More and more is emerging about the illegal nature of the Brazilian government's temporary approval of the cultivartion of GM soya.
There is intense opposition from many sections of Brazilian society, including a number of the government's own ministers and the national association of judges.
The government's action triggered demonstrations throughout the country.
Survey findings shows that more than 70% of Brazilians want their food GM-free while nearly as many (65%) support a ban on growing GMOs.
EXCERPTS FROM THE ARTICLES BELOW:
Environment Minister Marina Silva, who opposed the modified seeds, burst into tears this week when it was evident she'd lost out to the farm lobby and Agriculture Minister Roberto Rodrigues. (item 2)
[SOLIDARITY WITH BRAZIL - details of what YOU can do - item 5]
The Brazilian government has been divided on the issue, reflecting strong views within the Brazilian public. Vice-president José Alencar, for example, ... initially refused to approve the legislation, saying that it was illegal.
However after a long telephone call with the President, Alencar is reported to have agreed to sign the legislation, despite protests from the minister of environment Marina Silva, the agricultural development minister Miguel Rossetto, and several other government representatives.
The decision immediately triggered demonstrations throughout the country.
A recent survey by the Brazilian Institute of Public and Statistical Opinion showed that 70 per cent of Brazilians would prefer to consume products that are free of genetic modification. (item 1)
[SOLIDARITY WITH BRAZIL - details of what YOU can do - item 5]
...the government has faced mounting pressure from agribusiness interests to ignore court injunctions, requirements for environmental impact studies and other regulations.
The issue has proved so contentious that Brazil's 175 million people have been treated this week to the spectacle of a public exchange between [President] da Silva, who was in New York for United Nations meetings, and his vice president, Jose Alencar. After Mr. Alencar had second thoughts and said he would not approve the measure, Mr. da Silva warned from the United States that the vice president "knows what he has to do, and he will do it."
As recently as June, Mr. da Silva's chief of staff, Jose Dirceu, promised that Brazil would not allow the planting of genetically modified crops... "The law will be obeyed because that is the determination of the president," he said then at a seminar in Sao Paulo.
...Mr. Alencar initially surprised everyone by saying the measure "goes against existing Brazilian legislation" and calling an emergency cabinet meeting.
...the national association of judges... said the measure was "juridically absurd and flagrantly unconstitutional." (item 3)
1.Brazil agrees to cultivation of GM soya - for now (SciDev.Net)
2.Brazil's decision to allow GM soybeans to be fought
3.Brazil Drops Resistance to Genetically Altered Crops (NYT)
4.Brazilians don't want GMOs (official survey)
5.SOLIDARITY WITH BRAZIL - what YOU can do
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1.Brazil agrees to cultivation of GM soya - for now
Luisa Massarani
Source: SciDev.Net, 26 September 2003
http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=readnews&itemid=1031&languag
e=1
[RIO DE JANEIRO] The Brazilian government has decided to allow the country's farmers to grow genetically modified (GM) soya for at least another year.
The announcement, which has sparked a storm of protest from environmental groups, comes after the government decided provisionally earlier this year to allow farmers that had illegally grown GM soya to sell their crops - but only until January 2004.
The new legislation allows farmers who have GM seeds in stock to grow GM soya for the 2003/2004 harvest. The farmers will then be allow to sell GM soya until December 2004, after which any remaining GM produce will have to be destroyed. The legislation also makes farmers responsible for any health or environmental damage that occurs as a result of the planting or consumption of GM crops.
The Brazilian government has been divided on the issue, reflecting strong views within the Brazilian public. Vice-president José Alencar, for example, who is standing in for President Luiz Inácio 'Lula' da Silva while he attends a UN meeting in the United States, initially refused to approve the legislation, saying that it was illegal.
However after a long telephone call with the President, Alencar is reported to have agreed to sign the legislation, despite protests from the minister of environment Marina Silva, the agricultural development minister Miguel Rossetto, and several other government representatives.
The decision immediately triggered demonstrations throughout the country. Brazil's general procurator, Cláudio Fonteles, said that it could be the subject of a legal challenge. And the Association of Federal Judges (Ajufe) in Brazil announced that it will seek to have the decision overturned by a federal court.
A recent survey by the Brazilian Institute of Public and Statistical Opinion showed that 70 per cent of Brazilians would prefer to consume products that are free of genetic modification. (see item 4)
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2.Brazil's decision to allow GM soybeans to be fought
Knight-Ridder Tribune News, Sept. 26, 2003
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/6870044.htm
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Environmental groups and lawmakers vowed Friday to seek immediate court injunctions blocking the Brazilian government's decision to allow the planting of genetically modified soybeans sold by U.S. biotechnology giant Monsanto.
After three days of delay and self-described soul searching, Vice President Jose Alencar signed a provisional measure late Thursday night approving the soybeans for the 2003-2004 growing season. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was traveling abroad and left the tough decision to Alencar.
Brazil is the world's second-largest soybean producer, behind the United States. Farmers in North America and Argentina enjoy cost savings from modified soybeans because they need less pesticide and fertilizer.
St. Louis-based Monsanto makes the seeds, called Roundup Ready, by adding a protein that makes them less sensitive to glyphosphate, an active ingredient in the company's Roundup herbicide.
Although Roundup Ready seeds have been banned in Brazil, for the past eight years many farmers in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul have planted them anyway. They were threatening to continue to defy the ban if the government didn't yield.
Environment Minister Marina Silva, who opposed the modified seeds, burst into tears this week when it was evident she'd lost out to the farm lobby and Agriculture Minister Roberto Rodrigues.
The environmental group Greenpeace wants more studies of the seeds' potential health and ecosystem effects and warned Friday that the matter is far from settled.
"Farmers should be careful about planting because this question has not been resolved," said Tatiana Carvalho, head of Greenpeace's genetic engineering resistance campaign in Brazil. "The danger is that this opens the door for other genetically modified seeds to come into the country."
Greenpeace lawyers plan to seek a court injunction, as does Brazil's Green Party, which is filing a constitutional challenge that, if accepted, would put the matter immediately before the Supreme Tribunal.
A decision could be reached within a week, before many farmers begin planting.
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3.Brazil Drops Resistance to Genetically Altered Crops
New York Times, September 28, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/28/international/americas/28BRAZ.html?ex=1065
326400&en=eec3daefa34f6ec0&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 27 - In barely 36 hours, Brazil's left-leaning government first announced that it would allow farmers to plant genetically altered soybean seeds, then reversed course, before changing yet again, late on Thursday.
The result is that Brazil, a bastion of global opposition to genetically modified organisms, has given in.
From the time President Luiz Inýcio Lula da Silva founded the Workers' Party more than 20 years ago, environmentalists have been an important constituency and their programs part of the party's platform.
Those commitments, though, have had to give way to the hard realities of politics and to Brazil's drive to increase exports. The country wants to become an agricultural superpower.
Brazil is the world's second largest producer of soybeans, but it is expected to surpass the United States to become the largest soybean producer as early as the coming harvest. The Southern Hemisphere's planting season is just starting, and the government has faced mounting pressure from agribusiness interests to ignore court injunctions, requirements for environmental impact studies and other regulations.
The issue has proved so contentious that Brazil's 175 million people have been treated this week to the spectacle of a public exchange between Mr. da Silva, who was in New York for United Nations meetings, and his vice president, Jose Alencar. After Mr. Alencar had second thoughts and said he would not approve the measure, Mr. da Silva warned from the United States that the vice president "knows what he has to do, and he will do it."
As recently as June, Mr. da Silva's chief of staff, Jose Dirceu, promised that Brazil would not allow the planting of genetically modified crops, which opponents contend can present risks to human health, the environment and biodiversity. "The law will be obeyed because that is the determination of the president," he said then at a seminar in Sao Paulo.
The Brazilian press has speculated that Mr. Dirceu engineered the timing of the announcement of the measure so it would occur when his boss was out of the country and Mr. Alencar was the acting president, as provided for in the Constitution. That way, the vice president, who is not a member of the governing party, and not Mr. da Silva, would have to bear the political onus of making so unpopular a decision.
But Mr. Alencar initially surprised everyone by saying the measure "goes against existing Brazilian legislation" and calling an emergency cabinet meeting. "The next time, I'm going to be the one who travels," Mr. Alencar said Thursday night, after backing off and finally signing the decree
The "provisional decree" that the government announced applies only until the end of next year and contains several other restrictions. Farmers cannot plant genetically modified soybeans near nature reserves and watersheds or transport seeds across state lines and must also sign a document agreeing to pay an indemnity for any damage to the environment or consumers' health.
Nevertheless, the decision is a significant victory for large biotechnology companies like Monsanto, which stands to gain the most from the policy change. Since the mid-1990's, Greenpeace and other international and local consumer and environmental groups have been battling in Brazilian courts and the corridors of Congress to prevent Brazil from following the path of Argentina and other large agricultural producers that have already legalized the genetically modified crops.
In addition, Brazil, which in years when it has bumper crops often ranks as the largest exporter of agricultural products after the United States, has traditionally banned genetically modified foodstuffs from the shelves of grocery stores here and prohibited the use of genetically modified animal feed and grain. That has given it a certain commercial advantage over its rivals in markets like Europe, where opposition to such products remains strong.
On Thursday, the Brazilian chapter of Greenpeace accused the government of betraying its principles, selling out to big business and "disrespecting a commitment" made during last year's presidential campaign. The group vowed to challenge the decree in court and was joined in its criticisms by the national association of judges, which said the measure was "juridically absurd and flagrantly unconstitutional."
The government's about-face is also likely to provoke tensions in the warm relations between Mr. da Silva and his allies and admirers in the Green movement in Europe. His Workers' Party has been the main sponsor of the annual World Social Forum in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, which has emerged as a magnet for antiglobalization groups, whose agenda includes strong opposition to the genetically modified foods.
But many small farmers affiliated with the landless movement have also been clandestinely planting their own fields with genetically modified soy seeds [???? ANYONE EVER HEARD OF THIS BEFORE] smuggled across the border from Argentina. They justify that contradiction by arguing that they have lower production costs with these seeds and have complained that they will be driven into bankruptcy if the Brazilian government continues to ban them.
Monsanto has tried unsuccessfully to collect royalties from Brazilian soy producers using its genetically modified seeds. The government decision includes a provision that requires farmers planting such seeds to acknowledge that they, and not the government, are responsible for any such payments.
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4.Brazilians don't want GMOs
71% of Brazilians would prefer to consume products that are GM-free, according to a survey of two thousand Brazilians across the country, conducted in December 2002 by the Brazilian Institute of Public and Statistical Opinion (IBOPE). Over a third (37%) of those questioned were already familiar with what GMOs were. The remainder gave their opinion after being provided with further information by IBOPE.
Some of the main findings of the IBOPE survey:
*71% of Brazilians wanted their food to be GM-free
*Over 50% thought that GMOs could damage the environment
*Nearly two thirds thought they could pose a hazard to human health
*38% were concerned about the market implications
*Two thirds (65%) supported the government's then policy of forbidding the cultivation of GM crops
For more about the survey (in Portuguese):
http://www.idec.org.br/paginas/emacao.asp?id=247
For an article about the survey (in English):
http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readnews&itemid=418&language
=1
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5.SOLIDARITY WITH BRAZIL
The Campaign for a GM-Free Brazil asks for your help. Please, join them in a massive e-mail campaign to show Lula and his Ministers how serious the situation is. The proposed text and e-mail addresses follow. Please adapt and personalise as you wish.
You may wish to use some of the information above showing the unconstitutional and illegal nature of the Government's action, and the intense opposition from many sectors of Brazilian society, including members of the judiciary and a number of the Government's own ministers.
In addition, more than 70% of Brazilians want their food GM-free while nearly as many (65%) support the government's previous policy of forbidding the cultivation of GM crops.
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Rio de Janeiro, September 25, 2003
Mr. President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Mr. Vice-President José Alencar
and Ministers of State,
I request the immediate suspension of the planned sending of Provisory Measure to the National Congress for releasing GMOs in Brazil until this extremely important subject has been fully and widely discussed with all parties, just as it has been with the supporters of transgenics. This is only right in a supposedly democratic country.
There are no studies at all in any country that prove the safety of GMOs, either for consumer health or for the environment, and that approving the commercial growing of GMOs poses a serious threat to the food sovereignty of Brazilians and will damage the economy, which has been achieving great success with exports precisely because of the fact that Brazil is widely recognized in the global market as a GM-free country.
Even the Brazilian Company of Agricultural Research (Embrapa) affirms, in a document published and widely distributed on 2nd September that: Embrapa is conscious that practically no conclusive research exists on the risks to consumers' health, as well as on the current risks of releasing GMOs into the environment, which should be studied on a case by case basis.
I wish to express my confidence that your government will not betray the commitments made during your successful election campaign when in your government´s program you assured people, on four occasions, of your commitment to deal with the issue of GMOs by making use of the precautionary principle, which provides a scientific and internationally recognised means of approaching the safe introdcution of new technologies.
Sincerely,
Name:
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