gmos consumerprotection
TRANSCRIPT
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World Consumer Rights Day
GMOs and Consumer Protection
Mazhar SirajResearch Fellow
Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP)
CRCP House, Islamabad
March 15, 2005
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What are GMOs?
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) areanimals, plants and microorganisms, which havebeen added with a genetic material from anyother organism through a technology called
genetic engineering.
Genetic engineering is a means to achieve newand desired properties in organisms.
The products derived/manufactured from GMOsare called GM products e.g. GM food.
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Currently Available GMOs
Few multinational biotech companiesholding the GM market (Monsanto,Novartis, Syngenta, Dupont, Bayer)
Main producers: USA, Argentina, Canada,Brazil
35 GMOs on market in European Union
GM food: tomato, potato, soybean, corn,wheat
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GMOs in Pakistan
Black market of GMO seeds (corn, wheat,cotton, vegetables)
Bt Cotton smuggled from Australia in hand
luggage
GMOs prepared in Pakistan: Tomato,sugarcane, soybean, cotton.
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Consumer Rights at Stake (I)
Right to basic needs -food security-monopoly overseeds
Right to safety -health risks-anti-bioticresistance
Right to representation -bio-safety
guidelines Right to redress -Traceability
-accountability
ofmultinationals
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Consumer Rights at Stake (II)
Right to Information -labeling
Right to Consumer education -awareness-scientificinformation
Right to Healthy Environment -threat tobiodiversity
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Food Security
Control of multinationals on food cropproduction (currently, 4 companiescontrolling 90% of GM crops area)
Change in food composition (e.g. GM soyconsumed in US has a protein never
part of human food)
GM food may be culturally unacceptable
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Safety
GM food can cause unpredicted allergies (e.g.soybeans with Brazil-nut gene; Philippine case)
Antibiotic resistance marker genes in GM food(e.g. maize engineered by Swiss Novartis)
Production of pesticides within GM food (e.g. GMcorn with genes capable of producing pesticides)
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Safety Studies (I)
In early 1990s, rats fed on GM food inUSA.
Developed stomach lesions. 7 out of 40died within 2 weeks.
FDA concluded that this did not providedemonstration of reasonable certainty ofno harm.
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Safety Studies (II)
UK-funded study; rats fed on GM potato
Caused pre-cancerous cell growth,damaged immune system, partial atrophyof liver, inhibition of brain development
The chief scientist of the study wascompulsorily relieved from job after hemade the results public
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Safety Study (III)
Rats fed on GM corn
Problems with blood cell formation
Rats fed on GM soy
Problems with liver cell formation
Soon after GM soy was introduced in UK, soyallergies increased by 50 percent.
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Safety Studies (IV)
Study on human feeding on soybeanspublished in February 2004.
Foreign gene transferred to gut bacteria;
prospects of new protein Transfer of promoter into the gut bacteria;
risk of switching on other genes in DNA
Source: Jaffery Smith, Genetically ModifiedFoods may Pose National HealthRisks, newswithviews.com, August 2004.
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Representation in Biosafety
Guidelines(I) National Bio-safety guidelines in Pakistan
prepared in November 1999 by NationalBiosafety Committee
Only one consultative meeting held inJanuary 2001
Executive meeting held in January 2005chaired by the Prime Minister
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Representation in Biosafety
Guidelines(II) Community representatives in National
Committee on Biosafety of Pakistan;
Representation of consumers must
Institutional Biosafety Committee in eachorganization to work with GMOs
Scientific and Technical Review Panel forBiosafety review and risk-analysis
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Redress
Existing legal framework inadequate to dealwith GM foods because of
Outdated definitions in Pure FoodOrdinance 1960
No standards for GM food in Pakistan
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Information
Insufficient scientific certainty aboutsafety of GM food
GM food mixed with non-GM food
No government policy for labeling
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Consumer Opinion
Global polls show that 58 percent
consumers are unwilling to useGM food, if clearly labeled.
Source: Consumers International AfricaOffice, July 2004
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Consumer Education
Presently, no government initiative forawareness on GMOs
Few civil initiatives
Media reporting few times
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What Ahead
Government should adopt a labeling policyfor GM food
GMOs should not be released until a
consensus of all stakeholders and scientifccertainty is achieved.
Consumer representation in institutions
under Biosafety guidelines needs to beexplicitly included
Standards for GM food
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Thank you