Greenpeace activists dump thousands of papayas at the offices of Thailand's Department of Agriculture in Bangkok, Thailand on Thursday 07 July 2005. Greenpeace activists is protesting against the government's disregard for protection of consumers and the environment against threats caused by the spread of illegal genetically engineered (GE) papaya in Thailand. The threat also concerns consumers in many European and Asian countries that import papaya from Thailand, such as the Netherlands, Germany, France, UK, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Georgia, China, Japan and Hong Kong. Greenpeace/ Vinai Dithajohn
“The
Thai government’s lies and total disregard for the GE papaya
contamination problem is directly putting Thai papaya exporters and
consumers of papaya around the world at risk. We demand that the
government seriously and properly decontaminate Thai papaya farms
before the GE papaya reaches the global food chain. It won’t be long
until EU reacts negatively against the entry of Thai papaya,” said
Patwajee Srisuwan of Greenpeace in Southeast Asia.
Greenpeace
today released new laboratory tests confirming more GE papaya
contamination in the northeastern provinces of Kalasin, Mahasarakham
and Chaiyaphum. Last month the group released evidence of GE papaya
contamination in the Northern and Eastern regions of Thailand.
Government papers also indicate that GE contaminated papaya seeds may
have been sold to 2,600 farmers in 34 Thai provinces (1).
Consumers
in Thailand and in countries that import Thai papayas are now at risk
of consuming GE contaminated papaya, which has also been found to
contain antibiotic (tetracycline) resistant genes that contradict the
FAO/WHO Codex standards as well as strict legislations of the European
Union on GMOs in food.
In
2004, Thailand exported BHT 2.86 billion (57.3 million Euros) worth of
fresh and prepared or preserved fruits to Europe and Asia, a large
amount of which includes papaya and cocktails with papaya as part of
the ingredients, based on figures from the Thai Customs Department. The
main destinations for Thailand’s fresh papaya and mixed fruit products
are the Netherlands, Germany, France, UK, Belgium, Spain, Denmark,
Switzerland, Georgia, China, Japan and Hong Kong.
The
EU does not allow the import of GE papaya and Thailand-based companies
such as Dole, Malee and Universal Food Co. (UFC), which have large
papaya-related exports to the EU, stand to lose financially from this
GE papaya fiasco. Last year the German government launched an
investigation on papayas from Thailand, after the GE papaya
contamination scandal broke.
Dole, the world's largest
producer and marketer of fresh fruits and vegetables, sources papaya
from Thailand for its operations in the EU (2). Malee exports to the
Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland, while UFC produces fruit products
for large food suppliers like Sainsbury’s, Safeway, Libby, QP Corp.,
Sun Queen, Rykoff-Sextion and El Dorado. (3)
In
July 2004, Greenpeace activists sealed off a government-run GE papaya
experimental station after scientific evidence confirmed it was the
source of contamination of one of Thailand’s staple food. The Thai
government ran a campaign to discredit Greenpeace and consistently lied
to public by declaring they have already decontaminated Thai papaya
farms. Recent findings of widespread GE papaya contamination in the
country prove them otherwise, however.
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