MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2000
Canadian NGOs Demand Signature of Biosafety Protocol
(OTTAWA) At a press conference in Ottawa today, Greenpeace and the Council of Canadians denounced the Canadian government for stalling Canada's signature and ratification of the Biosafety Protocol.
Final negotiation of the Protocol, which offers nations the ability to control, and even reject, the importation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), took place in Montreal last January. At that time, Canada agreed to the wording. Since then, 75 countries have signed the Protocol, including two grain-exporting nations with similar trade interests to Canada (Chile and Argentina). More than 90 per cent of countries that have already signed the Protocol did so in May of this year.
"The world does not want to be force-fed GMOs," said Holly Penfound, Greenpeace environmental health co-ordinator. "While Environment Minister David Anderson agreed with the rest of the world that we must establish controls over GMO exports to protect biological diversity and human health, the Canadian government has failed to take the next responsible step of adding Canada's name to the list of countries signing this important agreement."
Instead of signing and ratifying the Protocol and acknowledging the need to protect biodiversity by curtailing genetic pollution, the Canadian government has embarked on "stakeholder consultations". This has been done despite the fact that extensive consultations including industry, environmental and civil society groups have occurred since negotiations on the Protocol commenced in 1996. According to the Council of Canadians and Greenpeace, the current consultations are simply a stalling tactic.
In a similar vein, a communication was sent to various federal ministries in September signed by more than 80 organizations from diverse sectors urging that the Biosafety Protocol be signed and ratified forthwith. The letter stated, "Canada's failure to sign the Protocol to date reinforces the view that Canada is prepared to place the protection [of] the environment, biological diversity and human health at risk in the pursuit of its trade objectives."
"The Canadian government ignores at its own peril the views of these organizations, the many citizens they represent and the tremendous work that NGOs have done to provide reasoned input on the Biosafety Protocol," said Jennifer Story, Health Protection Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. "Canada's unwillingness to sign the Biosafety Protocol not only places the environment and human health at risk but, ironically, jeopardizes Canadian access to markets, as more countries exercise their right to reject genetically modified grain imports."
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