No to GM Wheat! Global Alliance Seeks Un Intervention Against GM Wheat HB4 Cultivation
Food sovereignty alliance from Latin America, Africa, and Asia approach seven UN Special Rapporteurs for urgent intervention to block cultivation and trade of GM wheat HB4
January 30, 2024 | Source: Grain | by Several Groups
On 26 January 2024, a submission was made in English, Spanish, and Portuguese to seven United Nations Special Rapporteurs[1] dealing with human rights, the environment, food, toxic chemicals, water and sanitation, poverty, indigenous peoples, and health by a Global South collective of food sovereignty activists, social movements of peasants and indigenous peoples, and academics from Latin America, Africa, and Asia.[2] This collective is requesting urgent intervention by the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs regarding genetically modified (GM) wheat HB4, purported to be drought-tolerant, and the agrotoxin, glufosinate-ammonium, developed by the Argentinian company Bioceres.
This follows the approval in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay of the commercial production of this GM wheat variety and its import by South Africa, Colombia, Nigeria, New Zealand, and Indonesia, since 2020. China has apparently just authorized the import of wheat from Argentina, suggesting a widespread failure in biosafety governance across the globe.