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--------- Forwarded Message ---------
DATE: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 00:05:37
From: "Riza V. Tjahjadi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To:
SOUTH AFRICA: The Mail&Guardian, April 12, 2001.
April 12, 2001
GM seed export to East slammed
A large consignment of genetically modified seed to Indonesia
raises questions about South Africa's failure to sign an international
treaty.
STEFAANS BR|MMER
When a South African cargo plane was offloaded at the military
section of Indonesia's Makassar airport a few weeks ago, demonstrators
and reporters were not allowed nearby. The cargo: 39 tons of cottonseed.
If the consignment had been ordinary cottonseed, no one would have
bothered. But this seed was genetically modified.
Activists on two continents are angry over the transfer - they see
it as the proliferation of dangerous technology - and at the
heavy-handedness that allegedly accompanied the transfer.
The incident has increased pressure on the South African
government to sign an international protocol regulating cross-border
trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which include seed.
Genetic engineering is an emotive subject. Genetically modified
crops - where genes from other organisms are inserted to change the
plant's genetic structure - have altered characteristics, such as
resistance to pests.
Proponents claim this relatively new technology is environmentally
friendly and is increasing crop yields to benefit especially small
farmers.
Environmental activists, on the other hand, argue that there are
major health, environmental and economic risks; and that until the
technology is better understood, caution should be exercised.
According to the Jakarta Post, which witnessed the South African
consignment being offloaded on March 15, the difference of opinion over
GMOs is reflected at the highest level of the Indonesian state: The
agriculture minister issued a decree allowing the distribution of the
seed to farmers in the province, while the state environment minister
criticised the decree and questioned the safety of the crops.
The Jakarta Post says authorities 'apparently concealed' the
consignment from the press - they denied at first that it was arriving.
When reporters noticed a 'tightly guarded' Ilyusin cargo plane,
chartered from Johannesburg, offloading the seed at Makassar airport,
soldiers refused access. Environmental protesters, demanding the
consignment be quarantined, tried unsuccessfully to stop trucks
bearing the cottonseed - but marked 'logistic depot rice' - from leaving
the airport.
The consignment - the first of GM cottonseed to Indonesia - was
confirmed this week by the Monsanto corporation, a multinational and
holder of the patent for the exported cottonseed, which bears the trade
name 'Bollgard'.
The cottonseed is produced in South Africa under licence from
Monsanto by D&PL South Africa Inc. Danie Olivier, general manager of
D&PL, confirmed exporting the consignment to Indonesia, where he
said the agriculture department had issued a permit
allowing the seed to be used for experimental and farming purposes.
South African activists, meanwhile, have launched a petition
decrying 'the fact that South Africa is allowing its land, resources and
regulatory systems to be used and abused to distribute GMOs to the
international marketplace'.
The petition was drafted by SAFeAGE (South African Freeze Alliance
on Genetic Engineering), an alliance of groups calling for a five-year
moratorium in the GMOs field until health, environmental, social and
ethical issues have been resolved.
The petition, which SAFeAGE says has been signed so far by 110
local and international groups and individuals, points out that
the trade in GMOs remains largely unregulated in the Third World - a
problem that should have been addressed by the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety, adopted by more than 130 countries, including South Africa,
in January last year after about six years of negotiations.
The protocol, sponsored by the United Nations, will force risk
assessments
and informed government consent before transfer. But it is not yet in
operation, since it first has to be ratified by 50 countries. Only two
have done that so far.
More than 50 countries, however, have signed the protocol - a
first step towards ratification. South Africa, although prominent in the
negotiations, has failed to sign. The SAFeAGE petition says the transfer
of GM cottonseed to Indonesia 'ignored the spirit and intent of the
protocol'.
Karen Kallmann, SAFeAGE coordinator, says: 'The idea is to apply
wisdom and judgement about the potential effects of a new
technology before flooding the marketplace ... Widespread
commercialisation of these crops has come before - not after - thorough
examination of the associated risks and benefits.'
Miriam Mayet, an environmental lawyer who was an NGO
representative on the
South African government delegation to the Cartagena negotiations, says:
'South Africa took very progressive positions at Cartagena. We are very
shocked that they didn't sign.'
Mayet says the protocol would have forced an assessment of the
risks to health and the environment, and socio-economic impact, in
Indonesia before the transfer of the seed from South Africa. The
Indonesian government would have had to signal its 'informed consent'
before allowing the import.
'This would have been a clear case of non- compliance [with the
protocol].' But it is not only the GM sceptics who support Cartagena and
want South Africa to sign. Jocelyn Webster is the executive director of
AfricaBio, a pro-GM body representing many stakeholders in the GM
industry - from scientists to producers to consumers. Webster describes
the cottonseed export as 'a very important technological transfer
they're doing to Indonesia', but says proper safeguards makes sense. 'We
believe the technology will prove itself, but we need to make sure that
it is properly managed ... We are actively encouraging [South Africa] to
sign the protocol.'
But it seems South Africa is not ready. JP Louw, communications
director at the Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism, says:
'South Africa is in the process of carefully studying the implications
of the Cartagena Protocol. This is more so because it does not only have
legal implications, but also requires of us to have capacity in terms of
skills, and technological and institutional support.
'A number of departments (including the Department of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism) are in the process of completing
their studies on the implications of the protocol. This will be followed
by the presentation of a recommendation to Cabinet where a final
decision will be made on the matter.'
-- The Mail&Guardian, April 12, 2001.
+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;
dikirim-ulang oleh
PAN Indonesia
SAY NO TO GMOs,
SAY no to Bt cotton
No Patent on Life No Patent on Rice and other Crops.
+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;+;
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