Page - October 17, 2006
Products should be proven safe before being put on the market.
The precautionary principle is an important concept that can be
applied to a number of environmental issues, including GE foods.
The basic idea behind the precautionary principle is this: we
shouldn't wait for a disaster to happen before taking action. We
should anticipate potential threats, and move forward with
caution.
Take GE foods as an example. GE foods are living organisms that
have been released into the environment - and onto your dinner
table - without long term health tests and without a clear
understanding of how they will interact with other living
organisms. Biotechnology corporations such as Monsanto are not
required to prove that GE is safe. It's up to organizations like
Greenpeace to prove that they aren't. And that's all backwards. The
burden of proof should be on producers such as Monsanto; they
should have to prove that their product is safe before releasing it
onto the market.
We believe that, given the evidence that GE foods are
potentially dangerous to both human health and the environment, far
more testing and research is required before they are released onto
the market. While it's too late to stop some of the damage that's
already done by widespread GE crops such as soy, canola and corn,
there's still time to limit their release. We can also work to stop
the introduction of new GE crops such as wheat, fish and
trees.