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Biotech / Medical : Monsanto Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dan Spillane who wrote (1349)	2/24/1999 12:01:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2539

International talks on biogenetic trade collapse 02/24/99 04:36:29 AM By FRANK BAJAK Associated Press Writer CARTAGENA, Colombia (AP) -- Negotiations collapsed early today on a treaty regulating international shipments of genetically modified organisms over objections by a U.S.-led bloc, which critics said had stressed trade over environmental protection. The European Union and more than 110 other nations at the U.N.-initiated talks reached consensus late Tuesday in an 11th-hour attempt to forge a so-called Biosafety Protocol, an outgrowth of the 1992 Earth Summit in Brazil. But the United States and its allies -- Australia, Canada, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile -- refused to accept the proposed compromise after 10 days of talks, insisting on a more narrowly focused treaty that would minimally impact a multibillion-dollar industry that is growing. ''No deal was better than a bad deal and that was the outcome,'' said Rafe Pomerance, deputy chief of the U.S. delegation. ''History will not pardon what happened,'' said Cuba's deputy environmental minister, Mario Fajardo Moros, lamenting that such a small group had torpedoed a global treaty. It was the first time in more than 20 years that an international environmental negotiation had concluded in such disarray, said Michael Williams, spokesman for the U.N. Environmental Program. The negotiations will resume within 16 months at an as yet undetermined time and place. Many nations were angered at what they considered bullying tactics by Washington and its allies -- major exporters of biotech products such as insect-resistant crops and vaccines produced by splicing genes. ''We are being held at ransom so we can come closer to the position of the United States,'' said Joseph Gopo, director of Zimbabwe's biotech research institute. Proponents say biotech crops will ensure future global food security, producing higher yields with fewer chemical insecticides and herbicides. They insist the products are rigorously tested and have so far presented no health or environmental risks. But critics say the technology is too new, predicting a biological time bomb if just one transgenetic product goes awry. Developing countries charged that the U.S.-led group was doing the bidding of businesses whose chief interest is unfettered trade in biotech crops. Although genetic engineering experimentation began two decades ago, development of biotech foods, vaccines and byproducts has only recently taken off. Worldwide, more than 66 million acres of genetically altered crops were sown in 1998, up from about 2 million in 1996. AP-CS-02-24-99 0526EST stlnet.com