By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 12 2002 (IPS)

The Campaign for a Transgenic-Free Brazil, waged by seven non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and backed by 50 more, has mobilised activists in response to advances made by those seeking to liberalise the cultivation and trade of genetically modified crops.

The pro-transgenic groups are a force to be reckoned with. They include the government, big transnational corporations, large farming associations and technical agencies like the state-run Brazilian Enterprise for Agricultural Research (EMBRAPA).

In the Brazilian parliament, deputies began debate on a bill in favour of lifting restrictions on transgenic products, and in the courts the wall that has maintained Brazil a country free of genetically modified crops seems to be crumbling.

Three years ago, the Brazilian Consumer Defence Institute and the international environmental watchdog Greenpeace won a provisional court ruling that bans the commercial planting of RoundUp Ready (RR) soy, seed produced by the transnational Monsanto that is resistant to the herbicide RoundUp, also produced by the company.

According to the arguments the NGOs made before the court, there have not been sufficient studies carried out to ensure that RR soy does not pose a threat to human health or the environment.

But a legal claim by Monsanto, backed by the Brazilian government, won a favourable ruling Feb 25 in the Federal Regional Court of Brasilia, from judge Selene Maria de Almeida.

The votes of two other judges will determine in the coming weeks whether RR soy can be grown on a large scale. If so, it could open the door to other genetically modified products to be grown in Brazil, such as cotton and maize.

The rallying of pro-transgenic forces has put the environmental movement on the defensive, one of the Campaign coordinators, Flavia Londres, of the NGO Alternative Agriculture Consulting and Services, told Tierramérica.

Another blow to the movement was the Mar 4 resignation of Environment minister José Sarney Filho, who disagreed with the government and had given the ministry’s support to the NGOs and their lawsuit.

But Londres hopes the two justices will oppose the vote of Almeida, who justified her ruling in favour of lifting restrictions on RR soy in “a long and complex report.”

It was an unprecedented opinion, contradicting the numerous rulings on similar cases, all of which require environmental impact studies to be carried out under the mandate of the Environment Ministry, said the activist.

The special committee of the Chamber of Deputies that is debating the related bill is leaning towards loose regulations for transgenics, based on the histories of the lawmakers involved.

“But the game is just beginning,” said Londres. The full lower house and the Senate must still vote on the matter.

According to opinion polls, most Brazilians are opposed to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), she pointed out.

The bill in question would allow four percent of food products to consist of genetically modified material, without having to indicate the fact on labels or packaging. Londres reckons that this possibility alone could foment public pressure on parliament to vote the bill down.

A broader debate is needed, as well as a social movement to prevent “the defeats that we are suffering,” said Elenar José Ferreira, coordinator of the Production and Environment division for the Landless Workers’ Movement (Movimento dos Sem Terra, MST).

In addition to the environmental and health concerns, the problem is that some transnationals are setting up monopolies over biotechnology and seeds, which threatens Brazil’s national sovereignty, Ferreira said.

The movement against transgenic products also clashes with the position of researchers like Luis Antonio Barreto de Castro, head of EMBRAPA’s Genetic Resources and Biotechnology Centre.

De Castro believes that opposition to GMOs is holding back Brazil’s scientific development, perpetuates the massive use of agro-chemicals and puts the country at a disadvantage in competition for international agricultural markets.

The researcher, along with the National Agriculture Confederation, with represents the country’s large-scale farming operations, say the production of genetically modified crops has been expanding rapidly in many countries, with no sign of harm to the environment or to human health.

* Tierramérica is a specialised news service (www.tierramerica.net) produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.

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