14th December 2005

A petition signed by Gloucestershire Green party members and other groups in Gloucestershire, have been handed in to WTO director Pascal Lamy demanding he drops a legal challenge to GM import bans in the EU.

Green MEP Dr Caroline Lucas will present Mr Lamy with a hamper of organic food after he receives the petition today, which has been signed by 135,000 individuals from 100 countries and 740 organisations representing 60 million people.

The petition demands ‘WTO – take your hands off our food’. Organised by Friends of the Earth International, it is a response to a WTO challenge to EU regulation on GMOs, brought by the US, Argentina and Canada.

Dr Lucas said: “The right of individual countries to decide whether or not to allow GMOs in their food chains or their environment is a key element of the democratic principles which are supposed to underpin the EU. Neither the WTO nor the EU have any right to overrule the clear majority of EU citizens who do not want GMOs in their communities.”

But the protest threatens to be overshadowed by leaks suggesting that the WTO has already made up its mind – and ruled against the EU, in a move which could further undermine the vital principal of democratic decision-making in
the EU.

Dr Lucas said she would seek a direct confirmation as to the complaint’s status from Mr Lamy during today’s meeting.

Indian scientist and trade activist Vandana Shiva will join Dr Lucas for the hand-over. She said: “This transatlantic trade dispute shows the worst face of the WTO. Despite the fact that the UN Biosafety protocol allows countries to use the precautionary principle to ban the import of GMOs, the WTO may force-feed us GMOs.”

Friends of the Earth International Chair Meena Raman said: “The WTO should have the guts to tell the world today that free trade rules come before their safety and that they will be forced to eat GM foods whether they want to or not. The WTO is the wrong place to be deciding what we eat and how we protect our environment. It is time they got their hands off our food!”


Note to Editors:

Caroline Lucas is in Hong Kong as a member of the European Parliament’s delegation to the WTO talks. She is posting daily blogs from the summit. To read them see www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk