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[SANET-MG] Canada is US pawn in supporting terminator
The article below has an interesting quote "Denise Dewar, vice-president
of CropLife Canada, a biotech lobby group, said there is nothing new
about GURT, noting that seedless watermelons and hybrid corn are
sterile." What a bizarre belief for a vp of a biotech lobby group. It
is possible that , as we have suspected, vps of biotech firms are
extraterrestrials?
>> Canada acting as U.S. pawn in support of 'suicide seeds,' say farm
activists>
> Dennis Bueckert > Canadian Press
> Monday, March 20, 2006>
> OTTAWA (CP) - Canada is lobbying at a major UN conference this week
to lift an international moratorium on field testing of controversial
"suicide seeds" despite opposition from farm organizations around the
world, activists say.
>
> The seeds, officially known as Genetic Use Restriction Technology
(GURT), are one of the most controversial products biotechnology has yet
produced, and critics say they could undermine traditional small-scale
farming.
>
> They are genetically modified to produce sterile offspring, meaning
farmers have to buy new seed every spring instead of saving some from
the previous year's crop.
>
> Six years ago, Canada joined other parties to the UN Convention on
Biodiversity in imposing a moratorium on use of the seeds, but observers
say Ottawa is now advocating field tests on a case-by-case basis.
>
> Countries that have ratified the UN convention are currently meeting
in Curitibo, Brazil, to negotiate a "Biosafety Protocol" which would set
rules for the handling of genetically engineered crops.
>
> India and Brazil, both major agriculture countries, have banned the
terminator technology. Australia and New Zealand are backing calls to
permit testing while the United States is working behind the scenes
because it hasn't ratified the biosafety convention.
>
> "We see the terminator technology as a crime against nature," Vandana
Shiva, a prominent Indian scientist, author and environmental activist,
told a news conference Monday.
>
> "The driving force behind this is quite clearly the United States.
The problem is the United States has never become a member of the UN
Biosafety Convention. Instead they're using Canada do its dirty work."
>
> Shiva noted that the U.S. government is co-owner of the terminator
technology.
>
> The companies that produce terminator seeds say the plants are bred
to be stronger and to produce better crops, and they argue that they're
simply protecting their investment.
>
> But Colleen Ross of the National Farmers Union says the seeds will
cost Canadian farmers millions of dollars and will reduce biodiversity.
She also says Ottawa isn't listening to farmers on the issue.
>
> Denise Dewar, vice-president of CropLife Canada, a biotech lobby
group, said there is nothing new about GURT, noting that seedless
watermelons and hybrid corn are sterile.
>
> New genetically engineered products coming in the future, such as
plants that produce pharmaceuticals, that could be prevented from
contaminating other crops through GURT, she said.
>
> Dewar said farmers could still save seeds, because fertile seeds
would still be available. "We should allow farmers the option," she said.
>
> Patent protection for biotech companies is another benefit, she argued.
>
> The Canadian delegation in Brazil is led by Environment Canada, but a
spokesman declined to answer questions. Agriculture Canada is in charge
of the file.
>
> A spokeswoman for Agriculture Canada said there was no one on hand to
answer questions because all relevant experts are in Brazil.
>
> Shiva said genetically engineered crops have been a disaster in India
because they drive up production costs but remain unreliable.
>
> "It is time for all the world community to do what India has done,
ban the terminator (seed)," she said.
>
> "I would plead for the parliamentarians of this country to wake up to
a hijack of democracy."
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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