U.S. Diplomats Force-Feed 'Frankenfoods' to Unwilling World (Le Monde, France)
"The cables, published by WikiLeaks
in 2010 ... shine a light on the public relations strategy carried out at
dozens of conferences, events and all-expense paid trips to the United States,
with the objective of convincing scientists, media, manufacturers, farmers and
elected representatives of the ... low risk of genetically modified products ...
Between 2005 and 2009, 28 such trips to the United States were organized, with
delegations from 17 countries."
We know that
genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) are subject to lobbying by biotechnology firms like Monsanto, Syngeta, Bayer and others. But what one least suspects is
that part of this active and even aggressive promotion has been conducted for
years by U.S. diplomats in many of the world's countries.
Published May
14, American NGO Food and Water Watch compiled a
report analyzing 926 diplomatic cables exchanged between the U.S.
State Department and the embassies of 113 countries from 2005 and 2009 - part
of a carefully-devised campaign to break the resistance to genetically-modified
products outside of the United States, and help promote the profits of the major
U.S. agrochemical companies that dominate corn, soybeans and cotton production across
the Atlantic.
The report
provides another glimpse of the power of this industry, after the Supreme Court backed Monsanto
on Monday against a small Indiana farmer accused of patent infringement regarding
the use of transgenic seeds.
The cables,
published by WikiLeaks in 2010, first of all shine a light on the public
relations strategy carried out at dozens of conferences, events and all-expense
paid trips to the United States, with the objective of convincing scientists,
media, manufacturers, farmers and elected representatives of the advantages and
low risk of genetically modified products - including the issue of costs and
returns.
Among the many
examples revealed by the report, a cable from 2005 indicates that a tour by a
delegation from four pro-GMO Italian cities, organized
by the U.S. Consulate in Milan, resulted in a four-page interview in the L'Espresso magazine,
as well as reprints in newspapers and coverage on television. In 2008, to
prevent Poland from banning GMOs in animal feed, the State Department invited a
delegation from the Polish Ministry of Agriculture to meet experts, including
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Between 2005 and 2009, 28 such trips to
the United States were organized, with delegations from 17 countries.
PRESSURE AND
LEGAL FIELD
U.S.
diplomats also facilitate relations between biotechnology firms and foreign
governments, particularly in developing countries like Kenya and Ghana, not
only to promote policies favorable to biotechnology and the patenting of
plants, but also the products and exports of such companies. In 2005, the South
Africa Embassy informed Monsanto and Pioneer of two vacant positions within that
country's government agency regulating biotechnology, suggesting that they
provide “qualified candidates.”
Finally, efforts
of the State Department were also expended in the legal field: American
diplomats living abroad also opposed legislation on the labeling of GMO
products, and rules blocking their import. And several times, the United States
has raised the issue at the World Trade Organization, particularly over bans on
the cultivation of the MON 810 corn in
seven European countries.
According to the Food and Water Watch
report, 70 percent of the exchanged U.S. diplomatic cables were related to the laws
and regulations in foreign countries on agrochemicals, and 38 percent related
to E.U. member states which are among the most
hostile. In a 2009 cable, the U.S. Embassy in Spain demanded “high-level U.S.
government intervention” in regard to “urgent requests” of Monsanto for it to combat
Spanish opponents of GM crops. The embassy of the United States in France
proposed a conference on the theme “How Biotechnology can Respond to Shortages
in Developing Countries,” to counter the negative image GMOs
suffer in France.
U.S. TAXPAYER
MONEY
Following Wikileaks'
publication of these cables, one Monsanto spokesman, Tom Helscher,
said it was “crucial to maintain an open dialogue with the authorities and
other industrial countries ... We are committed to helping farmers around the
world, as they work to meet food demands of a growing population,” he said.
“It really goes beyond promoting the
U.S.'s biotech industry and agriculture,” retorts Wenonah Hauter,
executive director of Food and Water Watch, who was quoted by Reuters. “It really gets down to twisting the
arms of countries and working to undermine local democratic movements that may
be opposed to biotech crops, and pressuring foreign governments to also reduce
the oversight of biotech crops.”
It's appalling that
the State Department is complicit in supporting their (the biotech seed
industry's) goals despite public and government opposition in several countries,” regrets
Ronnie Cummins, executive director of nonprofit organization Organic Consumers
Association. “American
taxpayer's money should not be spent advancing the goals of a few giant biotech
companies.”
