March 22, 2002
What is the issue?
Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, and later from the Mexican government, discovered native Mexico corn varieties contaminated by DNA from Genetically Modified (GM) corn. Mexico's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources confirmed fears of genetic contamination of Mexican native corn varieties on September 18, 2001. The team of researchers from Berkeley published the details of their investigation in the November issue of Nature amidst a firestorm of controversy. The contamination was uncovered in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Puebla.
What is the difference between GM and traditional forms of Breeding?
For millennia farmers and crop breeders have developed new crop varieties using traditional techniques through selection and breeding, reflecting the grand diversity of local climatic conditions, soil types, cultures, etc. Traditional and organic crops systems are a mosaic of diverse crops that offer the best bet to maintain ecological equilibrium and social equity.
Genetically Modified crops imply the crossing of two unlike organisms that cannot bread naturally, through the practice of genetic engineering. Unlike traditional crops, GM crops are genetically identical, most are often employed in vast monocultures (fields of a single crop variety) and generally dependent upon agrochemicals and intensive irrigation. Genetic engineering at this point is inherently dangerous, utilizing material and techniques that may provoke allergic reactions, unexpected toxicity and antibiotic resistance.
Where did the contamination originate?
While the source of GM contamination remains unknown, most clues point to the some 6 million tons of US corn "dumped" on Mexico each year. Since the entrance of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), highly subsidized, chemical intensive US corn has been sold in Mexico, under the price of production, thus violating the terms of agreement under NAFTA. National production is now being pushed out by "cheap" US corn, of which one-third is GM, economically displacing corn producers, reducing genetic diversity and threatening Mexico's food security.
Who owns GM crops?
While there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of corporations, universities and governments researching and developing genetically modified organisms, only a small handful of corporations control the vast majority of commercial applications. The entire global GM crop market is controlled by Monsanto (80%), Aventis (7%), Syngenta (5%), BASF (5%) and DuPont (3%). Subsequently, these corporations subsequently also control a significant percentage of the global seed, agrochemical and in part, pharmaceutical markets.
Aren't GMOs necessary to combat hunger?
Hunger, as many civil society organizations like Food First have pointed out, is a poverty and political problem, and not of overpopulation, production or natural disasters. While biotechnology corporations have presented GMOs as the silver bullet panacea to feed the some 800 million people suffering from chronic hunger, there is not one GM commercial crop that aims to improve crop yield or production, resist drought or enhance nutrition. Claims to the contrary are absolutely false. Currently, the vast majority of commercial GM crops are designed to withstand exposure to specific herbicides or incorporate pesticidal toxins.
In fact, all GMOs are protected by a patent or some form of intellectual property rights, restricting farmers use of GM crops. Farmers are prohibited from saving patented seeds, and must pay a royalty in the event they choose to replant their harvested seeds. What's worse, farmers have been found liable for "gene drift" or cross pollination contamination from neighboring GM fields. Monsanto is currently suing more than 450 farmers in the United States and Canada for saving patented Monsanto seeds. In the case of Canadian canola farmer Percy Schmieser and scores of other farmers who have had their fields contaminated by adjacent GM fields, investigated by Monsanto and later sued. Mr. Schmieser lost his case against Monsanto, setting a dangerous precedent for farmers everywhere.
The development and imminent commercialization of "Terminator" technology destroys the myth of biotechnology as a farmer friendly solution to global hunger.
What is the "Terminator-"?
Coined by the Rural Advancement Foundation International (now ETC Group), "Terminator" or Genetic Use Restricted Technology (GURT) is the genetic engineering of crops to express certain characteristics, like sterile seeds. Biotech corporations can induce or turn on and off certain crop characteristics with the application of corresponding agrochemicals. While terminator technology provides biotech corporations with built in patent protection, terminator commercial application or gene drift would threaten the food security of the more than 1.4 billion farmers that rely on saved seed. In the wake of the GM contaminated Mexican corn, the biotech spin doctors are now proposing terminator technology as the sole answer to halt genetic contamination in centers of origin.
What are the implications for Mexico?
Mexico is the center of origin and diversity for corn, domesticated more than 5,000 years ago. Today, the thousands of corn varieties reflect the amazing cultural and biological diversity of Mexico.
Genetic contamination of native corn varieties is permanent and death sentence for campesinos and Indigenous Peoples. Despite government policies that subvert Mexican campesinos and national food security, some 25 million Mexicans continue as campesinos, of which, approximately 75% live below the poverty level. Approximately, 3 million Mexicans are corn growers, half of which are Indigenous Peoples.
What is the Mexican government doing?
To date, the Mexican government's strategy has fluctuated from public relations damage control to a misinformation campaign on GMOs and the contamination of Mexican native corn varieties. While the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) has express limited concern, the Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) has denied contamination, minimized potential risks, and even claimed that GM contamination benefits both biodiversity and farmers. Though government and academic agencies have tested for GM contamination in Oaxaca and Puebla, testing must be carried out in every Mexican state as well as entry points for corn imports, like the Port of Vera Cruz
What must be done?
In the short term, Mexico must suspend all corn imports from the United States to stem the primary source of contamination. The "dumping" or sale of corn under the price of production on Mexico has facilitated the entrance of GM corn and threatens Mexico's food security. Additionally, the government must take critical measures to identify contaminated regions, implement an extensive bioremediation strategy, while supporting small scale, organic family farms, the true guardians of agro-biodiversity. Furthermore, the Mexican government must ratify the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and implement effective measures to avoid further contamination.
