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Biogenetics Treaty Talks Stall in Cartagena
UN-sponsored talks in Cartagena, Colombia, aimed at curbing proliferation of genetically altered foods, fell apart in mid-February, 1999 in the face of resistance from the United States and several other nations.
By GSReport
Start Date: 2/25/99
U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at curbing the proliferation of genetically altered foods and crops fell apart in disarray on Wednesday, February 24, 1999.
The ten-day conference in Cartagena, Colombia involved representatives from 150 nations and sought to impose stronger controls over the development, cultivation and sale of foods that result from manipulation of DNA.
Bioengineered foods and crops can be more disease resistant, more productive in marginal soil and water conditions, and less vulnerable to spoilage. As such, proponents say, the world needs to aggressively develop such foods to feed a growing population.
But there are serious concerns that such altered crops could eventually reduce the viability of naturally occurring varieties which comprise the gene pool, and that genetically engineered foods might pose as-yet unrecognized threats to human health. In Great Britain, such foods have been termed "Frankenstein foods."
Although nearly all the nations present at the talks were in favor of a proposed treaty, six leading grain-exporting nations, led by the United States and including Australia, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, blocked progress toward finalizing an agreement. Afterward, a number of disgruntled participants openly accused the United States -- which also leads the world in bio-engineering technology -- of sabotaging the talks for its own interests.
Spokesmen from the U.S. delegation said they were attempting to "protect the world's food trade from potentially crippling regulatory burdens," according to the Associated Press. But a spokeswoman from Greenpeace, Louise Gale, retorted that "the United States has dominated these negotiations and they've now sabotaged them. They're obviously trying to force genetically modified food down the throats of consumers."
In the United States, between 25 percent and 45 percent of some major crops are already genetically modified. Industry officials expect some 90 percent of U.S. agricultural exports to be biogenetic within a decade, the AP reported.
A U.N. representative at Cartagena said a new round of talks would be scheduled to begin within 16 months.
 Excelsior, Michael Lindemann's new novel (written under the pen name Michael Paul), depicts a wholly plausible near future in which human cloning is both widespread and widely abused; terrorists have access to target-specific biological weapons; recreational space travel is commonplace; and mounting pressures of global climate change, environmental decline, population growth and civil unrest inspire radical new approaches to urban security.
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