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Call for GE Moratorium at
Global Biosafety Meeting

BBC News

Monday, 22 April, 2002, 07:24 GMT 08:24 UK
GM talks seek to protect environment
Environmentalists want a moratorium on GM crops
By Geraldine Coughlan
BBC correspondent in The Hague

Scientists and environmental experts meeting at The Hague for a week to discuss ge

Environmentalists say there has not been enough assessment of the risks of
accidental releases of GMOs into the environment

There is public concern about the potential risks posed by GMOs, with some
concern that they could adversely affect other species, disrupt entire
eco-systems and cause risks to human health.

Multi-million dollar biotechnology industries for foodstuffs and
pharmaceuticals are growing at a dramatic pace.

The Cartagena protocol on biosafety drawn up in Colombia in 1999 aims to
ensure that genetically engineered organisms and products are transported
and used safely.

Moratorium calls

Environmentalists say there has not been enough assessment of the risks of
accidental releases of GMOs into the environment.

At this conference they will be calling for a moratorium on the planting of
GM crops close to native species, where they might cross with original
strains of crops.

The Cartagena protocol has been signed by over a 100 countries, which feel
an international regime is needed now while the biotechnology industry is
still young and major errors have not yet occurred.

The protocol will come into effect when it has been ratified by 50
countries.

The final ratifications are expected at the world summit on sustainable
development in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September.

The talks on biosafety are an extension of a two-week conference on
biodiversity that ended last Friday with an agreement on the first set of
guidelines on protecting the world's plants and animals.