U.S., U.N. Send Barred GM Food to Latin America

U.S., U.N. Send Barred GM Food to Latin America

NEW YORK--The United States and United Nations sent geneticallymodified (GM) food shipments to Bolivia recently, although local laws prohibitGM food in the country. StarLink, a variety of GM corn the U.S. has approvedonly for animal use, was found in a shipment of food aid to Bolivia. Theshipment was sent by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Ecuador, Guatemala and Nicaragua also received GM food. Ecuador's shipmentcame from the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) and violated Ecuadorian healthcodes; a soy corn blend sent by USAID to Nicaragua contained GM food notapproved by the European Union; and aid sent by USAID to Guatemala also had GMelements unapproved by the EU. The U.S. is the largest donor of food to the WFP.

"The U.S. considers this genetically engineered corn unfit for humanconsumption and has banned it for years. Yet it has been sent to Bolivia as foodaid," said Gabriel Hervas, President of the Bolivian Forum on Environmentand Development in a press release put out by Friends of the Earth (FOE).

Reports about the aid were made at the World Food Summit, held in Rome, inJune. Centro Humboldt of FOE Nicaragua announced the StarLink contamination atthe Summit, a gathering of world leaders meeting to discuss strategies to feedthe hungry. FOE expressed outrage that more than a year after StarLink was foundin the U.S. food supply, it has appeared in food aid. USAID and WFP were bothcriticized by FOE, which demanded food with genetically engineered ingredientsnot be sent as food aid to countries that have not formulated biosafetyregulations. Also emphasized was the desire to protect cornfields from geneticcontamination. According to the FOE press release, "Food aid withgenetically modified seed may be another pathway of genetically engineered cropsinto one of the birthplaces of corn, creating a form of biological pollutionthat cannot be recalled."