Biosafety Protocol

Greenpeace is working to strengthen the Biosafety Protocol, a crucial international agreement on GE food. Canada is one of the top four GE-producing countries in the world, and our government has not ratified the Biosafety Protocol. In addition, Canada actively attempts to block progress at international meetings, working with Argentina, and the US to undermine the agreement. At the most recent Biosafety Protocol meeting in Montreal, Greenpeace participated in a variety of actions, including:

Supporting key delegates

On May 19, a few days before the Biosafety Protocol meeting was scheduled to begin in Montreal, Dr. Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher was denied a visa by the Canadian government. No reason was given for the refusal. Dr. Tewolde is the official negotiator for the G-77 group of developing countries and one of the top opponents of the Canadian government's position on GE crops. Greenpeace and other groups organized letter and fax campaigns to get Dr. Tewolde permission to attend the meeting. Close to a thousand faxes were sent by Greenpeace members to key government officials. After a week of delay, Dr. Tewolde was allowed into the country to attend the meetings.

Encouraging public engagment

On Saturday, May 28, over 120 people attended Greenpeace's day-long public forum on GE food and biosafety. Thirty speakers from all over the world explained their concerns about GE organisms and their hopes and fears around the Biosafety Protocol. The closing plenary focussed on GE-free zones and the experience of  the Philippines, Poland, Europe, Costa-Rica, Prince Edward Island, Powell River in British Columbia and California.

Meeting with Canadian delegates

During the conference, Greenpeace GE campaigner, Dr. Eric Darier, met with the Canadian delegation and presented a statement underlining the position of Greenpeace and other non-governmental organizations. The statement urged the Canadian government to ratify the Biosafety Protocol and to stop actively undermining provisions to control the international movement of GE organisms. The statement also urged the government to prevent GE contamination resulting from the export of Canadian GE crops such as corn and canola.

Taking peaceful direct action

Greenpeace activists confronted delegates with barrels of Canadian GE canola that had been found growing in Japan. The activists attempted to deliver the GE canola to Canadian Environment Minister Stéphane Dion.