Greenpeace activists today shut down the facilities of the
largest soya importer in Spain, Moyresa, in Barcelona, after
contamination from genetically engineered (GE) varieties was
detected in its present US-imported stocks (1). Greenpeace accused
Moyresa of routine and deliberate contamination after the company
had admitted mixing GE-free soya from Brazil with unlabelled GE
supplies from the US and Argentina (2).
The activists from ten countries halted the work at the loading
facilities by chaining themselves across the loading bay entrance
and to the machinery (3). They held a banner that said "Genetic
Contamination - Don´t buy it", demanding that Moyresa, which
controls 70% of the local soya market, commit to provide secure,
uncontaminated supplies to Spain.
"This company is deliberately denying the Spanish consumers and
food industry the right to a GE-free food chain. We urge the
Spanish Government to use the authority of its current EU
Presidency to help enforce the strongest possible legislation to
restrict the growth and import of GE crops in Europe, in order to
halt genetic contamination. Spaniards as well as other Europeans
have repeatedly and clearly stated that GE is not wanted in their
food chain," said Juan-Felipe Carrasco, GMO campaigner for
Greenpeace Spain. (4) Greenpeace called for Spain to support the
de-facto moratorium on new GE crop approvals, to speed up the
proposed European regulation on food and animal feed as well as
traceability of genetically modified organisms, to ensure
zero-tolerance toward genetic contamination of seeds, and to demand
that all EU member states follow Spain´s example and ratify the UN
Biosafety Protocol.
"The list of examples of genetic contamination, inadequate
safety legislation and social concerns surrounding GE crops is
growing almost daily. The great so-called 'gifts´ that GE crops
have so far brought are potential allergies, lower yields, chemical
dependency, corporate control and contamination of the basic seed
biodiversity that sustains life on earth. This uncontrolled genetic
experiment has to stop," Carrasco concluded.
Notes: (1) Last week a US ship, MV Amazon, delivered 40,000 tonnes of soya to the Moyresa facility. Genetic testing of samples collected by Greenpeace from this facility indicate the presence of the called Cauliflower Mosaic Virus Promoter (35S), which is used in a number of GE crops. Further testing confirmed the contamination originates from Monsanto´s GE soya known as Round-up. The tests were conducted by Bio tools B&M; Labs. SA. (2) Moyresa has five soya crushing facilities in Spain. The company is owned by Cereol Holding which is a part of the Montedison Group. In 1999/2000, Spain was the third largest importer and the largest domestic consumer of soya in the EU using 4.5 million tonnes (MT). 3 MT came from the US and Argentina where the majority of the production is GE. 1.5 MT came from Brazil, where the growing of GE crops is illegal. The processed soya is used in a variety of food products and as animal feed. USDA FAS: Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade, FOP 11 Nov 2001 and FAS GAIN Report, Spain Oilseeds and Products, Import and Exports 2001 (pdf) (3) The activists taking part in this action were from Belgium, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, Spain, UK and the US. (4) A recent survey of Spanish consumers showed that 66% of people would not want to buy food products containing GE. Eurobarometer polls show that over 70 % of Europeans reject GE and close to 95 % demand to be fully informed whether GMOs are in their food. The Spanish consumer survey was conducted by the Spanish Sociologic Research Centre in March, 2001.