Biotechnology rules

Biotechnology rules

While the jury is still out on the question of the safety of
genetically modified organisms (GM0), the Ministry of Agriculture
quietly gave its approval this month to the limited sale of
transgenic cotton grown in an experimental project at plantations
in South Sulawesi. The ministry issued a decree last week giving
the green light for the release of these crops to the market,
without waiting for a full assessment of the impact that the
crops may have, not only on human beings, but also on the
biodiversity and the environment where they are grown.

The fact of the matter is that very little is known about
their impact. Therefore, the official line, which is to use the
precautionary principle, has been the correct one. It was this
principle which the government cited when it canceled, at the
last minute, a plan to sign an agreement for the release of
transgenic crops to the market in October.

That the Ministry of Agriculture has now decided to go it
alone, without even bothering to inform the State Minister for
Environment Sonny Keraf, is typical of this Cabinet in which its
left hand rarely knows what its right hand is doing. But that is
the least disturbing aspect of this affair.

The letter of the Ministry of Agriculture decree, and the way
it was signed, suggests some impropriety or even foul play which
typifies the way government policies have been made in this
country for decades. And learning from the experience in October,
when the deal was postponed amid strong public protests, this
time around, the agreement was signed with little or no
publicity. Sadly, as with just about everything else in this
country, business interests again prevail over environmental
concerns.

The Ministry of Agriculture decree, which marks Indonesia's
debut into commercial exploitation of biotechnology, bucks the
global trend. The United States, the world leader in the
industry, is already having second thoughts because of its
potential harm to humans and the environment. While biotechnology
food continues to be developed commercially in the U.S.,
Washington has tightened the regulations, which had hitherto been
drawn up by the industry on a "voluntary basis". Europe has
vehemently opposed the commercial application of biotechnology,
pending more assurance about its safety.

The transgenic Bt cotton plantations in South Sulawesi have
been developed under the guidance of PT Monagro Kimia, a
subsidiary of the St. Louis-based Monsanto Company. The
plantations, 500 hectares in all in Bantaeng and Bulukumba
regencies, are now ripe for harvesting. Farmers involved in the
project, backed by the local authorities -- and by big money in
the industry -- successfully lobbied the Ministry of Agriculture
to allow them to sell their products, both locally and abroad.

The prospect is certainly very alluring that it is easy to see
why the ministry buckled under pressure. Bantaeng regent Azikin
Solthan, who publicly disclosed the existence of the decree last
week, boasts that the yield per hectare quadrupled to three tons
per hectare using the technology. A farmer can earn an extra Rp 3
million ($315) for every hectare through this system, he says.
And since Indonesia's burgeoning textile industry relies heavily
on cotton imports, the pressure on the Ministry of Agriculture
and the government is even stronger to approve sales of the
crops.

But what the Ministry of Agriculture chose to neglect was the
fact that there is no guarantee that the technology was safe for
people who would use the final products or for the environment
where the transgenic cotton crops are grown. Even assuming that
preliminary reports found no harmful effects, the very least that
the government should do is to compel the use of labels in the
products to inform the public of the potential hazards.

Thankfully, the protests by State Minister for Environment
Sonny Keraf against the Ministry of Agriculture's decree suggests
that the debate in the Cabinet is far from over. This is a matter
that is probably too big and too sensitive to be dealt with
solely by the economic ministers. Since the debate is likely to
boil down to "business versus environmental conservation and
public health", President Abdurrahman Wahid or Vice President
Megawati Soekarnoputri should personally take the matter into
their own hands. And public pressure, as happened in October,
could help the government in coming to the right decision.