Report documents growing evidence of GE contamination of traditional crops

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An international report on GE crop contamination has shown multinational companies such as Bayer and Monsanto are turning a blind eye to cases of GE contamination on a global scale, and British Columbians are paying the price with their health.

Greenpeace International and GeneWatch UK issued the report today,entitled GM Contamination Register Report 2007, which documents 10incidents of GE contamination in Canada. These include an illegalvariety of GE rice discovered by Greenpeace in supermarkets in bothVancouver and Montreal.

The report also exposes 39 new instances of crop contamination in 23countries over the past year. Most of the contamination involved suchstaple crops as rice and corn, but also included soy, cotton, canola,papaya and fish. Over the past 10 years, the GM Contamination Register(www.gmcontaminationregister.org) has recorded 216 incidents ofcontamination in 57 countries.

"Here in Canada, there is very little government testing forunauthorized and unwanted contamination, as we saw last year whenconsumers had to wait for independent testing by Greenpeace to find outthey had been exposed to a variety of illegally genetically engineeredrice," said Greenpeace Agriculture Campaigner Josh Brandon.

The release of this report falls on the eve of an internationalconvention in Cartagena, Columbia, being held from 12-19 March, wheregovernments will continue to assess liability for damages caused by GEorganisms. In B.C., the release of the report comes just days ahead ofa province-wide "GE Free Day" planned by Greenpeace on 11 March.

"Canadians need safeguards to protect themselves. At a minimum, we needbetter monitoring of imports, mandatory labelling for geneticallyengineered foods currently in the food system and strict liability forthe biotechnology companies that cause the contamination," saidBrandon. "Tracking contamination as this report does is a first step;our ultimate goal needs to be the complete abolition of GE elements inour food system and in our environment."

For more information, please contact:

Josh Brandon, Agricultural Campaigner, Greenpeace. 604-721-7493

Jessica Wilson, Media and Public Relations Officer, Greenpeace 778-228-5404