas.org) adhere to these social standards,
and IFOAM is working together with the International Social and
Environmental Accreditation and Labelling (ISEAL) Alliance
(www.isealalliance.org/) to improve the effectiveness and compatibility
of social and environmental standards and verification systems.
IFOAM calls for strict liability to be imposed for the introduction of
GMOs. To insure that the costs of injuries resulting from defective
products are borne by the manufacturer that put such products on the
market rather than by the injured persons who are powerless to protect
themselves, strict liability for GMOs is warranted. Strict liability
ensures that organic farmers and consumer receive protection from
problems of proof inherent in pursuing negligence, placing the burden
of loss on manufacturers rather than injured parties who are powerless
to protect themselves. IFOAM applauds the inclusion of a GMO liability
regime in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, an idea that originated
from African nations and other Third World nations, and is opposed by
the USA and Canada.
IFOAM’s Position on Genetic Engineering:
www.ifoam.org/press/positions/ge-position.html
To purchase a copy of The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and
Emerging Trends 2005, go to the IFOAM website www.ifoam.org. Additional
information can be requested from the IFOAM Head Office
(Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 5, 53113 Bonn, Germany, phone +49-228-92650-10).
IFOAM Press Release, responsible Gerald A. Herrmann, Executive Director
IFOAM Head Office:
Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 5, 53113 Bonn, Germany
Tel: ++49-228-926 50 10 - Fax: ++49-228-926 50 99
www.ifoam.org, E-Mail: headoffice@ifoam.org
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