The Protocol is the first legally binding international
agreement governing the transboundary movement of genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) and Greenpeace believes it offers the
first step towards biosafety and protecting biodiversity.
China's ratification of the Protocol is expected to cause
long-term impact on the global trade of GMOs. China imported a
record high of more than 20 million tons of soya in 2003. Chinese
experts speculate that more than 70% of the imported soya is
genetically modified, as most of the soya came from the U.S.,
Brazil and Argentina. Greenpeace has warned that huge imports of GM
soya poses a huge threat to China's biodiversity of soya.
"We have witnessed Mexican maize contaminated by imported GM
maize from the U.S., and we need to make sure the same does not
happen to the soya in China, which is the centre of origin and
biodiversity of soya," said Sze Pang Cheung, Greenpeace delegate
attending the meeting.
China signed the Biosafety Protocol on 2000 and it introduced a
set of domestic biosafety regulations in March 2002. The U.S.
complained that the Chinese biosafety regulations were distorting
trade and violated WTO rules. China's decision to join the protocol
shows that China wants to take a cautious approach to GMOs, despite
pressure from the U.S.
"China is sending a message to the world that it takes biosafety
seriously. China's ratification will add considerable weight to the
protocol as it is one of the largest importers of GMOs, in
particular from the U.S., Argentina and Canada who have not
ratified," said Doreen Stabinsky from the Greenpeace
delegation.
"China believes the environmental and health risks of GMOs
should be tackled by multilateral efforts. Ratification of the
Biosafety Protocol will further harmonize China's regulation with
international standards," said Xue Dayuan, the Deputy Director of
Biosafety Office in SEPA.
Meanwhile Greenpeace criticized the U.S. and Canada for
effectively pressuring Mexico to sign a trilateral agreement last
October that will undermine the Biosafety Protocol. The agreement
allows maize shipments with as much as five per cent of GMOs into
the country without any indication that a shipment actually
contains GMOs. The U.S. has neither signed nor ratified the
Biosafety Protocol.
Greenpeace is surprised that Mexico signed the trilateral
agreement as it has already been confirmed that maize in Mexico has
likely been contaminated by GE crop imports (2).
"There is nothing under the trilateral agreement that would have
prevented the contamination that affected Mexican maize" said Lisa
Covantes a Greenpeace delegate from Mexico.
"The signing of this new trilateral agreement opens the
floodgates to continuing contamination of Mexico's valuable maize
diversity," concluded Doreen Stabinsky. "This clearly goes against
the Biosafety Protocol's objectives. To show real commitment to
biosafety, the U.S., Canada and Argentina should follow China's
example and ratify the Protocol."
Notes: Notes to editors(1)www.biodiv.org(2)On Dec 19, 2002, the National Institute of Ecology (INE) of Mexico released a study that confirmed the presence of genetically engineered organisms in native corn of Oaxaca (Sierra Juarez) and Puebla. Of a total of 2,128 plants analyzed in 21 towns, 7.6 percent gave positive results. The frequency of genetic modification in these towns is variable, with a range that oscillates between 1 and 18%. These results seem to confirm the investigation published in the magazine 'Nature' in November of 2001 by the Mexican molecular biologist, Ignacio Chapela, of the University of California at Berkley.