Greenpeace climbers boarded the ship from inflatable boats. The
volunteers are now climbing the ships' cranes to prevent these
being used to off-load the portion of the cargo known to be GE if
the ship continues into Malaga harbour. Volunteers are carrying
banners in English and Spanish saying, Spain does not want GE Food;
others have a more personal message We don`t want GE Food.
Lindsay Keenan, Greenpeace International GE Campaigner said; "GE
soya does not feed the world as suggested by the misleading and
cynical marketing of GE companies like Monsanto. GE soya does
destroy the environment where it is grown in Argentina and then
millions of tons of it are used to feed pigs, cows and chickens in
Europe." (1) (2).
The 'Winner' from Argentina is carrying about 9,000 tons of GE
soya and about 11,000 tons of maize for the company Nidera. The GE
status of the maize is not known at this time. Greenpeace 'Gene
Detectives' are demanding documentation from the captain of the
'Winner' of exactly what GE crops his ship is carrying. Greenpeace
also plans to take samples for independent analysis (3). Spain is
the second largest importer of soya into the EU, importing six
million tons annually from the USA, Argentina and Brazil, of which
over four million tons are estimated to be GE/GE contaminated.
New EU regulations on traceability and labeling of GE crops came
into force last week, however Greenpeace is highly critical of a
major loophole in the new EU rules, with regard to meat and dairy
products, insisting that for consumer choice to be meaningful, meat
and dairy products from animals fed with GMOs must also be
labeled.
"When Governments fail to protect our environment and our food
safety, we need to take action to stop this dangerous and unwanted
GE experiment," said Daniela Montalto, Greenpeace Campaigner from
Argentina. "In Argentina we have people going to bed hungry yet
between 1997 and 2002 farmers in Argentina planted GE soya in over
14 million hectares of arable land, lured by the promises of higher
crop yields and cheaper seeds. For a while the illusion worked, but
now the truth is we are facing an environmental and social
nightmare. We invite people the world over to reject GMOs in favour
of real, sustainable agriculture which feeds people not pigs and we
invite people to also vote with their wallet - Don't buy GE
food."
Greenpeace has stepped up its campaign around the world against
GE food. Shipments carrying soya suspected of being contaminated
with GE have been targetted in ports around the world - The Rainbow
Warrior held its position for eight hours yesterday in the channel
of Port Kembla Harbour in Australia, delaying a U.S. shipment of GE
soya leaving for Melbourne. Shoppers Guides have been launched in
twenty countries including France, Brazil, Germany, Spain and
Italy, the guides will effectively educate millions of consumers
about GE products.
VVPR info: Photographs from +31 646 16 2019Video from +31 646 16 2003Follow the GE Global Campaign on www.greenpeace.org/stopGMO
Notes: 1) In Argentina a massive 98% of soya is GE and the environmental and social disaster created by this is now becoming obvious as a recently published feature article in the `New Scientist` titled `Argentina`s Bitter Harvest` highlights - (Branford, S. (2004) Argentina's bitter harvest. New Scientist, 17th April 2004, pp. 40-43). 2) Greenpeace Briefing: Monsanto's GE 'Roundup Ready' Soya – What more can go wrong? March 2004 – available on Greenpeace website at: www.greenpeace.org 3) The Cartagena Biosafety Protocol, under the Convention on Biological Diversity, sets up minimum safety standards regarding the transboundary movement of living GE organisms. Brazil is party to the Protocol. In February, the first Meeting of Parties adopted more detailed requirements on the documentation and labelling of GE organisms. The documentation accompanying transboundary movements will have to include the “common, scientific and commercial names” of the GE organisms in the shipment, as well as their “transformation event codes” or, where available, their “unique identifier codes”.