 |
|
|
|
|
Earthlife Africa eThewini PRESS RELEASE embargo till 11 September 2003 RATIFICATION OF BIOSAFETY PROTOCOL SAFEGUARDS AGAINST ADVERSE EFFECTS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the first legally binding international agreement that regulates the safe handling, use and trans-boundary movement of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology, will take effect on 11 September 2003. The Protocol, acceded to by South Africa in August 2003, has been ratified by over 50 countries worldwide, most of which are developing countries. All countries party to the Protocol are required to put in place the mechanisms outlined in the accord. The Protocol agreed to on 29 January 2000, following arduous negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity, is the first international agreement to recognize the adverse effects that genetically modified organisms might have on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and human health and that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are different from conventional plants and organisms and so require different treatment. Earthlife Africa spokesperson, Helene Epstein says that despite its significance, the scope of this law is limited to LMOs destined to grow in the fields such as seeds, and excludes non-living organisms, such as products derived from GMOs like processed food derived from genetically modified (GM) maize flour. "This exclusion was due largely to opposition, by the US and large exporters of agricultural products, to the use of the term Genetically Modified Organism" The Protocol ensures that biosafety legislation takes precedence over trade agreements reached at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and enables contracting parties to impose import restrictions on a precautionary basis, even where there is no conclusive proof of possible dangers. The Protocol requires strict approval procedures to be implemented by importing countries, including the need for risk assessments to be undertaken. Countries shipping LMOs destined for intentional introduction into the environment such as field trials and planting, must have given prior notification of the first shipment to an importing country. On the basis of an Advance Informed Agreement (AIA), countries that are party to the protocol can either approve or reject the importation. Unfortunately LMOs destined for contained use, or direct use as food, feed or processing (the bulk of the LMO's traded) are not subject to the AIA procedures but will be regulated via an Internet based information system called the Biosafety Clearing House established to ease the communication and exchange of scientific information worldwide about a country's regulatory system, contact points and approvals that have been granted between the parties. At the present moment, farmers are held liable for any damage to the environment caused by LMO's. Now there is provision for the establishment of an effective liability mechanism that will ensure that corporations that harm the environment will be held liable, for example the contamination of non-GM crops and wild varieties. The Protocol will also require measures for preventing such contamination through the implementation of an Identity Preservation System which means that LMOs intended for introduction into the environment or destined for food, feed or processing will need to be identified and labelled as LMOs or that they "may contain LMO's". The labelling legislation in South African currently does not make provision for this and will need to be reviewed in accordance with this international agreement. "South Africa is ranked third most biologically diverse country in the world" says Epstein " yet no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has ever been undertaken on any field trial or commercial release of GMO's approved in South Africa. In addition the provision within our national biosafety laws for assessment and monitoring of environmental and social risk are also totally inadequate. South Africa will, in terms of its obligations to implement this protocol, need to recognize the adverse impact of GMOs on biodiversity and human health and reflect this concern through the application of the precautionary principle and the enactment of more comprehensive biosafety regulations". /ends Contact: Helene Epstein Earthlife Africa eThekwini Tel: 031-2011119 Fax:0866728081 Email: [email protected] ?? |
|
|
||||||||||||||||