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Brazilian jury says NO!
The latest jury responds with a resounding no, reports Zoe Elford
Brazil was, and still is, considering whether to remain the world’s biggest supplier of GM-free soya. If Brazil bows to US pressure then the GM-free supplies European consumers depend on will be lost. This is why the citizens’ jury I witnessed in April was so important.
Brazil is now the number one target for Monsanto as they seek to dominate the world soya market. In 1999 a Brazilian federal judge outlawed Monsanto’s GM soya beans because the National Technical Commission on Biosafety (CTNBio) had not carried out required local environmental impact assessments. Government ministers are currently contesting that court decision. “We are very hopeful that the last domino will fall,” says Bob Callanan a spokesperson for the American Soybean Association. “That’s why there is such a stink down in Brazil, they know if that goes, it’s all gone.”
The takeover of Brazil is real. Monsanto have bought up 60% of the maize seed market during the last two years. Furthermore in Itacoatiara, a port north of Fortaleza, both Monsanto and Cargill have moved in and bought up storage spaces. They are ploughing through to make a road for fifty 5,000 tonne lorries to carry soya each day. And to cap it all, a huge new herbicide factory has sprung up in the north of country - all is in order for Monsanto.
It was in this atmosphere that the 300 of us - local farmers, friends of the jurors, students, GM campaigners from all over Brazil and union workers came to Fortaleza University. At the centre of attention were the 11 jurors who over two days listened to the ‘prosecutor’ and the ‘defence’. Each side brought six witnesses to examine and cross-examine.