Seven hours after chaining themselves at Bayer's door, the activists brave the weather and wait for Bayer's response - 5:45pm
Six Greenpeace activists are chained to the Mumbai headquarters
of Bayer Crop Science right now, with banners proclaiming 'Bayer
poisons our food'. The activists are there to bear witness to and
expose the high-risk genetic experiments conducted by the company
on popular food crops including cabbage and cauliflower.
Bayer is one of the leading agro-chemical companies of the
world, holding nearly one-fourth of the market share in the Indian
pesticides industry (22%) with 52 products including
formulations.
"The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has disclosed that Pro
Agro (a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer) has conducted field
trials of cabbage and cauliflower genetically modified with the
controversial Cry9C gene," asserted Divya Raghunandan, GE
Campaigner, Greenpeace India, "Considering the high risks to human
health associated with this particular gene (See footnote 1),
Greenpeace is concerned about the implications for consumers,
including the farmers that will grow these crops, and we are
demanding that the company stop all research using the Cry9C gene
and makes all information related to these field trials open to
public scrutiny."
The Cry9C gene protein is notorious for being a suspected human
allergen. The United States Environmental Protection Agency
acknowledged this risk and refused to certify a version of corn
genetically modified with this gene as fit for human consumption.
This Cry9C-laced corn, interestingly, was also owned by a
subsidiary of Bayer Crop Science, Aventis, and was eventually
marketed under the brand name StarLink for animal feed and
industrial purposes. However in September 2000, StarLink was found
in corn taco shells and other foods and about 300 corn products had
to be withdrawn from the market.
Cry9C also made an appearance on the Indian scenario in March
2003, when a food aid shipment from two US-based aid agencies (CARE
and Catholic Relief Services) was suspected of being contaminated
with StarLink corn. Responding to the warnings issued by the Indian
Council of Medical Research, and an alert sounded by concerned
organizations, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC)
took a stand against the shipment, and demanded that USA and the
aid agencies provide certification for each consignment of
corn-soya blend that it did NOT contain StarLink. Since none of the
agencies were willing to certify this, the entire shipment was
rejected outright.
Greenpeace is demanding that Bayer answers critical questions on
their genetic field trials, including:
1. Why is Bayer using the same gene implicated in the Starlink
to feed people in India?
2. What bio-safety and health safety assessments, if any, have
been conducted and what were the results of the same?
3. What did Bayer do with the GM plants, seeds and produce from
these field trials?
How can they assure us that these have not already entered the
food chain?
Footnote1: Agricultural Bio-technology Research in India; Status
and Policies - Manju Sharma, K.S. Charak and T. V. Ramanaiah;
CURRENT SCIENCE, Vol. 84, No.3, 10th February, 2003.
Footnote2: The Cry9C gene protein is notorious for being a
suspected human allergen. The United States Environmental
Protection Agency acknowledged this risk and refused to certify a
version of corn genetically modified with this gene as fit for
human consumption.
Footnote3: In March 2003 a food aid shipment to India from two
US-based aid agencies (CARE and Catholic Relief Services) was
suspected of being contaminated with StarLink corn. Responding to
the warnings issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research the
Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) took a stand against
the shipment, and demanded that USA and the aid agencies provide
certification for each consignment of corn-soya blend that it did
NOT contain StarLink. Since none of the agencies were willing to
certify this, the entire shipment was rejected outright.