No Safety Assessment of GE Corn by Health Canada - Canada Ignores International Food Safety Guidelines

    OTTAWA, July 29 /CNW Telbec/ - Today the Canadian Biotechnology Action
Network (CBAN) demanded that the federal government immediately withdraw
authorization for 'SmartStax,' a genetically engineered (GE), eight-trait
corn, until Health Canada undertakes exhaustive and independent tests.
    CBAN made the demand after learning that Health Canada has not assessed
the human health safety of 'SmartStax'. Safety assessment of multi-trait crops
is part of the guidelines adopted by the Codex Alimentarius-a United Nations
body that develops food-safety guidelines recognized by the World Trade
Organization (WTO) and used to settle trade disputes.
    'SmartStax,' a multi-herbicide tolerant and multi-insecticide-producing
corn developed by Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences, has been authorized by the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency but not by Health Canada.
    "Health Canada did not conduct or require any testing for this new
eight-trait GE corn and did not even officially authorize it for release into
the food system," said Lucy Sharratt, CBAN's Coordinator. "Health Canada has
entirely abdicated its responsibility and just shrugged off the potential
health risks of eating eight GE traits in one corn flake."
    "Combining many GE traits together can give rise to unintended effects
which could adversely affect health, such as creating new allergies or toxins,
or exacerbating existing allergies," said Dr. Michael Hansen of the Consumers
Union in the US, a leading global expert on the potential health risks of GE.
    "This GE crop should have gone through a new safety assessment, as
recommended by Codex in its 'Guidelines for the Conduct of Food Safety
Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Plants' adopted in 2003.
Codex standards and guidelines are used to settle trade disputes and the lack
of a new safety assessment for this GE corn means that other countries could
reject 'SmartStax' without running afoul of WTO rules," said Dr. Hansen.
    "Canada is ignoring the Codex guideline to test stacked-trait plants - a
guideline our government negotiated. Our standards should be at least as high
as Codex, if not higher," said Sharratt. "This scandal exposes the deepest and
most dangerous nonchalance of Health Canada towards the risks of GE foods and
the safety of Canadians,"
    "Health Canada is protecting the interests of biotechnology corporations
rather than the health of Canadians," said Dr. Shiv Chopra, a former
scientific evaluator for Health Canada and whistleblower in Health Canada's
review of Monsanto's recombinant bovine growth hormone.
    "Releasing 'SmartStax' without evaluating safety, just a day after the
release of the blistering report on the listeriosis crisis, confirms deep
structural problems and government mis-management of GE foods and crops," said
Eric Darier from Greenpeace Canada.

For further information: Lucy Sharratt, Canadian Biotechnology Action
Network, [phone] ext.6; Michael Hansen, Consumers Union, Cell.: (917)
774-3801, [phone]; Dr. Shiv Chopra, [phone]; Eric Darier, Cell.:
[phone]