UN World Food Day

Scoop: UN World Food Day - Asians Call for Ban on GE Rice:

"GE-Free Rice Declaration

Supanburi, Thailand, October 14th, 2005

We the participants representing organisations from 10 rice growing countries across Asia, having come together for a discussion on rice and genetic engineering, hereby declare that:

1. Rice is the world's most important staple food crop and forms the basis of the diet for over 3 billion people. It has played a central role in the cultural, social and spiritual life of communities throughout Asia for thousands of years;

2. Tens of thousands of rice varieties have been developed by farmers over millennia and farmers continue to develop and breed new varieties adapted to diverse ecosystems, economic and cultural requirements. GE rice threatens to undermine this diversity;

3. Women play a significant role in the conservation and development of seeds and as holders of traditional knowledge. With the advent of GE crops the role of indigenous knowledge and community led farming systems is likely to be destroyed;

4. GE rice cannot be a solution to hunger since the causes of hunger are the lack of access to productive resources to produce food, or lack of income to buy food.

5. Genetically engineered rice poses unacceptable risks to human and animal health and to the environment, particularly the contamination of gene pools in the centres of origin and diversity of rice in Asia;

6. The segregation of genetically engineered from non-genetically engineered rice cannot be implemented. Therefore co-existence is impossible;

7. The undue influence of transnational corporations such as Monsanto, Bayer and Syngenta on international agricultural production, trade and policies serves to undermine local access to food and the right of peoples and nations to democratically determine the use of their food resources;

8. Corporate influence is further directing public sector agricultural research away from public and towards commercial interests;

9. The future of our world's most important staple food crop will be secured through the protection and use of biodiversity rather than genetic engineering, and through ecological agriculture based on the traditional knowledge of farming communities;

For World Food Day 2005, we therefore call for a ban on the development and cultivation of genetically engineered rice, and call upon the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to cease support for genetically engineered crops and food, and to instead support comprehensive research and development of sustainable, ecologically sound farming systems.

Signatory organisations:
Biotani Indonesia Foundation
Cenesta (Centre for Sustainable Development and Environment), Iran
Consumers' Association of Penang, Malaysia
Friends of the Earth Malaysia / Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM)
Gita Pertiwi Foundation, Indonesia
Gene Campaign, India
Green Net, Thailand
Greenpeace
Khao Kwan Foundation, Thailand
No! GMO Campaign, Japan
Save Our Rice Campaign (PAN AP)
Reclaiming Rural Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Action (RRAFA) Thailand
South East Asian Council for Food Security and Fair Trade (SEACON)
Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE)
Third World Network (TWN)
UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative), Bangladesh
VECO Vietnam"