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P A N U P S
Pesticide Action Network Updates Service
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Suicide Seeds on the Fast Track
March 24, 2000
"We've continued right on with work on the Technology Protection System
[Terminator]. We never really slowed down. We're on target, moving ahead to
commercialize it. We never really backed off."--Harry Collins, Delta & Pine
Land Seed Co., January, 2000
A report released by the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI)
reveals that Terminator and Traitor technology are riding a fast track to
commercialization. Terminator technology, the genetic engineering of plants
to produce sterile seeds, is universally considered the most morally
offensive application of agricultural biotechnology, since over 1.4 billion
people depend on farm-saved seeds. Traitor technology, also known as genetic
use restriction technology (GURTs), refers to the use of an external
chemical to switch on or off a plant's genetic traits.
"After Monsanto and AstraZeneca publicly vowed not to commercialize
terminator seeds in 1999, governments and civil society organizations were
lulled into thinking that the crisis had passed. Nothing could be further
from the truth," said RAFI's Executive Director Pat Mooney. "Despite
mounting opposition from national governments and United Nations' agencies,
research on Terminator and Traitor (genetic trait control) is moving full
speed ahead."
According to RAFI, Delta & Pine Land, the world's largest cotton seed
company is moving aggressively to commercialize Terminator. And despite
massive protests, the U.S. Department of Agriculture supports and defends
its anti-farmer patent and research on suicide seeds. Last year, AstraZeneca
conducted field trials on genetic trait control technology (Traitor
technology) in the UK. According to industry sources, it is not the first
company to conduct field tests of this kind.
RAFI's report concludes that corporate commitments to disavow Terminator are
virtually meaningless in light of the pace of corporate takeovers. Monsanto
and AstraZeneca have each merged with other companies since they pledged not
to commercialize suicide seeds.
* On December 2, 1999 Novartis and AstraZeneca announced they would spin-off
and merge their agrochemical and seed divisions to create the world's
biggest agribusiness corporation -- to be named "Syngenta."
* On December 19, 1999 Monsanto announced that it will merge with drug
industry giant Pharmacia & Upjohn to create a new company, named Pharmacia,
with combined annual sales of $17 billion.
The Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) Jacques Diouf recently declared his opposition to Terminator. In
publicly rejecting Terminator, FAO's Diouf has come to the defense of the
1.4 billion people who depend upon farm-saved seed for their survival.
Among the national governments that have announced their intention to oppose
Terminator technology are Panama, India, Ghana, and Uganda. India, one of
the first governments to publicly reject Terminator, explicitly prohibits
Terminator genes in a draft bill now before the Indian Parliament. Ghanaian
Minister of Environment, Cletus Avoka, says that his government will not
tolerate the use of Terminator technology. Panama's Minister of Agriculture
and Fisheries writes that his government "will adopt measures to prohibit
the specific patents as well as the technology in general." Ugandan
officials have said that their government is discussing measures to outlaw
Terminator at the highest levels of government.
Terminator and Traitor technologies are not limited to a single patent, nor
is the research confined to one or two companies. Delta & Pine Land is
currently the high-profile crusader for Terminator, but the goal of genetic
trait control is industry-wide. According to RAFI, over 30 patents are
collectively held by the multinational agrochemical firms that dominate the
field of biotechnology.
According to RAFI, the future of Terminator/Traitor Technology rests with
national governments and multinational corporations. The pressure points for
political action are, first and foremost, with national governments around
the world. Second, pressure should be applied at key international fora such
as through the BioSafety Protocol at the Convention on Biological Diversity,
and intellectual property negotiations at the World Trade Organization.
Entitled "Suicide Seeds on the Fast Track," the new RAFI Communiqué is
available on RAFI's Web site http://www.rafi.org.
Source/contact: RAFI International Office, 110 Osborne Street, Suite 202,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3L 1Y5 Canada; phone (204) 453-5259; fax (204)
925-8034; email rafi@rafi.org.
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