Brazil is considering approval of terminator seeds. This is a violation of farmers rights, this is a crime against nature. The threat to biodiversity would be unimaginable. Please sign. To the of the Commission on Constitution and Justice: We, the undersigned, hereby express our opposition to Bill No. 268/2007 filed by Rep. Eduardo Sciarra, which allows for flexibility related to the ban on Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (GURTs, commonly referred to as Terminator) enacted by the Brazilian Biosafety Law and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The proposed legislation would allow the use of GURTs in two contexts: a) bioreactors crops (e.g., plants engineered to produce industrial chemicals or pharmaceuticals) that can multiply vegetatively (such as sugarcane, cassava, potatoes) and b ) when they are used as a “biosecurity” measure in an attempt to prevent contamination of conventional or organic crops.If Brazil allows the use of Terminator seeds, it will take away the rights of farmers to conserve and multiply their own seed, forcing them to buy new seed every planting cycle. The use of Terminator in the context of bioreactor crops and/or biosecurity could pave the way for the introduction of suicide genes in all crop seed, ensuring market monopoly among a half-dozen companies and seriously compromising national sovereignty.Furthermore, the sterility trait produced by GURTS is triggered by the application of an agrochemical, resulting in a large economic impact for farmers and biodiversity. Precisely because of these and other risks to biodiversity, and the violation of the rights of peasants and farmers, the United Nations, in 2000, established an international moratorium against both experimental and commercial use of GURTs. If the Commission approves the bill, Brazil would not only be on the road to changing its national law, with unacceptable consequences for farmers and biodiversity, but will also be unilaterally violating an international agreement, and opening the door for other countries to be pressured by companies to apply this technology. Therefore, the responsibility of the Commission is to reject this bill, not only because it undermines an international agreement signed by Brazil as part of the global community, but also because it is a threat to farmers and food security and agricultural biodiversity worldwide.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 08:48:50 +0000
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