Letter to State Officials of Vermont 08/05/04
| The Independent Science Panel (ISP) is a panel of scientists from many disciplines, committed to the Promotion of Science for the Public Good. Read our statement here |
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From: The Institute of Science in Society I am writing to you as director of the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS)
founded in 1999, and member of the Independent Science Panel (ISP) launched
May 2003, representing more than one thousand scientists around the world. I
am also scientific advisor to the Third World Network based in Penang, Malaysia,
and on the roster of experts for the Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety. Both ISIS and ISP are not-for-profit organisations involved in exposing the
corrupt and corrupted science that has fed the GM bubble, bringing unacceptable
health risks to human and livestock and financial and ecological ruin to family
farmers in North America, Argentina and elsewhere. Since 1999, scientific evidence has accumulated on the problems and hazards
of GM crops as well as the proven successes and benefits of all forms of sustainable
agriculture. This evidence is presented in our ISP report, The Case for a
GM-Free Sustainable World (www.indsp.org) republished as GMO-Free
(Vital Health, 2004) in the United States (see enclosed). The ISP members are persuaded that decisive action must be taken to ban all
environmental releases of GM crops to make way for a comprehensive shift to
non-GM sustainable agriculture. The agricultural biotechnology industry is in retreat from Europe and New Zealand,
and facing stiff opposition in many countries around the world, with Zambia,
Australia and Venezuela currently in the lead. Zambia made world headlines in
rejecting US GM maize aid two years ago in the face of projected famine, opting
instead to purchase food surpluses from within the region. The country has recovered
so well that it is now exporting maize surpluses to Angola. But the struggle is by no means over. More GM crops are approved for growing
in India, despite devastating counter-evidence. The Philippines, Indonesia,
Kenya and other African countries are still under threat. The US has taken the
EU to the World Trade Organisation, demanding that the EU lifts its ban on growing
GM crops and pay at least US$1.8 bn to the US in compensation for loss of exports
over the past six years. It is very heartening to know that the citizens of the United States are waking
up to worldwide opposition to GM crops and responding in effective ways. Vermont’s
Right to Know bill has made history as the first GM labelling law in the United
States. More importantly, your Farmer Protection Act will be the first legislation in the world to protect farmers from gene contamination lawsuits. It would help us all in our global struggle to reclaim our livelihood and food security from the biotech corporations. Please be sure to pass it without delay! Yours sincerely, Dr. Mae-Wan Ho To: Cc: Amy Shollenberger
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© 2003 Independent Science Panel