GM Crops Out of Control: Report shows cross contamination and illegal planting as crucial failures

OhmyNews International
Mar. 12, 2006

It's been 10 years since commercial Genetically Modified (GM) crops were first introduced on a large scale in 1996. So what has been their effect? A report released this month by Greenpeace and GeneWatch U.K., titled "GM Contamination Report 2005" shows disturbing results.

Those who were skeptical about allowing GM crops to be commercially grown may now be witnessing the first realizations of their concerns. The report reveals 113 cases in which supposedly controlled GM crops have "leaked" into the natural environment. While this may not sound too ominous, these are the exact concerns that were voiced when GM crops were first proposed.

The problem lies in the fact that no studies can accurately forecast how these new organisms might alter the natural ecosystem of which we are all a part. Controlled tests in laboratories where the variables are known are a far cry from reality where a small mutation in a chain can produce magnified effect further down the line, sometimes in a seemingly unrelated area. In this way GM crops are an uncontrolled experiment with nature.

Some of the incidents identified were:
# Pork meat from genetically engineered pigs being sold to consumers;
# Ordinary crops being contaminated with GE crops containing pharmaceuticals;
# Growing and international distribution of illegal antibiotic resistant Maize seeds;
# Planting of outlawed GE crops which have been smuggled into countries;
# Mixing of unapproved GE crops in food, including shipments of food aid;
# Inadvertent mixing of different GE strains even in high-profile scientific field trials.

These and a catalogue of other 113 incidents occurred in 39 countries -- twice the number of countries even officially allowed to grow GM Crops. South Korea, China, Philippines, and Taiwan have all had one incident each in the ten-year period. Thailand has had two and Japan three. Meanwhile New Zealand, Australia, Germany, France, U.K., Canada, and America have all had five or more incidents, with America leading with nineteen.

This all points to one startling fact; the ground breaking new bio-tech industry which was pitched as being controlled and regulated, is fast gaining its own illegal momentum and running out of control. This is made scarier by the fact that the father of the industry is Monsanto, the same company that famously produced the insufficiently tested and subsequently disastrous Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

But the true extent of the problem is far from known. Health issues related to antibiotic-resistant grains and long-term changes in our food chain are still being discovered. And keeping track of the crops is a bigger problem than the report has let on.

"This may well only be the tip of the iceberg, as there is no official global or national contamination register so far," said Dr. Sue Mayer of GeneWatch UK, who leads the team of investigators. "Most incidents of contamination are actually kept as confidential business information by companies as well as public authorities."

A Biosafety Protocol is in place under the Convention on Biological Diversity. This is an international treaty to establish minimum international safety standards for genetically engineered organisms. It has been ratified by 132 countries, with the notable absentees being America, Canada, and Argentina. No surprises then that America had the highest number of contamination incidents. The report suggests that the Protocol may be also lacking, as there are no procedures in place for the member nations to detect or deal with illegal releases and contaminations. Often they are not even accurately reported, and some so-called GE Free crops are in fact contaminated. Cross-contamination means we are becoming unable to keep other crops in their natural genetic state. This is concerning not only due to the aforementioned unknown long-term effects on the greater environment, but also for the simple reason that consumers want the freedom to choose if they eat GM food or natural.

Greenpeace is calling for urgent adoption of international biosafety standards to protect both the environment and consumers. It believes minimum standards of identification and labeling of all international shipments of GM products should be set and strictly adhered to. In most countries, GE Food labeling laws are in place; however, these are limited in their scope. For example: a pig may not be genetically modified, yet have been raised on genetically modified grains. This would be exempt from labeling.

Sloppy practices, no real financial or social accountability, and commercial confidentiality are other factors hindering the control of the GMs spread. Amidst this current run-away atmosphere, Greenpeace believes further approvals and release of GM crops should be stopped.

Realistically, the likelihood of that happening is very slim, especially with the big North American exporters pushing for less labeling requirements while in turn sporting higher levels of contamination. Until the next major biohazard (such as the bird flu) can be directly attributed to us tampering with nature, nothing is likely to happen and the issue will simply smolder. Maybe, like a giant volcano, it will lie sleeping until long after we are all gone. Or maybe it will be the first stage towards us being all gone. Maybe nothing will come of it at all. But, as the consumers in a recent Australian supermarket poll indicated, most people simply want the freedom to choose what they eat.