More disgusting activity against humanity and the environment on behalf of the ruling class.
"Foreign Aid" in the form of grain "donations" to Russia and other countries are a way of subsidizing US farmers who are forced to produce for a glutted domestic market instead of for genuine human needs worldwide, and also make the receiving country dependant on these "gifts". Instead of sending tractors and seeds so they can rebuild their agricultural sector (which has been ravaged by the return of capitalism and privatization) for themselves (Russia has immense quantities of fertile land and natural resources), they are forced to accept aid from abroad. But not only that - we now find that some shipments of wheat have been genetically engineered - an illegal and dangerous practice. Such is the respect of the capitalists for humanity and the environment - profit always comes first. Only when the means of production, including the banks and agri-businesses are under the democratic control of those concerned with the future of the planet - the producing masses - will we be able to live a life of peace, freedom, and plenty in harmony with the environment.
- Peter Johnson
Moscow/Vienna - The US is exporting genetically engineered (GE) corn to Russia in violation of Russian legislation. Laboratory tests confirm that a US corn shipment to Russia in early August contained unauthorized GE corn from Novartis.
"The US blatantly ignored Russian import laws, and Novartis did not even bother to apply for an import permit for its GE corn even though it did so before importing into the European Union," said Ivan Blokov, Greenpeace Russia campaign director. "This goes to show once again that only tough international rules on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can stop the rogue traders of biotech. Illegal traffic of GMOs must be treated as a criminal offense."
The cargo carrier Blue Zenith arrived at St. Petersburg harbour on August 16carrying 42,000 tons of genetically engineered corn from the US. Since the 1998 harvest, genetically engineered and conventional crops have not been segregated, and all US shipments are still likely to contain GE grain. Some of the GE corn grown in the US has not been approved for import in Europe.
The samples obtained and analyzed by the Federal Environment Agency of Austria show that the cargo contained Novartis Event 176 GE-corn which has been engineered to produce Bt toxins. It also contains a resistance gene to the antibiotic ampicillin and has been banned for import in Austria, Luxembourg, and Norway.
The Russian government issued legislation in July that requires permits based on ecological assessment before genetically engineered crops can be imported into the country. In an interview with Greenpeace on Wednesday, the Russian ministry of health confirmed that Novartis did not apply for an import license for its GE corn.
The authorities have not indicated what action they intend to take to stop the further shipments.
About 139,000 tons of maize have left the US since mid-August and are expected to arrive in Russia soon.
"Grain exporting countries like Canada, Argentina, Australia and the US have so far obstructed all progress in the Biosafety progress,"said Louise Gale, Greenpeace political advisor at the Vienna negotiations. "This is a classic example of how these countries want to dump their risky crops on unsuspecting countries and take no responsibility for the consequences.