News from Sweden-.
In the North, in Haparanda, Greenpeace activists marked and sealed off the potato fields that were recently discovered to be contaminated with the illegal, unauthorised genetically engineered potato, named Amadea. Simultaneously, activists protested outside the Swedish Board of Agriculture office building in Jönköping, calling for the authority to order a full destruction of the contaminated fields in order to prevent further spread.
How many scandals it will take us till we say no to GE crops?
The controversial genetically engineered (GE) potato (known as Amflora) that should have never been authorised and planted in the EU fields has been found mixed up with an unauthorised GE potato (Amadea) in Sweden. The mixed up of the potato seeds occurred by the daughter company of BASF, the Plant Science Sweden and it has been grown illegally in open fields in north of Sweden for months. This latest contamination scandal proves again that once the GE crops are released into the environment cannot be controlled and will eventually contaminate our fields and our food.
Governments not acting!
So far, the reaction of the authorities, both of Swedish and the EU Commission was poor and inadequate. The Swedish authorities should have destroyed all the fields and the potatoes. Instead they have demanded that the fields, planted on 11 June, be cleared of Amadea, but were allowing the Amflora plants to remain, despite the contamination. The EU Commission wants first to investigate the issue and then to act.
Companies out of control So far BASF has received no fine for the release of the unauthorised GE potatoes, whose impacts on the environment and our health are no assessed therefore unknown. Still there is no information whether the contamination has affected the Amflora fields in Germany and Czech Republic.
The only way to have a green GE -free future is to put a moratorium in all GE crops ( potato, rice, maize, soy). The European Commission has to withdraw the authorisation of the GE potato Amflora. Swedish government should invoke the safeguard clause, apply the precautionary principle and ban the Amflora cultivation now.
We need you to take action now
Add your voice to the more than 800.000 signatures asking for a moratorium of GE crops in the EU!
We need 1 million in order to deliver it to the EU President. If we act now we can prevent the further cultivation, and let BASF know that we're saying "no" to this "Darth Tater". Sign the petition, and may the forks be with you.
Photos: © Greenpeace/ Dean CK Cox