9 June 2011

The Peruvian Congress has announced a ten year moratorium on the cultivation of GM crops. The move was passed with a landslide approval.  image expired

In a plenary Session of the Peruvian Congress, members approved a move to declare a moratorium preventing the import of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) onto the national territory for “cultivation, breeding or of any transgenic production” for the next ten years.

Members of congress from across the political spectrum agreed on the moratorium, which they said was a necessary “defence of [Peru’s] national biodiversity due to our greater climatic diversity.” The proposal was approved with 56 votes for, zero against and two abstentions.

However, members’ opinions differed on the specifics of the moratorium; Congressmen Luis Giampietri and Édgard Núñez said, “It is not possible to close the doors to science and it is possible to decide on a prudential moratorium of five years.” Nevertheless, a ten year moratorium was passed, which the Ministry of the Environment will be responsible for upholding, and a new body will be created to monitor the situation; the ‘Technical Commission of Evaluation and Prevention of Risks of Use of GMOs’ will issue its first report in 2013.

Inca capital voted to protect food sovereignty in 2007

In 2007, the Cusco regional government in the Peruvian Andes voted to ban transgenic (GM) potatoes to protect the region’s biodiversity. The region was the heart of the Incan Empire and has thousands of native potato varieties. The regional government’s order forbade the sale, cultivation, use and transport of GM potatoes as well as other native food crops.

The head of the Cusco government’s environmental office, Abel Caballero, proposed the ban “in recognition of the historical, cultural, social and economic importance of the potato and other native crops to the Cusco Region.”

The potato originated in the highlands of South America. Peru and its Andean neighbours are the crop’s centre of diversity - with more than 4,000 distinct varieties that farmers have developed over generations.

Brazil makes moves to facilitate release of GM beans

The developments in Peru differ greatly from neighbouring Brazil, where meetings have been held to facilitate the early release of a bean variety resistant to the golden mosaic virus. Government officials defended changing their internal statutes in order to accelerate the release by stating that beans form an important part of the local diet.

Biotech crops continue to be a source of controversy around the world as supporters claim they represent part of the solution to feeding a growing global population on a fixed land base. However, detractors question the jealous guarding of patents by the companies involved; they claim this forestalls research on the altered seeds which could genuinely address food security issues. They also cite contamination as a reason to further test biotech seeds, as cross pollination can see GM traits passed on to local wildlife and traditional crops.