Australians fight back against genetic engineering The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, November 10th, 1999. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. ****************************** More Australians are becoming alarmed at the effects of the genetic engineering (GE) of foods and are fighting back. They feel entangled in the web of biotechnological giants and want to break out. by Vic Williams They want the labelling of genetically modified material so they can make their choice. A nationwide survey by Janet Norton found that 52 per cent felt the risks involved using GE would outweigh benefits; 93 per cent want government control of GE foods. The more people learn about GE foods the less they support them. There are moves to bring in controlling legislation. Jim Scott, Greens (WA) Member of the Legislative Council in WA, has tabled a Bill prohibiting possession or cultivation of genetically modified material unless the Minister administrating the Act approves of the research as being done in secure conditions. The Minister in granting approval applies conditions of security and a time limit to the research. If the person fails to comply he or she could be fined $50,000 and $5,000 for each day the offence is continued. In the Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory Ms Tucker has moved a Bill requiring a notice on food for sale that has been irradiated. The Bill also demands that food or ingredients that have been modified with genetic engineering must have legible notice of the genetic modification and its purpose. Penalty for breach of the Act would be 50 penalty units for a person, 250 penalty units for a body corporate. Others have taken direct action. Waverly Council in NSW and Moreland City Council in Victoria, have insisted on guarantees that food for children in care centres be GE free. They are following the example of over 300 English councils. The Federal Government and Health Ministers in August favoured labelling of GE foods and set up a taskforce to develop proposals for a further meeting in October. Howard has now deferred any decision for a year, supposedly because of the cost. One of the proposals being considered would allow manufacturers to label their food as "might contain GE modified ingredients approved by health authorities". Manufacturers stating that they did not use GE ingredients would have to document "a clearly identifiable and auditable food trail" and have their food tested. Restaurants and take-aways would not have to be labelled. The amount of content modified below a certain threshold would not have to be labelled, with the level possibly somewhere between 2-5 per cent. In Europe a threshold level of 0.1 per cent is being considered, mainly because this is the present level of accuracy. The level can be vital. In 1988, Showa Denko KK used genetic engineering in the making of Tryptophan, a food supplement. A new, extremely toxic amino acid was produced in the process. Of 5,000 people who were affected by it, 1,500 were permanently disabled and 37 died. Australia - hot bed In 1994, scientist Ken Corbett exposed Australia as being in the forefront of developing genetically engineered seeds. Under intense lobbying by biotechnologists, the Australian Government created the National Biotechnology Program Research Grants System. In 1993 they handed over $100 million for genetic engineering research. Half of the CSIRO divisions included work on genetic engineering, with 70 per cent of the projects involved in agricultural trans genes. Australia was the first country to approve for the marketplace GEO, a recombinant DNA to control crown gall disease. Multinational Coca-Cola-Amatil financed CSIRO to trial virus resistant transgenetic potato plants. A recent study in Britain tested GE potatoes and found the level of proteins, starch, sugar and other enzymes was up to 20 per cent lower. When the potatoes were fed to young rats they found impaired development in the intestines, pancreas, kidneys, liver and lungs, an enlarged thymus and depressed immune responses. CSIRO spliced a tobacco plant gene into sheep that causes the sweat glands to secret chitinase that kills blowfly larvae by dissolving the chitin that protects an insect's endoskeleton. Nicotine in lamb chops? The Federal Government set up the Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee of people from the CSIRO, Academy of Sciences and universities. When environmentalists uncovered a small scale field test of genetically engineered microbes conducted by the Department of Primary Industries and protested at the possible danger, the committee said "No risk". Corn and soya beans in USA are 30 per cent genetically engineered to resist the herbicide "Round-Up". The Round-up can be detected in soya beans. Up to a third of Australian cotton is genetically altered to resist Round-up so that the crops are extensively sprayed with it. Round-up is widely advertised and used to kill weeds, so through food and by the wind we are exposed to it. Dr J Loosey (Cornell University) found Round-up reduces the oxygen fixing activities in the soil and may be harmful to the reproductive process in humans. In his book "Gene Ethics", David Suzuki considers the oxygen supplying organelle of each cell's membrane is weakened by the use of Round-up. Terminator In the drive of the biotechnologic giants to control the world food industries, the Terminator seed is the most vicious. The seeds are treated so that the seeds from that crop are infertile, and even the pollen from those crops can and has infected normal crops within kilometres. For the next crop the farmers must buy more seeds. The major companies are buying out the seed producing companies and taking out patents on genetically altered seeds. To save on the transport of seeds, the giants now produce material that can unlock the terminated seeds - which the farmers must purchase for their seeds to grow. The key to Terminator is the ability to make a lot of toxin that will kill cells and confine the toxin to seeds. With cotton, however, the seeds are crushed for oil and protein, to be eaten by people and livestocks. Does the toxin killing cells also work in humans and animals? Martha Crouch, Associate Professor Indiana University, asks "How will a particular toxin affect birds, insects, fungi and bacteria that eat or infect the seeds? Will they deteriorate?" She does not give an answer, but more and more people will demand an answer. Control of the world's food industry is but another weapon in the drive of the US military-industrial-financial complex to achieve the new World Order. Power of the consumers The international struggle against genetic engineering is growing overnight. The EU has decided to ban soya beans and canola from Canada that has been genetically engineered and has opened the door to Brazil with its no GE products. In the UK, Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd have responded to consumer demand by drawing other supermarkets and retailers, including Nestle and Unilever into a consortium using only non GE foods. They are approaching the animal foods industry to produce non-GE animal foods. The Consumers' Union of Japan has sent an open letter to US farmers and agribusiness asking for non-GMO (non-GE) corn, soya bean, potato and canola and to segregate their crops. The Japanese Consumers will be present at an international meeting on November 16 at KPMG Consultants, Melbourne, with Genetics ID Inc, a leading international company who have developed a standard test for non-GMO material that has been widely accepted. The Australian Wheat Board will be present, no doubt to look at the world prospects of non-GMO wheat. GeneEthics Network Australia will be there. They have played a leading role in Australia in giving valuable information to the people on the dangers of genetic engineering in food and in our way of life. Information from this conference could be important for the trade, economy and health of Australians. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:ART: AUSTRALIANS FIGHT BACK AGAINST GENETIC ENGINEERING
Communist Party of Australia Tue, 09 Nov 1999 21:47:59 +1100
