1.Fear Of Boycotts as NZ De-rails International Agreement
2.Denuciation of Brazil's behaviour
3.SHAME ON BRAZIL AND NEW ZEALAND!
COMMENT
We have the text of two powerful speeches given to delegates at the end of the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in Montreal (MOP2), which broke up on Friday after the negotiations had been wrecked by New Zealand and Brazil.
One observer told us, "NZ and Brazil tried everything to block the negotiations. Juan Lopes from FOE made a powerful statement to point that out loudly and many delegations I am sure appreciated what he said... Most of the participants were very disappointed about the outcome. Tewolde made a great statement."
Juan's statement (item 3) was headed, "SHAME ON BRAZIL AND NEW ZEALAND!" and others in the hall held up placards expressing the same sentiments - http://www.iisd.ca/biodiv/bs-copmop2/
Particularly galling, as Juan notes, was the fact that the Brazilian and New Zealand delegations lacked the biosafety expertise and arguments to even pretend to back up their position.
And speaking before Juan, Marijane Lisboa of IDEC Brazil stressed that the Brazilian delegation did not represent the real interests of the Brazilian people (item 2).
We've had many e-mails from people in New Zealand expressing their disgust at the behaviour of the NZ delegation, and GE Free NZ's press release (item 1) emphasises that de-railing of the agreement is likely to backfire.
That's particularly the case as NZ's wrecking tactics in Montreal follow on from its playing patsy for the US and the GM industry over Terminator and the WTO action against the EU.
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1.Fear Of Boycotts as NZ De-rails International Agreement
GE free NZ Press Release, June 5 2005
International consensus on a system to regulate GM organisms is being undermined by New Zealand and causing anger amongst nations around the world.
The shock moves by New Zealand have been reported from the Montreal meeting on the Cartegna Protocol and have caused a wave of stinging criticism.
"New Zealand's international standing and economic wellbeing is now being compromised by our government who are actively lobbying for one specific sector of industry at the expense of other sectors and the country as a whole," says Jon Carapiet from GE Free NZ in food and environment.
The government and exporters must be prepared for a backlash from overseas which could even include boycotts of NZ-made products as the news of the conference spreads.
"We are extremely worried that the attempt to de-rail the agreement will backfire on New Zealand. We are writing to the government asking for urgent action to rebuild our standing in the international community," says Mr. Carapiet.
ENDS
Jon Carapiet 0210 507 681
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2. Civil Society Statement at Final Plenary MoP 2
Marijane Lisboa (IDEC)
3 June 2005, Montreal (Canada)
I make this statement on behalf of environmental NGOs and civil society organizations attending this meeting.
It is disappointing and shocking that some Parties arrived at this meeting with no spirit of cooperation and compromise. Indeed, it is obvious that some came to obstruct and disrupt positive decision-making. As a Brazilian, I can tell you that the delegation from Brazil does not represent the real interests of the Brazilian people.
It was disappointing and shocking to hear the opening remarks of the representative of UNEP. Instead of a balanced overview, we heard a pro-Industry statement.
It is shocking to see the role played by Industry at these negotiations, to witness their highly funded and brazen lobbying and their sponsorship of organizations claiming to speak for public, independent scientists and whole regions.
It is disappointing to note that the voices of the people who work with nature – the farmers and indigenous peoples – have not been heard here.
On the other hand, it was delightful to witness the confident and constructive biosafety leadership displayed by many countries who remembered that this is a Protocol about biosafety and not a treaty about the promotion of trade, who understood that these negotiations are about protecting biodiversity and not protecting a single industry.
We can assure delegates that when we return to our countries, we will share with those at home what we have seen here and who exactly were the actors.
We know that civil society around the world wants strong biosafety rules and we urge all delegations to negotiate with this goal in mind in the future.
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3.SHAME ON BRAZIL AND NEW ZEALAND!
Statement delivered at the Closing Session of the Plenary by Juan Lopez, Friends of the Earth International
Two countries block the will of over 100 countries commited to Biosafety and environmental protection
On behalf of Friends of the Earth International I would like to express our big disappointment about the failure to come to a decision on the identification requirements of article 18.2a.
We are particularly disappointed about the behaviour of the Brazilian and the New Zealand delegation. It has been clearly shown during the week that both delegations came to these negotiations with a clear spirit to block and to prevent a decision on Living Modified Organisms for feed, food and processing, as required by the Biosafety Protocol. Both delegations acted with bad faith, and constantly blocked, and blocked, and blocked, and blocked…. systematically any constructive moves, and previously planned and agreed that no decision should be adopted here in Montreal.
Both delegations have proved to have big expertise in hypocrisy and untruthfulness. Moreover, they have proved to have no expertise at all on biosafety issues and environmental protection, but on the contrary have a huge deal of biased expertise on trade, market, exaggerated grain handling costs, etc. In fact the Brazilians kept on blocking every progressive step, without giving any reason or valid argument to defend their position. Taking into account that Brazil will host the next Meeting of the Parties on BIOSAFETY, it would be important if the Brazilian delegations considers seriously attending a good biosafety and environmental protection training course, so they can gain knowledge. And maybe a miracle can happen and in 9 months at the Third Meeting of the Parties in Brazil, we could have a Brazilian delegation which has more knowledge and respect for biosafety and the environment.
Brazil for the first time has sent a clear signal to the world in this meeting. Brazil has shown no commitment to Biosafety, and a clear opposition to further development of biosafety regulations. Brazil has shown that their own interest is on the free release of Genetically Modified Crops without any international biosafety regulations.
In a way what has happened here reflects the reality of GM crops in the world today. Over 90% of the world surface planted with GM crops is only in three countries. The products of one company alone, Monsanto, accounts for over 90% of the total area cultivated with GM crops. In these negotiations 2 countries have blocked and prevented the desire of over 100 delegations that clearly stated during the whole week its desire to have a decision on identification of transboundary movement of LMOs.
Brazil and New Zealand have proved here that they are serving the interests of the biotech industry, and the non Parties, which are major producers of GM crops. The United States, Canada, and Argentina, while not actively participating during the negations, were strongly active behind the scenes supporting and encouraging the position of both delegations.
The positive note is to see that over 100 countries have manifested a clear support for biosafety, and for the need to clearly identify the shipments of LMOs around the world. This huge commitment is really encouraging and shows that the development of national and regional biosafety frameworks will be the key priority in the future for all those countries committed to Biosafety. The need to implement adequate biosafety frameworks is clear... biosafety is here to stay and despite the opposition of the biotech industry and this minority of GM producing countries, the majority of the world has already made clear that there is no way to stop the implementation of protective measures to tackle the potential risks derived from the movement of Living Modified Organisms around the world.
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