Excerpts from two recent articles regarding the ongoing struggle in India between corporations and corporate-friendly politicians against farmers, scientists and democracy-seeking organisations. Links are given to both articles where further information and more links can be found.
1.
Can
genetically modified (GM) food crops be kept out of India? Things seemed
positive when, as Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh put a moratorium
on GM eggplant (BT Brinjal). However, he has now been replaced. Veerappa
Moily, India's Oil Minister, is now also India's new Environment
Minister. Moily has approved field trials of 200 GM food crops on behalf
of companies like Monsanto, Mahyco, Bayer and BASF. Monsanto's shares
surged by 77 percent as soon as Moily's decision was announced.
For his efforts, Oily has been called a
"corporate mole," and the Coalition for a GM Free India and
Greenpeace condemned Moily's action as "unscientific, anti-people and
reeking of vested interests."
Rajesh Krishnan, convener, Coalition for a GM Free India said:
"The writing on the wall is clear now.
The UPA government is against the interest of the citizens, our farmers
and the welfare of the nation. It is hand in glove with the
multi-national GM seed industry that stands to gain immensely from the
numerous open field trails of GM crops.”
Last November, hundreds of scientists
raised serious concerns about open air field trials of GM crops in
India by writing a letter to the Prime Minister . Their letter
coincided with the release of a compilation of 440 scientific research
studies on the impact of GM crops on the environment and health. The
scientists demanded that the recommendations of the TEC be accepted. In
their letter, they said that the final report of the TEC has
recommended against the deployment of Bt food crops in India until
their safety is established, and recommended avoiding Herbicide Tolerant
GM crops.
Like Shiva, the scientists are not saying
that trials have to be stopped, as trials can happen in a glasshouse
environment. However, they warned against open field trials as the
impact of such food crops must be established. As there is no code of
practice and no infrastructure to conduct large scale open field trials,
the scientists suggested that open field trials should not take
place.
Open field testing is part of the GM sector's plan to win the battle to
dominate and control the food chain by any means possible. It cannot win
the scientific debate. It cannot convince people to freely choose
its products. But it seeks to win by various insidious means, not
least by infiltrating official bodies and contamination - by all means
necessary.
from Colin Todhunter - more here
2.
Mr Moily, India’s Oil Minister, who is also India’s new Environment
Minister, did what he was appointed to do – Approve field trials of 200
GMOs, of wheat, rice, corn, cotton produced by companies like Monsanto,
Mahyco, Bayer, BASF in one fell swoop. This blind and blanket approval
is anti-science, anti-people, anti-farmer, anti-democracy. It is a
threat to our Seed Freedom and Food Freedom.
Most approvals granted by Mr. Moily are for GMOs which are bt crops or ht (herbicide tolerant) crops. Bt crops are engineered with a gene from the Soil Organism, Bacillus Thuringiensis to produce a toxin in the plant to control the Bollworm. Monsanto’s Bt Cotton (trade name Bollgard) and Bt Baigan are examples of such Bt crops. Herbicide Tolerant plants introduce a toxic gene to make the plant tolerant to the company’s proprietary herbicide. In the case of Monsanto, the HT crops are Roundup Ready soya, corn and cotton. Since crops with genes for producing bt toxin and herbicide resistant genes produce poisons,in lay language we could call these poison producing plants. That is why they need to be assessed for biosafety which means health and environmental safety in the context of GMOs. It is only when such safety can be guaranteed through lab and greenhouse tests should we allow open field trials which are precursors to commercialization.
The Rules for Biosafety in India are contained in the 1989 RULES FOR THE MANUFACTURE, USE, IMPORT, EXPORT AND STORAGE OF HAZARDOUS MICRO ORGANISMS GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ORGANISMS OR CELLS
(notified under the EP Act, 1986).
Two Environment Ministers have been removed because they were implementing these rules in letter and spirit.
Jairam Ramesh was removed as Environment Minister after he put a moratorium on GM eggplant, the BT Brinjal, after listening to scientists, farmers, citizens in 7 public hearings organized across the country. The public hearings on Bt Baigan were the highest expression of science and democracy.
Jayanthi Natarajan was removed because she was upholding the Biosafety laws and she refused to sign on the dotted line with the Agriculture Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar, to allow GMO field trials in a joint affidavit to the Supreme Court in the GMO case.
Moily’s approvals violate all the scientific principles of Biosafety and Food Security. They are also sub judice, since the Supreme Court is hearing the matter.
Jayanti Natarajan was trying to ensure she does not do anything to undermine the independence of the judiciary. And this is why she was replaced by Moily, to bulldoze approvals before a robust Biosafety framework is evolved, just a few months before the elections.
The Government has also been trying its best to totally undo the Biosafety rules and replace them with industry friendly deregulation law drafted as the BRAI (Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India). This law could not be passed by parliament because of protests from citizens and Parliamentarians.
Most approvals granted by Mr. Moily are for GMOs which are bt crops or ht (herbicide tolerant) crops. Bt crops are engineered with a gene from the Soil Organism, Bacillus Thuringiensis to produce a toxin in the plant to control the Bollworm. Monsanto’s Bt Cotton (trade name Bollgard) and Bt Baigan are examples of such Bt crops. Herbicide Tolerant plants introduce a toxic gene to make the plant tolerant to the company’s proprietary herbicide. In the case of Monsanto, the HT crops are Roundup Ready soya, corn and cotton. Since crops with genes for producing bt toxin and herbicide resistant genes produce poisons,in lay language we could call these poison producing plants. That is why they need to be assessed for biosafety which means health and environmental safety in the context of GMOs. It is only when such safety can be guaranteed through lab and greenhouse tests should we allow open field trials which are precursors to commercialization.
The Rules for Biosafety in India are contained in the 1989 RULES FOR THE MANUFACTURE, USE, IMPORT, EXPORT AND STORAGE OF HAZARDOUS MICRO ORGANISMS GENETICALLY ENGINEERED ORGANISMS OR CELLS
(notified under the EP Act, 1986).
Two Environment Ministers have been removed because they were implementing these rules in letter and spirit.
Jairam Ramesh was removed as Environment Minister after he put a moratorium on GM eggplant, the BT Brinjal, after listening to scientists, farmers, citizens in 7 public hearings organized across the country. The public hearings on Bt Baigan were the highest expression of science and democracy.
Jayanthi Natarajan was removed because she was upholding the Biosafety laws and she refused to sign on the dotted line with the Agriculture Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar, to allow GMO field trials in a joint affidavit to the Supreme Court in the GMO case.
Moily’s approvals violate all the scientific principles of Biosafety and Food Security. They are also sub judice, since the Supreme Court is hearing the matter.
Jayanti Natarajan was trying to ensure she does not do anything to undermine the independence of the judiciary. And this is why she was replaced by Moily, to bulldoze approvals before a robust Biosafety framework is evolved, just a few months before the elections.
The Government has also been trying its best to totally undo the Biosafety rules and replace them with industry friendly deregulation law drafted as the BRAI (Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India). This law could not be passed by parliament because of protests from citizens and Parliamentarians.
From Vandana Shiva - Read on here
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