19th June 2004

GM Oilseed stopped at European Borders

Friends of the Earth (Malta) hails one of Malta’s first votes at European level against the importation of Monsanto's GM oilseed rape into Europe. FoE (Malta) augurs that this will eventually become the position to be taken by Malta in the coming years.

Now that the decision is most likely passed on to the environment ministers from the European Union's 25 member states, FoE (Malta) looks forward for a similar position to be taken by our environment minister.

Given the size of Malta’s fields, GMOs could spell the end of any other form of farming, thus reducing the choice of the local farmers and consumers.
We should be protecting and promoting our typical agricultural products and not introducing other varieties that can be grown anywhere in the world. There is also a growing body of evidence that links GMOs to health risks, and loss of biodiversity, and simply put, the risks of GMOs are too great to take.

Friends of the Earth questions what benefit Malta can possibly stand to gain from the acceptance of GMOs and asks the authorities to do their utmost to prevent the importation of such organisms.
Technologies such as the “terminator seed” which are engineered to respond to particular fertilizers patented by companies and do not produce fertile seeds (ending the ancient practice of saving seeds for replanting) threaten the autonomy of small farmers by forcing them to spend more money on seeds and pushing them into debt. Monsanto has taken farmers to court for having GM crops growing in their fields, in most cases due to unwanted and uncontrolled contamination, claiming patent rights over the crop.

FoE (Malta) also maintains that the question of hunger is not question of production capacity: producers today battle surpluses so great they receive subsidies not to produce at capacity and still have silos full of product leftover to rot. The question is one of economics and political will, something GMOs cannot change.

FoE (Malta) is grateful to those who put the safety of European citizens and their environment before the financial interests of biotech giants like Monsanto and their friends in the White House.
The European Commission and our government should now follow suit and reject GM foods until their safety can be proven."