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Press Release
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Press Release
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GMO trade war: has Europe lost?
Campaigners at the WTO Ministerial Conference delivered earlier today a petition to the WTO signed by more than 135,000 citizens from 100 countries and more than 740 organisations representing 60 million people against the trade dispute at the WTO over GM food by US, Argentina and Canada. [2] [3]. Deputy Director General Alejandro Jara refused to comment on the statements from Supachai and Lagard. In the objections, citizens ask the WTO not to undermine the right of individual countries, in this case Europe, to take appropriate steps to protect their farmland, environment and consumers from the risks posed by GM foods and crops. French Farmer José Bové, Indian ecologist Vandana Shiva and Caroline Lucas, a Member of the European Parliament, also took part in the hand-over. The WTO is expected to issue a draft final report on 5 th January 2006. In line with WTO secrecy, the draft ruling will only be sent to the countries in the dispute. This will be the basis for the final ruling expected later in March or April. Friends of the Earth Europe Trade campaigner Alexandra Wandel said: "The World Trade Organisation should have the guts to tell Europeans that free trade rules come before their safety and that they will be forced to eat genetically modified foods whether they want to or not. The WTO is the wrong place to be deciding what we eat and how we protect our environment . It is time they got their hands off our food! " French Farmer José Bové said in Hong Kong: "Farmers and consumers are strongly opposed to GMOs. We will take action to keep Europe GMO free and to protect the world from GM farming." Indian Ecologist Vandana Shiva said in Hong Kong: "The transatlantic trade dispute shows the worst face of the WTO. Despite the fact that the UN Biosafety Protocol allows countries to use the precautionary principle to ban the import of GMOs, the WTO may force feed us GMOs" Green Party WTO delegate Caroline Lucas MEP said: " The right of individual countries to decide whether or not to allow GMOs in their food chains or their environment is a key element of the democratic principles which are supposed to underpin the EU itself. Neither the WTO nor the EU have any right to overrule the clear majority of EU citizens who do not want GMOs in their communities." PHOTOGRAPHS AVAILABLE WTO Deputy Director General Alejandro Jara met Jose Bove, Vandana Shiva, Caroline Lucas MEP and campaigners earlier today at the WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong. High-resolution photographs are available from Friends of the Earth at www.bite-back.org/pics/handover.htm
In Hong Kong Alexandra Wandel, Trade Coordinator, Friends of the Earth Europe + 852 6125 7644 In Europe Adrian Bebb, GMO Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe +49 1609 490 1163
[1] According to witnesses, former WTO Director General and now Secretary General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Supachai Panitchpakdi, made it clear that Europe had lost the trade dispute over GM foods in a meeting on November 28th with Indian NGOs. French International Trade Minister, Christine Lagard, confirmed this in a meeting with French NGOs on December 8 th. She apparently deplored the fact that such information, which should have remained confidential in the pre-Ministerial period, was communicated in the context of the "Pre-Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting Consultation Workshop: Identifying India's Core Concerns", organised jointly by the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry (Department of Commerce) and UNCTAD. [2] Detailed information is available at http://www.bite-back.org/ [3] A briefing about the dispute is attached and also available at http://www.foeeurope.org/biteback/pics/transatlantic_trade_dispute_media_briefing.pdf
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