Re: Food for thought

**"Lawrence F. London, Jr." l*@intrex.net**

Underwood Gardens wrote:
> In reading about the recent meeting in Granada, Spain, it seems to me  
> that its results have undermined the existing moratorium on  
> Terminator Technology (i.e., plants that are genetically modified to  
> produce sterile seeds at harvest).  This could clear the path for  
> "Terminator Technology" to be accepted by the UN?
> 
> What is your view on these "terminator" crops - those that are  
> genetically modified so that seeds cannot be saved?    Do you feel  
> there is any danger to plant species in general if this ability/DNA  
> to kill a plant's embryo is transferred by pollinators to other plants?

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [SANET-MG] moratorium on terminaor  reaffirmed with caveats
Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 14:46:07 -0500
From: jcummins <jcummins@UWO.CA>
To: SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU

Title : Moratorium on Terminator Technology reaffirmed, but with qualifications
Date : 29 January 2006
Contents: THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE

Dear Friends and colleagues,

RE: Moratorium on Terminator Technology reaffirmed, but with qualifications

The fourth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Intersessional Working Group
on Article 8(j) and related provisions of the Convention on Biological
Diversity met in Granada, Spain from 23-27 January.

On the final day of the meeting, the Working Group finalized its
recommendation on GURTs (popularly known as Terminator Technologies),
which will be forwarded to the eighth meeting of the Conference of the
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to be held in
March 2006.

The 8(j) Working Group reaffirmed the CBD’s existing “de facto”
moratorium on GURTs. However, this was weakened by the inclusion of
language in another paragraph, at the insistence of Australia, that
further research and studies on potential impacts and other aspects of
GURTs, be undertaken on a case by case risk assessment basis. Parties
repeatedly clashed on many issues, and it was clear that some Parties
are determined to undermine the moratorium.

However, Parties to the CBD will still have a crucial opportunity to
strengthen the decision on GURTs at COP8, which will make the final
decision. Indigenous peoples, farmers and NGOs are calling for an
international ban on Terminator Technology.

Countries could, as sovereign nations, enact national legislation that
bans GURTs. Furthermore, farmers as well as indigenous and local
communities would now be assisted to apply the “de facto” moratorium
within their communities and territories.

We provide below a report on the outcomes of the meeting.

With best wishes,

Lim Li Ching
Third World Network
121-S Jalan Utama
10450 Penang
Malaysia
Email: twnet@po.jaring.my
Website: www.biosafety-info.net and www.twnside.org.sg

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REF: Doc.TWN/Biosafety/2006/B

CBD moratorium on Terminator Technology reaffirmed, but with qualifications

Granada, 28 January 2006 (Third World Network) - The fourth meeting of
the Ad Hoc Open-ended Intersessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and
related provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which
ended on 27 January, saw Parties clashing repeatedly over the issue of
Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (GURTs).

The 8(j) Working Group reaffirmed the Convention on Biological
Diversity’s (CBD) existing “de facto” moratorium on GURTs. However, this
was weakened by the inclusion of language in another paragraph, at the
insistence of Australia, that further research and studies on potential
impacts and other aspects of GURTs, be undertaken on a case by case risk
assessment basis.

GURTs are also popularly known as Terminator Technologies. Terminator
Technology is a genetic engineering technique that renders seeds sterile
at harvest, thus preventing farmers from saving and re-using seed, a
practice carried out by millions of farmers, particularly in developing
countries. Apart from these socio-economic impacts, there are also
serious threats posed to agrobiodiversity and biodiversity.

In 2000, the CBD adopted Decision V/5 (Agricultural biological
diversity) section III, paragraph 23, which recommends that Parties not
approve GURTs for field-testing or commercial use, until transparent
scientific assessments of its impacts are made and its socio-economic
impacts validated, thereby establishing a “de facto” moratorium on GURTs.

The 8(j) Working Group met in Granada, Spain from 23-27 January, and one
of the issues on its agenda was on the potential socio-economic impacts
of GURTs on indigenous and local communities. On the final day of the
meeting, the Working Group finalized its recommendation on GURTs, which
will be forwarded to the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties
to the CBD, to be held in Curitiba, Brazil in March 2006. Parties to the
CBD would still have an opportunity to strengthen the decision on GURTs
at COP8, which will make the final decision.

One of the most contentious issues in the recommendation had to do with
the inclusion of language recommending case-by-case risk assessments for
further research and studies on potential impacts and other aspects of
GURTs. The drafting group that was formed to draft the recommendation
had adjourned the day before (26 January) without agreeing on this, and
had placed the paragraph in brackets. However, informal consultations
were made among the contending Parties as the Sub-Working Group went
into plenary, and there they approved the removal of the brackets.

....................

The rest of this article can be viewed here:

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0601&L=sanet-mg&T=0&H=1&O=D&P=13317

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
&quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot; &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters