Greenpeace swimmers blocked the harbour entrance of the port of
Veracruz, Mexico today to stop the ship "Sea Crown" transporting
40,000 tonnes of genetically engineered (GE) maize from the United
States. Greenpeace repeated its call for a ban on all US GE maize
imports as they are the most likely source of the genetic
contamination discovered over six months ago in a country that is
the world´s most important centre of origin and diversity for
maize.
In September, the Mexican government confirmed that indigenous
Mexican maize varieties in 15 out of 22 communities tested in the
states of Oaxaca and Puebla are affected by genetic pollution of GE
traits. The scope of contamination was later documented in a
peer-reviewed article by Drs. Ignacio Chapela and David Quist of
the University of California at Berkeley, which was published in
Nature magazine. The latest information from a government source
indicates even higher levels of contamination than originally
feared - up to 20-60 percent in four communities tested.
"The Mexican government has known about the contamination now
for over half a year but still fails to act to prevent further
contamination by banning the US GE maize imports, let alone remedy
the current situation or hold anyone responsible. In light of this
failure, Greenpeace has taken action to seal off the source of this
genetic contamination," said Hector Magallon, genetic engineering
campaigner for Greenpeace Mexico.
This is the first case of genetic contamination of a centre of
diversity for one of the world´s most important food crops. There
are over 300 local and wild varieties of Mexican maize, which are
in jeopardy in the face of this contamination. This pollution not
only affects Mexico but puts the world´s food security at risk
since farmers around the world rely on these genetic resources to
create new varieties adapted to changing environmental
conditions.
The gravity of the situation also moved more than 80 scientists
and plant breeders from different countries to call on world
governments "to employ all means possible to prevent the
contamination of Mexican maize and its wild relatives by
genetically engineered corn varieties."
"We hold Monsanto, Aventis and Syngenta responsible for this
outbreak of genetic pollution. These companies produced GE maize in
the first place without caring about the harm their products may
cause nor taking precaution to prevent living contamination from
spreading to the environment. These companies are liable for any
damage whether that be the possible loss of biodiversity, farmers´
markets or Mexican exports," added Magallón.
Greenpeace, along with 40 Mexican groups, have proposed an
emergency plan, which calls for the Mexican government to stop
importing GE maize into Mexico, undertake a rapid assessment of the
scope and magnitude of the contamination, develop and implement a
national decontamination plan, and file a legal action on behalf of
the affected communities against Monsanto, Syngenta and Aventis,
responsible for the production of GE maize.
Notes: (1) Greenpeace and several other environmental organisations have warned the Mexican government of the high probability of contamination from the imports since 1999. Because of the high risk GE maize poses to local varieties and wild relatives, Mexico has prohibited field trials and commercial planting; however, each year approximately six million tonnes of maize for food and feed are still imported from the United States, at least 25 percent of which is GE.