36 Organic Mega-Countries - Organic Agriculture Crop Area Reaches 26 Million Hectares - Sector Calls for Strict Liability Under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
Organic farming, the systematic conversion of land to certified practices that ensure food safety and security from the farm to the table, a comprehensive and fully traceable system, is developing rapidly throughout the world. According to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement’s study The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2005, 36 countries achieved organic mega-country status in 2004, meaning that over 50,000 hectares of certified organic land are currently being cultivated. In total, over 26 million hectares of land are currently certified worldwide, generating over $25 billion in revenue in 2003.
(PRWEB) June 3, 2005 -- 558,449 farms in 108 countries are currently
certified, and many millions of people are involved in the production,
marketing, processing and distribution of organic products, generating immense
income for a great number of people while simultaneously enhancing biodiversity
and protecting the environment for future generations.
Organic
agriculture is a holistic system that promotes and enhances biodiversity,
biological cycles, and soil biological activity. Certified organic products are
those which have been produced, stored, processed, handled and marketed in
accordance with precise technical specifications (standards) and certified as
organic by a certification body. The use of GMOs within organic systems is not
permitted during any stage of organic food production, processing or
handling.
The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech
Applications (ISAAA) issues an annual report on the amount of global biotech
crop acreage. The 2005 report indicates that there were 14 biotech
mega-countries in 2004 – countries where more than 50,000 hectares or biotech
crops are being grown. The figures, however, are dubious. For instance, whereas
the report claims that 500,000 biotech hectares are being grown in South Africa,
a report from Agricultural Biotechnology in Europe, an industry coalition, and a
survey team from the University of Reading in the UK show that the ISAAA’s
figures are exaggerated by factors of 20 and 30 respectively, and a recent
report from GRAIN (www.grain.org) demonstrates that out of 3,000 farmers who
originally grew Bt cotton there, only 700 continue to, and many farmers who
chose to grow the cotton are now perilously in debt. Also, 98% of the world's GM
crops are still grown in only four nations - USA, Canada, Argentina and a bit in
China, which has remained the same for the last five years.
Biotech
crops grown in so-called biotech mega-countries are planted indiscriminately
without any substantive regulatory framework, increasing reliance upon dangerous
herbicides and pesticides, creating super-weeds and destroying biodiversity in
order to increase yields in the short term, but ultimately rendering the
cropland useless, while simultaneously contaminating the world’s major food
crops with undesirable characteristics. This contamination is not something the
biotech industry should flaunt, but rather, the biotech industry should be held
strictly liable for all such contamination under the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety. Biotech crops have been riddled by scandal, from StarLink corn, which
was not approved for human consumption but nevertheless entered the food supply,
prompting the recall of over 300 contaminated food products from shelves in the
USA and continues to linger in the food supply, to the illegal entry of a 1000
tons of Bt10 into the European Union, also not approved for human consumption,
and the recent publication of internal Monsanto documents, reviewed by EU
scientists, revealing serious health damage to laboratory animals fed Monsanto's
new genetically engineered "rootworm-resistant" corn. Rats who consumed the
mutant corn developed smaller kidneys and exhibited blood
abnormalities.
Biotech crops containing industrial enzymes,
pharmaceuticals, viruses, antibiotic resistance markers and other traits have
been planted in large-scale field tests for years in the USA, but tests for
those experimental crops do not exist, and thus it is likely that contamination
of agricultural crops is much more widespread.
Alternatively, organic
agriculture ensures food security and safety for future generations,
distributing income equitably among those involved in the chain of production,
and credibly backing up its claims with thorough documentation. Organic
agriculture also increases or stabilizes yields in developing countries,
particularly in marginal and semi-arid areas, increasing productivity without
dependency on unaffordable chemicals. The IFOAM Basic Standards include social
standards that ensure the protection of workers’ rights. IFOAM Accredited
certifiers (www.ioas.org) adhere to these social standards, and IFOAM is
working together with the International Social and Environmental Accreditation
and Labelling (ISEAL) Alliance (www.isealalliance.org/)
to improve the effectiveness and compatibility of social and environmental
standards and verification systems.
IFOAM calls for strict liability to
be imposed for the introduction of GMOs. To insure that the costs of injuries
resulting from defective products are borne by the manufacturer that put such
products on the market rather than by the injured persons who are powerless to
protect themselves, strict liability for GMOs is warranted. Strict liability
ensures that organic farmers and consumer receive protection from problems of
proof inherent in pursuing negligence, placing the burden of loss on
manufacturers rather than injured parties who are powerless to protect
themselves. IFOAM applauds the inclusion of a GMO liability regime in the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, an idea that originated from African nations
and other Third World nations, and is opposed by the USA and
Canada.
IFOAM’s Position on Genetic Engineering:
www.ifoam.org/press/positions/ge-position.html
To
purchase a copy of The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging
Trends 2005, go to the IFOAM website www.ifoam.org. Additional information can be requested from
the IFOAM Head Office (Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 5, 53113 Bonn, Germany, phone
+49-228-92650-10).
IFOAM Press Release, responsible Gerald A. Herrmann,
Executive Director
IFOAM Head Office:
Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 5, 53113
Bonn, Germany
Tel: ++49-228-926 50 10 - Fax: ++49-228-926 50 99
www.ifoam.org, E-Mail:
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb246771.htm