Puertas abiertas para semillas Terminator en Ecuador?
El 18 de Febrero de este año, el congreso Ecuatoriano aprobó una nueva Ley sobre Soberanía Alimentaría, la cual entre otros puntos importantes, declaraba al país “libre de semillas y cultivos transgénicos. Sin embargo, y a pesar de la oposición popular, la norma dejo una puerta abierta al uso de Organismos Genéticamente Modificados (OGM) en “casos excepcionales”.
ETC Group 21/04/2009
El 18 de Febrero de este año, el congreso Ecuatoriano aprobó una nueva Ley sobre Soberanía Alimentaría, la cual entre otros puntos importantes, declaraba al país “libre de semillas y cultivos transgénicos. Sin embargo, y a pesar de la oposición popular, la norma dejo una puerta abierta al uso de Organismos Genéticamente Modificados (OGM) en “casos excepcionales”. Ahora, el presidente Correa ha propuesto varios cambios a la Ley (lo que es conocido en Ecuador como un veto parcial), y la ha devuelto al congreso. Los cambios presidenciales han debilitado la norma y han abierto la puerta a las semillas Terminator.
La tecnología Terminator, esta diseñada para crear “semillas suicidas”, genéticamente creadas para ser estériles en la segunda generación. Esta tecnología ha sido ampliamente rechazada alrededor del mundo por movimientos de agricultores, por gobiernos, instituciones de investigación y por agencias de las Naciones Unidas, por ser peligrosos, inmorales e indeseables.
Alarmada por la propuesta del Presidente Correa, la sociedad civil lo esta llamando a dejar de lado estas enmiendas y al establecimiento de una prohibición explicita de la tecnología Terminator.
“Es bastante perturbador que una Ley que este dirigida a afirmar la Soberanía Alimentaría pueda por el contrario limpiar el camino a una tecnología, para la cual en un principio fue diseñada a prevenir”, señala Silvia Ribero de ETC Group. Desde el año 2000, cuando una moratoria de facto en contra de la tecnología Terminator fue acordada por la Convención sobre Diversidad Biológica (CDB), las compañías dedicadas al desarrollo de esta tecnología, redefinieron a las Terminator como herramientas de bioseguridad. Siendo esta la interpretación reflejada en el texto de las enmiendas del presidente ecuatoriano. Ribeiro añade: “Estamos preocupados ya que este tipo de lenguaje se esta mostrando en varios países del hemisferio sur, y vemos que esto refleja la nueva presión que la industria biotecnológica esta haciendo para volcar la moratoria sobre las semillas Terminator en la reunión del CBD del próximo año en Japón.”
El Articulo 26 de la Ley Ecuatoriana sobre Soberanía Alimentaría, titulado “Regulación de la biotecnología y sus productos”, permite la importación y el procesamiento de “materias primas que contengan transgenes, siempre que cumplan con los requerimientos de sanidad e inocuidad, y que su capacidad de reproducción , como semillas, sea inhabilitada por trozamiento, (…)” Previniendo de esta manera la contaminación genética de los cultivos en Ecuador, como ha sucedido en México y en otros países. El resultado de la redacción de las enmiendas, permite ahora la importación de materiales genéticamente modificados de tecnología Terminator.
Elizabeth Bravo de Acción Ecológica, comentó: “Desafortunadamente los cambios presidenciales de la norma, reflejan la influencia de la industria biotecnológica… Los ecuatorianos podemos encarar un peor escenario, que el Ecuador permita las semillas suicidas y la contaminación por parte de los OGM. Lo cual seria una amenaza directa a la agrobiodiversidad, base esencial para la seguridad alimentaría del Ecuador.” Bravo añade, “Estas modificaciones van en contra de lo previsto en el articulo 73 de la Constitución Ecuatoriana, el que prohíbe la introducción de material orgánico o inorgánico que pueda alterar de manera definitiva la herencia genética nacional”.
Seria escandaloso para el Ecuador, país que siempre apoyo la moratoria internacional en contra de la tecnología Terminator, abra sus puertas a esta a un nivel nacional.
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- 14/07/2009
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