BAN TERMINATOR SEEDS -
JOIN THE GLOBAL CAMPAIGN
Please circulate widely and get involved.
(posted October 2005)
http://www.ba
nterminator.org - (English, Español, en
français)
Terminator Technology - "Suicide
seeds" are back! Your action is
needed.
Unfortunately Terminator is not
yesterday's news. Corporations and governments
are again pushing hard to commercialize
Terminator technology -plants that are
genetically modified to render sterile seeds at
harvest. The Canadian government tried to
overturn the international (United Nations) de
facto moratorium on Terminator in February 2005.
To meet this new crisis and re-build global
opposition, we ask you to join the new Ban
Terminator Campaign and take action with us.
Mobilization is needed now to pressure
governments to ban Terminator nationally and
internationally. There are two important United
Nations meetings coming up where debates on
Terminator are planned. We will work to establish
a ban on Terminator at the major meetings of the
UN Convention on Biological Diversity: January
23-27 in Spain and March 20-31 in Brazil.
Your action is needed NOW to make this happen.
We ask individuals, communities and groups across
the world to take action locally, nationally, and
internationally as part of the new global
strategy.
Many of you are working to secure Farmers'
Rights, food sovereignty and the
self-determination of your peoples and
communities. You have successfully opposed
Terminator in the past. Please add Terminator to
your campaign work now - and please add your work
and voices to the Ban Terminator Campaign.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- Groups and communities please
"Endorse the Campaign" so we
can show governments how strong the
global opposition is
http://www.banterminator
.org/take_action/sign_on_to_ban_terminator
- Subscribe to receive Action Alerts and
breaking news so that you can take
immediate action when it is needed the
most http://www.banterminator.org/take_action
/subscribe
- Join with others in your area to pressure
your government to ban Terminator
nationally and at the United Nations. We
can help provide materials and contacts.
- Organize events and actions - Become a
Ban Terminator contact and organizer.
- Share information on Terminator in your
community so that we can work
together
- Pass a resolution in your group or
community against Terminator to
communicate your protest and reasons
clearly for all to see
- Visit http://www.b
anterminator.org for action ideas,
information and campaign materials
Your input is important to us - join the strategy
- participate in the campaign.
COMING SOON! to www.ban
terminator.org : "Select Your
Country" Action
and Frequently Asked Questions
HOW YOU CAN CONTACT US:
Visit http://www.b
anterminator.org
contact@b
anterminator.org
Full contact details are below.
CAMPAIGN DETAILS:
Purpose: The Ban Terminator
Campaign seeks to promote government bans on
Terminator technology at the national and
international levels, and supports the efforts of
civil society, farmers, Indigenous peoples and
social movements to campaign against it.
Strategy: The international de
facto moratorium on Terminator technology at the
United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) is under attack. Two upcoming meetings of
the CBD where Terminator is on the agenda - the
Working Group on Article 8 (j) in Granada, Spain
January 23-27 and the 8th Conference of the
Parties (COP8) to the CBD in Curitiba, Paraná,
Brazil March 20-31 2006 - offer important
opportunities to strengthen the moratorium. The
build-up to these meetings is also an important
opportunity to encourage governments to establish
national prohibitions on Terminator
technology
- just as Brazil and India have done.
Corporations will not stop their efforts to
commercialize Terminator until governments
prohibit the technology.
Origins: The Ban Terminator
Campaign was initiated in response to recent
efforts by governments and corporations to push
for Terminator field trials and
commercialization. Despite widespread opposition,
in February 2005, the Canadian government
attempted to overturn the CBD's international de
facto moratorium on Terminator technology. The
Ban Terminator Campaign was formed in response,
following discussions initiated by Canadian-based
civil society organizations (ETC group, Inter
Pares, National Farmers Union, and USC Canada).
History: In 1998, ETC group
(then RAFI) discovered Terminator patents. In
1999, in response to the avalanche of public
opposition, two of the world's largest seed and
agrochemical corporations, Monsanto and
AstraZeneca (now Syngenta), publicly vowed not to
commercialize Terminator seeds. In 2000, the
United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity
adopted a de facto moratorium on Terminator
seeds. As a result, many people believed that the
crisis had passed, and the issue faded from
public view. Unfortunately, Terminator is still
being developed and is now being heavily
promoted.
Structure:
The Ban Terminator Campaign's steering committee:
AS-PTA - Assessoria e Serviços
a Projectos em Agricultura Alternativa
www.aspta.or
g.br
ETC Group - Action group on
Erosion, Technology and Concentration
www.etcgroup
.org
GRAIN www.grain.org
Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism www.
www.ipcb.org
ITDG - Intermediate Technology
Development Group www.itdg.org
Pesticide Action Network - Asia and the Pacific www.panap.net
Third World Networkwww.twnsi
de.org.sg
www.biosafety-info.net
Via Campesina www.via
campesina.org
CONTACT US:
Ban Terminator Campaign
contact@
banterminator.org
www.ba
nterminator.org
431 Gilmour Street, Second Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K2P 0R5
Phone: 1 613 241 2267
Fax: 1 613 241 2506
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