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Peru Passes Ten Year Ban on Genetically Engineered Foods - April - 04-11-2012 10:34 PM
Quote:In a massive blow to multinational agribiz corporations such as Monsanto, Bayer, and Dow, Peru has officially passed a law banning genetically modified ingredients anywhere within the country for a full decade before coming up for another review.
Peru’s Plenary Session of the Congress made the decision 3 years after the decree was written despite previous governmental pushes for GM legalization due largely to the pressure from farmers that together form the Parque de la Papa in Cusco, a farming community of 6,000 people that represent six communities.
They worry the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will compromise the native species of Peru, such as the giant white corn, purple corn and, of course, the famous species of Peruvian potatoes.
Anibal Huerta, President of Peru’s Agrarian Commission, said the ban was needed to prevent the ”danger that can arise from the use of biotechnology.”
While the ban will curb the planting and importation of GMOs in the country, a test conducted by the Peruvian Association of Consumers and Users (ASPEC) at the time of the ban’s implementation found that 77 percent of supermarket products tested contained GM contaminants.
”Research by ASPEC confirms something that Peruvians knew all along: GM foods are on the shelves of our markets and wineries, and consumers buy them and take them into their homes to eat without knowing it.
Nobody tells us, no one says anything, which involves a clear violation of our right to information,” Cáceres told Gestión. GMOs are so prevalent in the Americas that it is virtually impossible to truly and completely block them, whether through pollination or being sneaked in as processed foods.
“There is an increasing consensus among consumers that they want safe, local, organic fresh food and that they want the environment and wildlife to be protected,” wrote Walter Pengue from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, in a recent statement concerning GMOs in South America. “South American countries must proceed with a broader evaluation of their original agricultural policies and practices using the precautionary principle.”
Note: This decree was signed into effect on April 15th 2011
http://www.kipnews.org/2012/04/10/peru-passes-monumental-ten-year-ban-on-genetically-engineered-foods/
RE: Peru Passes Ten Year Ban on Genetically Engineered Foods - yeti - 04-11-2012 10:42 PM
A glimmer of sanity in a world going insane...
RE: Peru Passes Ten Year Ban on Genetically Engineered Foods - icosaface - 04-11-2012 11:42 PM
What he said!
RE: Peru Passes Ten Year Ban on Genetically Engineered Foods - stanzela - 04-12-2012 12:05 AM
Some great news. I always figured great things would eventually begin to bubble to the surface (as all bubbles do) in South America. Thanks for the post, April.
RE: Peru Passes Ten Year Ban on Genetically Engineered Foods - peragrate - 04-12-2012 09:38 AM
Hooray! Good for Peru!!!
RE: Peru Passes Ten Year Ban on Genetically Engineered Foods - FastTadpole - 04-19-2012 04:26 AM
Bigger picture:
Some countries ban GM foods. Some countries are already inundated with them and may find it hard to follow suit. A ban on GM foods has a sharp and immediate consequence of at least a short term scarcity of food until natural seed stocks can be replenished.
With the ban GM foods cannot be imported in an interim shortage (or manufactured price inflation) creating a pronounced disparity in access to food.
Couple this with the fact that GM foods can, and often do, alter the soil composition ecology (minerals etc..) to the detriment of native crops not specifically engineered to exist in the altered environment - this can also include pests as well as leeched soil nutrition.
I would be interested to learn if Peru is opening up new land for agriculture or transitioning to more of a mixed farming model to hedge against any potential dramatic loss of crop yield.
People will have to transition quickly if this is implemented quickly.
There is no doubt a war on/for food perpetrated by Agenda 21, trade geopolitics and GMOs but thought and action is always favourable to knee-jerk sweeping reaction.
On the surface .. I'll echo .. Hooray! Good for Peru!!! but now comes the more complicated leg of the journey to a GM food free Peru.