Greenpeace volunteers stop a train full of GM maize in its tracks
The United States wants to force-feed the world genetically modified (GM) organisms.
On May 13, 2003 the US government filed a complaint in the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the European Union's (EU) de facto moratorium on genetically modified organisms.
The moratorium was due to be lifted in months anyway. We believe that the WTO complaint is intended as an attack on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, on GM rejection around the world and on the EU's new, comprehensive GMO labelling laws. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is a legally binding global agreement which affirms the right of countries to reject or ban GMOs, on the basis of the precautionary principle.
The timing of the US complaint to the WTO was crucial. A month after the complaint was lodged, the 50th and final ratification of the Biosafety Protocol took place, allowing the agreement to come into force.
Over the past decade the US, Canada and Argentina have tried desperately to stop the Biosafety Protocol from becoming a reality.
Now the US is continuing its battle against the Protocol through the WTO. Canada and Argentina are still backing the USA. One of the supporting nations, Egypt, has withdrew, recognising "the need to preserve adequate and effective consumer and environmental protection".
If the US is successful, WTO member countries will have to accept the wares of agro-chemical corporations - like it or not. The citizens of many member countries, including the UK and developing nations in the south, do not want to grow, buy or eat GM.
In the UK, a recent MORI poll (July 03) found that opponents to GM outnumber supporters by 3 to 1. Overall, the British public still remains firmly opposed to GM food - with just less than half (46%) being opposed and only one in seven (14%) in support.
Act now to defend the Biosafety Protocol, and our right to say NO to GMOs!
Visit our "Freedom From Forced Trade" WTO weblog.
