Venezuela Goes For Law Against Transgenic Seeds
Prensa Latina,
June 1 2013
http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1470181&Itemid=1
Caracas -
Venezuela is going forward in the defintive elaboration and approval
for a law guaranteeing security and sovereignty against the threat
of transgenic seeds, said Socialist deputy Alfredo Urena.
Urena said in an
interview to Venezolana de Television how important this is to
preserve the biological diversity of the nation and food
sovereignty, since the transgenic seed market is under the monopoly
of a few transationals, such as renowned enterprise MONSANTO.
The new
legislation would protect small and medium producers, favour the use
of seeds for the environment and human health, and the creation of
an institution working on the topic, he said.
Urena said the
law project - included last year in the parliamentary agenda -
should be in general discussion next month, and includes the
foundation of a National Seed Institute that legalizes and certifies
agricultural production in the country.
He said legal
regulations against transgenic seeds and technological packages are
needed and that the project will be later taken to debate before the
social movements of Venezuela, farmers, and even producers
supporting the use of transgenic seeds.
Urena, however,
said that the great development of agricultural production by the
use of transgenic seeds in member countries of the South Common
Market (MERCOSUR) such as Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, is now a
reality and states an alternative.
Professor Olga
Domenech, coordinator of the National Plan of the Agro Ecology
Formation Program of the Bolivarian University of Venezuela, said
that the use of transgenics not only damages the environment, but
also contaminates varieties of local cultivations and human beings.
The specialist -
who collaborates in the formation of the law - said that
professionals for a transition in agro-ecology are being trained.
The law should
include the vision of farmers, producers, and customers, said
Domenech finally.