Expert Panel confirm need for immediate moratorium
Expert Panel on GMOs confirms need for immediate
moratorium, say GMO critics
Media Release
February 5, 2001
Ottawa - The Council of Canadians, the
Canadian Health Coalition and Greenpeace are calling on the
federal government to heed the findings of a new report by
the Royal Society of Canada on genetically modified
organisms
(GMOs). The message from the report, say the
groups, is simple: Current governmental approval procedures
for GMOs are totally inadequate to guarantee health and
environmental safety and the agency responsible for
the
regulation of GMOs - the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency (CFIA) - is in a conflict of interest as both a
regulator and promoter for the industry.
The report from the Expert Panel on the Future of Food Biotechnology was prepared by the Royal Society of Canada at the request of Health Canada, the CFIA, and Environment Canada.
Some of
the recommendations of the report to
the federal
government are:
* adoption of rigorous scientific methods
to evaluate GMOs as opposed to concepts like "substantial
equivalence" (recommendation 7.1, page x). use of
independent regulators for scientific assessment of GMOs
(7.3 & 9.3 pages x-xi) and clear separation between the
mandates of scientific assessment and economic promotion of
GMOs in order to "maintain an objective
and neutral
stance" (9.1 page xi). This is a severe critique of the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
* total "public
transparency of the scientific data and rationales" (9.2
page xi & 6.8 page xiv)
* moratorium on the "rearing of
GM fish in aquatic netpens" (6.13 page xii).
* labeling
of GMOs (4.11 page xiii).
* traceability of GMOs (5.3 &
5.9 page xiii).
* undertaking of "exhaustive, long-term testing for ecological effects of biotechnology products" (6.2 page xiv & 5.7 page xv).
In light of these findings,
say the groups, the logical conclusion to be drawn is that
the federal government should immediately impose a
moratorium on further releases of GMOs, at least until
proper scientific and adequate
regulatory measures are in
place.
The Council of Canadians, the Canadian Health Coalition, and Greenpeace are calling on the federal government to:
* recognize the structural failures in the
existing regulatory system;
* announce an immediate
moratorium on all GMOs; and
* introduce immediate mandatory labeling.
For the complete report: http://www.rsc.ca/foodbiotechnology/indexEN.html
For
more information:
Nadège Adam, Council of Canadians, ph:
(613) 233-4487, ext. 245, cell: (613) 295-0432
Eric
Darier, Greenpeace, ph: (514) 933-0021, cell: (514)
240-6497
Bradford Duplisea, ph: (613) 521-3400 ext.
219
ENDS