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PRESS RELEASE
June 4, 2008 CITIZENS OF INDIA HAVE A RIGHT TO FOOD SAFETY AND BIOSAFETYLeading Scientists, Experts And Civil Society Organisations Call For A Stop To The De-Regulation Of Food Safety And BiosafetyAt the Food Summit, currently underway in Rome, the Biotech Industry is using the food crisis to push GM foods even though genetic engineering as a tool has not been able to increase yields since yields are multi genetic trait and genetic engineering so far has been successful only with single gene trait like herbicide tolerant crops like bt. cotton. While the push for gm crops and food increase, push for biosafety de-regulation is also increasing. India was visionary in creating a Law for Biosafety titled "Rules for the Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of hazardous Microorganisms Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells, 1989 framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986" long before most of the countries had such a law, long before GMO's were commercialized and long before the international regime to regulate GMO's called the "Biosafety Protocol" under the Convention on Biological Diversity was negotiated and ratified. The first attempt to dilute our Biosafety Regulation was during the illegal trials of Bt. Cotton in 1998 when the Department of Biotechnology, the promoting Department for Biotechnology, through its guidelines conveniently and falsely defined open field trials as contained and thus attempted to removed the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment from Biosafety Regulation. This was stopped through a series of public interest cases in the Supreme Court beginning with the case initiated by the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology and followed up by the case by Ms. Aruna Rodrigues. The next attempt at de-regulation was the framing of the Food Safety and Standards Act by the Ministry of Food Processing an Industry oriented Ministry, which again attempted to bypass the Biosafety Laws in the 1989 rules. The Biosafety Laws have also been diluted. While genetic engineering is a process, which impacts the metabolism and physiology of the whole organism, in an amendment of June 2006, the transgene has been defined as an "event", separating it from its interactions with the organism. In September 2007, the Government excluded genetically engineered food from the ambit of the Biosafety Laws. In effect, the government was attempting to exclude food safety and health safety concerns from Biosafety. However, as a result of our challenging the exemption of food from Biosafety Regulation, the Government has been forced to put its notification in abeyance for six months beginning from 25th February 2008. We therefore have a short window to put in place Biosafety Safety Laws and Structures that also address concerns of Food Safety. We are enclosing both the August and February notifications. To make matters worse, the corporations involved in commercializing GMO's have filed a case in the High Court arguing that Biosafety data is their intellectual property and hence cannot be released to the public. This robs the Right to Information and new Food Safety Act and all labeling laws of their very basis. While the Supreme Court has been passing orders to strengthen the GEAC and make it more transparent and democratic, the Biotechnology Department has suddenly come with a new proposal for a national Biotechnology Regulatory Authority and a National Biotechnology Regulatory Act to further marginalize the GEAC and the Ministry of Environment, the Nodal Ministry in Biosafety Regulations. This undemocratic regulatory anarchy is threatening the citizens right to food safety and Biosafety. We demand that there be a freeze on all steps at Biosafety and food safety de-regulation by industry related Ministries and Departments such as the Food Processing Industry and the Biotechnology Department. Meantime the existing Biosafety laws should be strengthened not dismantled. While such strengthening of the regulatory system is taking place through a lead by the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health, which are the nodal agencies for safety, all trials and commercialization of GM products, must stop. For further information please contact: Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology / Navdanya
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