GMOs: Giving the public its right to know

GMOs: Giving the public its right to know

Hera Diani and Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The controversy about genetically modified organisms (GMOs),
just like the technology itself, is still in its infancy. Most
governments around the world agree "the jury is still out" on the
real long-term effects of GMOs on people's health and the
environment.

Housewife "Muryati", like many ordinary Indonesians, does not
really know what GMOs are all about.

She may have heard about them in passing, including the
controversy about possible health risks, but the scientific
explanations about the biotechnology's commercial use are above
her.

But Muryati believes people like her have the right to know
what they are putting into their bodies.

"Is it possible that the food we buy every morning in
supermarkets are GM foods, or maybe we have eaten GM food in
fast-food restaurants. It's sad to think that we don't know, and
who will protect us?" she said.

Countries of the European Union, Australia, Hungary, Japan,
Korea and Switzerland have obliged labeling of genetically
modified products. In the United States, meanwhile, labeling is
voluntary by the firms themselves.

And Indonesia has taken the same position as Brazil, Chile,
the Czech Republic, Malaysia, Russia and Saudi Arabia, which all
plan to impose the labeling.

They argue that labeling will enable consumers to make
decisions on whether to buy GM food in supermarkets and fast-food
restaurants.

The problem is that the plans for the labeling are still in
the pipeline.

An organic activist with the Foundation for the Study of
Technological Development and Service (Elsppat), A. Waspo,
expressed concern about GMOs because there is little information
about it, no labeling and no clear rules to regulate the GMO-
related sector.

"We may have consumed GM food but we are not aware of it; we
cannot be because there is no label to differentiate GM products
from organic ones. And if unexpected effects (of consuming GMO)
occur in the long term, we would have problems because there is
no clear regulations about who is responsible," he said,
describing it as playing with people's lives.

"I believe GM foods have penetrated the local food sector,
especially GM corn and soya beans, which are the basic
ingredients of popular foods like tempeh and tofu."

He also underlined the need to examine food donated by other
countries to detect GMOs, and to label the food accordingly.

"Fast-food firms and other companies in the food sector should
also include a statement, similar to the one used on cigarettes,
like 'This product contains GM ingredients and the long-term
health effects are unknown'," he said.

He said his Bogor-based foundation tried to encourage small
farmers in the area to plant organic vegetables, but the drawback
was they required a longer period to grow.

And non-governmental organizations here have urged the
government to act on the side of caution, and impose the labeling
immediately.

A researcher at the Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI),
Yuliani S. Andang, said consumers had the right to choose and the
right to information.

"If we don't impose the labeling, it means we are violating
the rights of consumers and cheating them," she said.

According to Yuliani, many transgenic products, whether in the
form of crops or processed food, had flooded the country.

"We do not yet have any data on it, but we imported soybeans
and corn from the United States, where over 50 percent of
soybeans are transgenic, while the figure is 25 percent for
corn," she said.

A recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said
that 68 percent of U.S. soybeans were genetically modified.

"And since the European Union doesn't want the products, we
assume that our country has been in the market," Yuliani
asserted.

"It's related to the right of food safety. And especially for
baby food, we really don't recommend it," she added.

The executive director of the National Consortium for Nature
and Forest Conservation (Konphalindo), Tejo Wahyu Jatmiko, said
that the issue of labeling was still tentative due to the lack of
definitive legal backing.

The commercial application of GMO technology in Indonesia is
currently controlled by a 1999 decree jointly issued by the
ministries of Agriculture, Forestry, Food and Horticulture, and
Health.

"But it's not clear who holds the greatest responsibility. We
also haven't ratified the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety which
obliges labeling. So this is a complicated issue," he said.

Tejo said there should be a moratorium on the commercial
application of transgenic technology before the government passes
its planned law on biosafety and food safety.

"Or else it will be like the recent case of South Sulawesi,"
he said, referring to the issuance of a ministerial decree which
allows for the limited release of transgenic cotton in seven
regencies in South Sulawesi.

Some, however, like Inez H.S. Loedin, the head of the crops
molecular biology laboratory at the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences, said that mandatory labeling was not urgent.

"Even Singapore has yet to oblige it. And Japan just imposed
it last May," she said.

Inez agreed that consumers had the right to know about the
products they buy, but added there were many difficulties that
should be considered before imposing labeling.

"The problem is to determine the threshold of the GMO content
in the product. Europe set it at 1 percent while Japan at 5
percent. We have to check first whether we have the capacity or
equipment to set the threshold," she said.

"And then we have to ask the United States, as a soybean
exporter, to separate the GMO and non-GMO products. That will add
another cost."

It's a cost measured in dollars and cents and rupiah, but, to
consumers like Muryati, peace of mind, in knowing about what they
and their families are putting into their bodies, does not carry
a price.