PHILIPPINES: "MUTANT" FOOD NOT JUST A
FIRST-WORLD ...
OTC 06.11.98 02:25
MANILA, (Nov. 5) IPS - "Genetically altered food"
sounds alien to many in a developing country like the
Philippines, but local activists say these products are already
finding their way to Filipino dining tables.
This is because the Philippines is a heavy importer of common
products or food ingredients like soybean and corn, which often
come from industrialized countries that make them with
genetically altered products, says a study by the Manila-based
South-east Regional Institute for Community Education (SEARICE).
In short, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), altered often to
make agricultural crops resistant to herbicides and viruses, are
no longer just first-world products of concern only to developed
country markets, it says.
Likewise, their health risks are no longer the preoccupation only
of wealthy consumers, SEARICE argues.
"We have every reason to worry that GMOs are already in
Philippine soil and in all probability, in our tables," said
the SEARICE study, released last week. "We have to realize
that the impact of genetic engineering has gone beyond
theoretical but has become a reality, a frightening one."
The SEARICE study found little formal statistical data on GMOs in
the Philippines. But it reached its conclusions on the entry of
GMOs or products using GMOs by extrapolating data from the size
of areas planted to genetically altered crops in exporting
countries like the United States, Argentina and Australia.
"The Philippines is a gross importer of soybeans,
corn/maize, cotton and to a more limited extent tobacco and
potato -- agricultural crops that are principally targeted for
genetic engineering," the SEARICE report noted.
It says 'a sizable percentage of these crops come from countries
that have allowed the commercial cultivation of GMOs -- countries
that are major trading partners of the Philippines."
Going by data that 30 percent of total soybean acreage in the
U.S. is planted to transgenic soybean, SEARICE deduced that some
20 percent of soybeans imported from the U.S. in 1997 were likely
to have genetically engineered.
Soybean is said to be present in 60 percent of processed foods
eaten everyday. Locally, it is manufactured into soybean milk,
infant formula, tofu and soy sauce. The U.S. is the world's
largest soybean exporter.
SEARICE estimated that 10,000 out of some 105,000 metric tonnes
of corn that the Philippines imported from the U.S. -- including
corn flour, unmilled corn and corn seeds for planting -- could
have been transgenic corn made resistant to insects.
The proportion of transgenic corn that the country gets from the
U.S. is expected to triple in 1998, with growth in land area in
the U.S. planted to transgenic corn. Imported corn is used in
making snack food, cooking oil and animal feed.
Apart from the dearth of clear data on imports of products with
GMOs, the study found scant awareness about GMOs and the issues
surrounding them among the government, companies and consumers.
The Philippines also does not have policy or regulations on the
commercial production and marketing of GMOs and genetically
altered food.
Local importers of agricultural products were reluctant to
respond to a SEARICE questionnaire asking whether they were aware
of genetic engineering in food crops, or whether they were sure
their imports did not have transgenic components.
Of 20 chief executive officers of local firms importing cotton,
tobacco, corn and potato, only eight responded. Four said they
were aware the crops they were involved with were being
genetically engineered in some exporting countries. Of these,
three said they do not import transgenic products.
What the Philippines has are policy guidelines on local research
into genetic engineering, but SEARICE says this is not the
likeliest source of GMOs' entry, but from imports.
While the scale of entry of GMOs is far behind those of richer
countries, experts say it is not too early to prepare policy to
deal with transgenic crops -- especially with the lack of global
rules on the research, commercialization, and trade in such
products.
For starters, SEARICE suggests the Philippines declare a
moratorium on the entry of GMOs until international rules are
clarified.
The spread of GMOs has already become controversial not only in
the U.S. but in Europe and Japan. Europe, which had earlier
denied entry to imported soybeans from the U.S., recently passed
a directive requiring the labelling of GMOs. Under consumer
pressure, Japan is discussing labelling rules.
While crops are genetically altered supposedly to improve yields
or make them resistant, experts warn the transfer and of genes
across species is bound to have harmful effects on health.
Some of these effects range from allergies to hypersensitivity,
and genetic engineering has been linked by some to the revival of
drug-resistant diseases.
The health risks are not something Filipinos should toy around
with, says Romeo Quijano, pharmacology professor at the
University of the Philippines College of Medicine.
"Genetically engineered foods are hazardous
commodities," he said. "Genetically engineered food
products have not undergone sufficient toxicologic evaluation and
there are studies indicating that there are significant health
risks involved in genetic engineering technology."
Copyright 1998