21 May 2003
US ties GM food to AIDS assistance – More ‘GM or die’
Friends of the Earth is demanding that the U.S. stop using hunger as a political and marketing tool to benefit giant agri-biz.
The press release also notes U.S. AIDS spending legislation bill which passed the US Senate May 15th and which, as Devinder Sharma recently pointed out, includes a GMO amendment which ties US assistance to victims of AIDS to acceptance of GMOs.
In other words, the US is prepared to hold a GM gun not just to the heads of the hungry but to those of the desperately ill.
Either way, for governments in Africa and elsewhere the US message is the same: accept our GMOs or we'll leave your people to die.
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FRIENDS OF THE EARTH INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
Friday 23rd May 2003
A new report from Friends of the Earth International highlighting the United States' promotion of GM food as food aid, Playing with Hunger, is published on Friday 23rd May 2003 - embargoed copies of the report and accompanying factsheet are available at www.foei.org/publications/gmo
Press release below:
MAY 23, 2003 - GM FOOD: U.S. IS 'PLAYING WITH HUNGER'
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID) AND WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) TOLD NOT TO FORCE GM FOOD AID ON UNWILLING RECIPIENTS
Food aid has now become controversial on four continents because of U.S. Genetically Modified (GM) food donations, according to a new report* released by Friends of the Earth International today.
Friends of the Earth is demanding that the U.S. stop using hunger as a political and marketing tool to benefit big agri-business.
This month the U.S. Congress passed legislation tying AIDS assistance to acceptance of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The U.S. has also filed a case at the World Trade Organization against the European Union moratorium on GMOs.
"The U.S. should stop playing with hunger. Having attempted to use USAID's famine relief programme to dump unwanted GM maize in Southern Africa they are now resorting to even more unacceptable methods. African nations should have the right to decide what their people are fed. It is immoral for the U.S. to exploit famine and the AIDS crisis in this way," said Nnimmo Bassey, Director of Environmental Rights Action / Friends of the Earth-Nigeria
Controversy over genetically modified food aid arose in 2000 and grew increasingly in 2002, when several Southern African countries refused GM food aid during a food crisis. African countries were presented with a situation where either they accepted GMOs or many people would die. Several countries -- like Mozambique and Zimbabwe -- rejected GM corn due to environmental concerns, but accepted milled GM corn.
Only Zambia decided to reject GM corn in both grain and milled forms, citing health concerns. Several initial reports coming from Zambia suggest that the country has so far been able to cope with the food crisis without GM food aid.
The recently announced World Trade Organization (WTO) case filed by the U.S. against the EU underscores a renewed controversy. The U.S. is again blaming the EU moratorium on GMOs as being the cause of African rejection of GM food aid [ii Zoellick, R. May 14th].
Transcript: USTR says WTO biotech ban case aims to quell fears.
"This dangerous effect of the EU's moratorium became painfully evident last fall when some famine-stricken African countries refused US food aid because of fabricated fears stoked by irresponsible rhetoric about food safety". However, the EU recently strongly rejected such accusations. [iii European Commission. May 2003]. The European Commission regrets US Decision to file WTO Case on GMOs as misguided and unnecessary.
The EU has rejected US arguments over the EU responsibility during the African food crisis. They said: "food aid to starving populations should be about meeting the urgent humanitarian needs of those who are in need. It should not be about trying to advance the case for GM food abroad, or planting GM crops for export, or indeed finding outlets for domestic surplus, which is a regrettable of the US food aid policy"
There are also concerns that a U.S. AIDS spending legislation bill which passed the US Senate May 15th includes a GMO amendment which ties AIDS assistance to acceptance of GMOs [iiii H.R.1298 United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 passed the Senate on May 15th].
"(g) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO FOOD ASSISTANCE FOR INDIVIDUALS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS-
(1) FINDINGS- Congress finds the following:
(C) Although the United States is willing to provide food assistance to these countries in need, a few of the countries object to part or all of the assistance because of fears of benign genetic modifications to the foods.
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS- It is therefore the sense of Congress that United States food assistance should be accepted by countries with large populations of individuals infected or living with HIV/AIDS, particularly African countries, in order to help feed such individuals." (NB the "sense of Congress" is not mandatory)
To view full text of the bill Go to Congressional record:
http://thomas.loc.gov/r108/r108.html, Click on Daily Digest, May 15, and afterwards click on Senate passed H.R.1298, United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act. Then click on the last version, Section 104a
Friends of the Earth International's report released today and entitled "Playing with Hunger", presents a compilation of case studies related to the shipment of GMOs in food aid to four continents since the year 2000.
It concludes that the controversy over GM food aid during the Southern Africa crisis should have been anticipated by the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Both agencies have been aware since 2000 of the problems and controversies over food aid and GMOs, and should have guaranteed real alternatives to GM food aid to the countries in need.
A letter urging the USAID and the WFP to take the necessary steps to guarantee that in the future GMOs are not forced, via food aid, to any country was sent today by Friends of the Earth. According to Nnimmo Bassey, "There were alternatives to GMOs but African countries were left without a choice. This should not happen again. We call on the World Food Programme and other donors to ensure they will always make available real alternatives in the future."
The report also gives more evidence about cynical US policy over GM food aid, and criticizes the food aid system. Ricardo Navarro, Salvadorean chairman of Friends of the Earth International said: "Food aid is being used, particularly by the US, as a marketing tool to capture new markets. Big agribusinesses are huge beneficiaries of the current food aid system. There is a need for stricter regulation of food aid to prevent it from being used as a way to open up new markets for GM products."
Today's report was released one month ahead of a crucial international summit on agriculture due from June 23-25, 2003 in Sacramento (US). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), USAID, and the US State Department are hosting the summit to which Ministers of Trade, Agriculture, and Environment from 180 nations have been invited. It is expected that this 'Ministerial Conference and EXPO on Agricultural Science and Technology' will be used by the US government to promote GM crops in developing countries. The USDA and USAID are in charge of managing some of the world's largest food aid programmes.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
* : The report is available for download at the Friends of the Earth International website : www.foei.org/publications/gmo
THIS REPORT IS EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 AM (GMT) ON MAY 23, 2003
[i] Zoellick, R. May 14th. Transcript: USTR says WTO biotech ban case aims to quell fears. "This dangerous effect of the EU's moratorium became painfully evident last fall when some famine-stricken African countries refused US food aid because of fabricated fears stoked by irresponsible rhetoric about food safety".
[ii] European Commission. May 2003. European Commission regrets US Decision to file WTO Case on GMOs as misguided and unnecessary. The EU has rejected US arguments over the EU responsibility during the African food crisis. They said: "food aid to starving populations should be about meeting the urgent humanitarian needs of those who are in need. It should not be about trying to advance the case for GM food abroad, or planting GM crops for export, or indeed finding outlets for domestic surplus, which is a regrettable of the US food aid policy"
[iii] 1 H.R.1298 United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 passed the Senate on May 15th. To view full text of the bill Go to Congressional record: http://thomas.loc.gov/r108/r108.html, Click on Daily Digest, May 15, and afterwards click on Senate passed H.R.1298, United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act. Then click on the last version, Section 104a
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
In Nigeria (Africa) Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director Friends of the Earth Nigeria
Tel: + 234-52-600165 or +234-80-23176577
Email: [email protected]
In El Salvador (Central America) Ricardo Navarro Chairman Friends of the Earth International. Tel: +503-2200046 or +503-2206480
Email: [email protected]
In Washington (U.S.), Larry Bohlen, Friends of the Earth US Tel: + 1-202-783-7400 ext. 251 Email: [email protected]
In Brussels (Belgium), Juan Lopez, Friends of the Earth International +32-2-5420180 or +32-477-391496 [email protected]
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