"Public good threatened by
corporate controlled science"
-Council
of Canadians
- Council of Canadians
February 16, 2001
(OTTAWA) Inadequate testing, regulation and public control of
genetically engineered (GE) foods and similar products is putting the
interests of the multi-billion-dollar biotechnology industry ahead of
public health and environmental safety, says the Council of Canadians.
"Bio-engineered products are
being sold under... autocratic corporate
science... They are deploying it on millions of acres without being
able to answer questions such as the ones that were raised by the
Royal Society."
-Ralph Nader |
"The public good is being slowly undermined by powerful corporations
and industry lobby groups who want to rush genetically engineered
foods to market without either long-term safety tests or even
appropriate labeling," says Maude Barlow, Volunteer Chair of the
Council of Canadians. "Unfortunately, our government's current
policies on health protection, agriculture and trade are designed to
help the companies, not citizens."
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| "...the Royal Society of Canada released an expert report
commissioned by Health Canada, Environment Canada and the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency that was highly critical of the government's
current regulatory system.
" |
"This is a technology begging for democratization," says U.S.
consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who is in Canada to attend a one-day
international conference of scientists, researchers and activists,
hosted by the Council of Canadians. "Bio-engineered products are
being sold under the process that we call autocratic corporate
science. It's not open science, like academic science. It's not
peer-reviewed by scientists who don't have a vested interest in the
outcome. They are deploying it on millions of acres without being
able to answer questions such as the ones that were raised by the
Royal Society."
Last week, the Royal Society of Canada released an expert report
commissioned by Health Canada, Environment Canada and the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency that was highly critical of the government's
current regulatory system.
"Reading the Royal Society's recommendations, it's easy to see who
benefits and who is disenfranchised by the current regulations," says
Dr. Ann Clark, a professor of plant agriculture at the University of
Guelph.
Today's conference, titled "Science and the Public Good," features
many scientists who have placed their careers in jeopardy by publicly
exposing the inadequacies of government regulatory and testing
regimes. The Council of Canadians is calling for an immediate
moratorium on the approval and release of genetically modified
organisms.
-30-
For more information:
Jennifer Story (613) 233-4487 ext. 234 or cell: 795-8685
Nadège Adam (613) 233-4487 ext. 245 or cell: 295-0432
Source url: http://www.canadians.org/
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