Archived press release

Stop Threatening to Overturn Other Nations' Food Safety Laws, Group Tell Bush

14 August 2001

Sri Lanka and Thailand among those targeted by Bush Administration over Genetically Engineered Food Regulations

More than 200 consumer, farm and environmental groups worldwide sent a letter today protesting threats by the Bush administration to challenge other countries' food safety laws as barriers to international trade. Groups representing millions of citizens from Australia, Brazil,Germany, India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United States and the UK have signed the letter.

The groups, which include Friends of the Earth International, called the U.S. threats unreasonable, especially since the US allows states to establish food safety and environmental laws that are tougher than national laws. A five-year moratorium on engineered fish was passed in the state of Maryland last April. US pesticide laws also allow states to set limits on pesticide use that are more strict than federal law.

"If a US state can have a moratorium on genetically modified foods, why can't other countries do the same?" said Ricardo Navarro, Chair of Friends of the Earth International and a resident of El Salvador. "The US has no right to tell Sri Lanka or any other country how to write their food safety laws."

Pete Riley of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland commented:

"The hypocrisy of the US in trying to dictate to another sovereign state on how they should legislate on GMOs whilst allowing variations with their own country beggars belief. Bush's administration have once again been shown to dance to the tune of the biotech companies in lobbying for WTO action against Sri Lanka. It is time the US government and the WTO understood that individual countries have laws which reflect their culture and environment and are not merely satellites of the USA".

Clare Devereux, Five Year Freeze Co-ordinator, said:

"Given the continued uncertainty around the safety of GM foods, Sri Lanka is completely justified in its decision to put a ban in place in order to create time to carry out their own research. This is exactly what the Five Year Freeze has been campaigning for here in the UK - Sri Lanka however has shown itself braver than the UK Government by refusing to be dictated to by the WTO and US Government."

Weyland Beeghly, Agricultural Counsellor from the US Embassy in India threatened in May that the US was considering challenging a ban in Sri Lanka of genetically engineered organisms by submitting a complaint to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The ban is scheduled to take effect on 1 September, sixty days later than planned as Sri Lanka granted a WTO request to allow exporters time to adjust to the law.

Wichai Chokwiwat, Secretary General to the Thai Food and Drug Administration told Thai newspaper, The Nation, (19 July) that his country was a target of threats to use US trade laws to retaliate against a Thai proposal made in July to require labelling of genetically engineered corn and soya crops.

The letter to the Bush administration argues that Sri Lanka and other nations have a scientific,regulatory and moral basis to set limits on the proliferation of genetically engineered organisms.

A copy of the letter to the Bush Administration, and a full list of signatories, can be found at www.foei.org along with full details of the Sri Lanka GMO ban.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust