St. Louis Biodevastation Declaration for Banning Genetically Engineered Foods and Crops.

• Author: Russow, Joan

Background: From July 17-19, 1998 the First Grassroots Gathering on Biodevastation: Genetic Engineering took place in St. Louis, USA. It was hosted by the Gateway Green Alliance, Pure Food Campaign, and Edmonds Institute. The Declaration was presented at the panel on Global Organizing for Citizen empowerment, and was adopted in principle in the final plenary on July 19. The Declaration was formed throughout the Conference as a compilation of concerns expressed and statements of action proposed by the participants at the conference. It is not the final version and needs to be organized, edited and is being circulated for further clarification and strengthening.

We call upon:

The United Nations to call upon member states of the United Nations:

* to act immediately to call for the implementation of existing international declarations, conventions, covenants, treaties on human rights and the environment to support the cancellation of the human genome project, the patenting of seeds, and all further commercial exploitation of indigenous peoples and of the knowledge of indigenous peoples, and also to prevent, under the Convention on Biological Diversity,

(a) the transfer of all Genetically modified organisms, and

(b) the development of pesticide resistant crops;

* to immediately halt harvesting genetic material of indigenous peoples and demand that these efforts be replaced with international dedication to preserving the existence of indigenous peoples and their culture.

* to prevent bioprospecting"--exploiting and patenting the knowledge of indigenous peoples;

* to not defeat the purpose of the Convention on Biological Diversity by failing to invoke the precautionary principle to justify the banning of the production of genetically engineered foods;

* to recognize that conservation of biodiversity is antithetical to development and altering through genetic engineering;

* to prevent under the Convention on Biological Diversity the transfer of all Genetically modified organisms;

* to call for an immediate moratorium on research, development, release, and movement of genetically engineered organisms;

* to prevent under the Convention on Biological Diversity the development of pesticide resistant crops;

* to ban genetically engineered foods and immediately remove all genetically engineered foods from the food distribution system;

* to institute an immediate ban on genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone, endorsing the campaign to rid rBGH from school milk;

* to keep our forests, farms, and food safe and oppose the genetic engineering of all plants and animals;

* to abolish...