Greenpeace blocks U.S. corn shipment to Mexico
Reuters World Report
Dienstag, 7. Dezember 1999 23:59:00
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MEXICO CITY, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Greenpeace activists on
Tuesday blockaded railway tracks from Mexico's Gulf Coast port
of Veracruz in a bid to stop imports of genetically modified
corn from the United States.
The Mexico branch of the international environmental group
said protesters dressed in orange chained themselves to the
tracks and, holding up signs reading "stop genetically modified
maize," demanded port officials show them their authorisation
to transport so-called GMOs.
Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are plants
artificially endowed with a new gene that allows them to produce
bug-fighting poisons, withstand temperature changes or have
other useful qualities that proponents argue could help solve
the world's future food problems.
But Greenpeace, one of the most vociferous opponents of the
new technology, argues too little is known about their impact on
health and the environment to justify their widespread use.
The group says countries like Mexico, which are rich in
biodiversity, risk losing their original plants through genetic
contamination because controls on the shipment and transport of
GMOs are nonexistent.
Mexico, where corn was first developed by Mesoamerican
Indian peasants mixing various strands of wild maize thousands
of years ago, imports around 5 million tonnes of corn from the
United States every year.
Greenpeace says up to 25 percent of that is genetically
modified. U.S. exporters are not required to label or separate
GMOs and therefore mix them freely with normal produce.
"There is a great irresponsibility on the part of the
authorities," the group said in a statement. It said the
imported corn was ostensibly for consumption but there were no
controls in place to prevent seeds from falling off railway cars
or from being sold for planting.
The Mexican government recently set up a special commission
to draw up laws on GMOs in order to protect the environment.