GE wheat battle won, but war against GE food wages on

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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, Ontario - This morning, Monsanto abandoned its plans to introduce genetically engineered (GE) wheat. The Council of Canadians is celebrating the good news, but recognizes that there is much more work to be done in the fight against GE food.

"This is a tremendous victory for consumers everywhere," says Nad�ge Adam of the Council of Canadians. "No matter how Monsanto frames this, it is very much a full retreat from a project that was doomed from the beginning. This is a serious blow for this company and for the commercialization of GE crops in Canada."

In December 2002, Monsanto submitted an application to the Canadian government for the release of Roundup Ready wheat, a herbicide-resistant crop. This controversial crop encountered strong opposition from a variety of sectors including producers, consumers, civil society organizations, and foreign buyers.

"No matter how hard Monsanto tried to promote GE wheat, consumers still wanted nothing to do with this product," adds Adam. "Ignoring consumer concern has been the biotech industry's biggest mistake, and in this case it has cost them one of their most potentially profitable crops."

The Council of Canadians and other civil society, agricultural, and environmental groups plan to continue their campaign against GE food until the government agrees to a moratorium on all future GE crops.

"We may have stopped GE wheat, but there are many other applications for the commercialization of GE crops on the horizon," says Adam." We hope that Paul Martin seizes this opportunity to introduce a moratorium on any further releases of GE foods until all health and environmental concerns have been addressed. Until a moratorium is put in place, all future GE crops will encounter the same resistance."

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For more information, please contact:
Laura Sewell, Media Officer, Council of Canadians: 613.233.4487 ext 234; 613.795.8685 (cell); [email protected]; www.canadians.org

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