Ecuador Paves Way for Terminator Technology?

By Karla Peña

The Food Sovereignty Organic Law in Ecuador was approved by the National Assembly with President Rafael Correa’s Partial Veto in March of this year.

The Food Sovereignty Organic Law of Ecuador elaborates on the constitutional law proposed in September, 2008 with the duty to promote and guarantee nutritious and culturally appropriate food to its population by providing mechanisms to convert to agroecological practices. Through public credits, subsidies and mitigation efforts, the State will prioritize on the internal market and national availability of food supply. Land will serve its social and environmental function; generating employment, equitable distribution of income, productive utilization and conservation of biodiversity.

Unfortunately the President’s recent partial veto could pave the way for importing, growing and processing of Genetically Modified (GM) seeds. The original Article 6 of the law stated the importation of GM seeds would be under strict regulation and accepted into the country if they are disabled from reproductive services by the process of “breaking”. However, the changes by the President suggests the GM seeds can be imported with the inherent trait to self terminate, the gene expressions of Terminator Technology. He argues the act of breaking the seeds will increase costs for importers and producers, but protesters against his veto disagree. Terminator seeds require that farmers purchase new seeds from seed importers each year.

Acción Ecológica, among other Ecuadorian organizations, is denouncing this decision to modify Article 6 as unconstitutional and demanding that the President recognize and respect the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity moratorium on Terminator Technology; a threat to Ecuador’s rich genetic resources and food sovereignty.

There has also been civil society opposition to the President’s effort to expand the Biofuel market in Ecuador which is seen as a potential menace to the nation’s transition towards low impact, efficient, non-contaminating alternative fuels, as mandated in the Constitution in Article 15.

The original text had created a consultative body for food sovereignty, but was merged into the National Conference for Food Sovereignty by the president’s veto, marginalizing civil society’s capacity to influence direct decisions within the law. Nonetheless, the food sovereignty regime will be institutionalized and composed of eight representatives of society. It will be a space for deliberations, proposals, research and alternatives—voicing the concerns of farmers, producers, women, peasants, indigenous groups, and other stakeholders. These representatives will be the medium serve to channel the results for the development of the organic law to the legislators.

The people of Ecuador have paved the way for many social and environmental precedents and the Food Sovereignty Law is only one example. They will continue to struggle against the inequitable development of their food system and the laws governing their sovereignty, as illustrated in their current protests against GM terminator seeds and Biofuels. It’s only a matter of time before Ecuador’s forward-thinking reflected in their new constitution and their demands for transparency ripple across the world as the people of other nations raise their voices to demand “food sovereignty.”

More Info:
http://www.accionecologica.org
http://www.etcgroup.org/upload/publication/pdf_file/740
http://www.eltiempo.com.ec/noticias-cuenca/14350-nueva-ley-de-soberana-a...
http://www.telegrafo.com.ec/actualidad/noticia/archive/actualidad/2009/0...
http://www.eluniverso.com/2009/04/10/1/1355/3EB6196CC56A4796B35271E3557A...