Indonesia to ratify bio-tech protocol
Indonesia to ratify bio-tech protocol
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta
Farmers in South Sulawesi had to destroy five hectares of cotton
plantations in September 2001 after discovering that the
genetically modified cotton was not as productive as scientists
and businesspeople had claimed.
PT Monsanto, supplier of the transgenic cotton seeds, had
assured the farmers that each hectare would produce about four
tons of cotton per hectare at every harvest. But farmers reported
that they reaped less than half a ton.
"We were duped," said a farmer, Muhammad Amir.
The company's claim that the seeds were highly resistant to
pests and diseases also fell short of farmer's expectations. In
fact, the pests have become immune to pesticides.
These damages could have been minimized or prevented if the
Indonesian government had ratified the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
"This protocol is adopted to protect possible negative impacts
resulting from genetically modified organisms," Ida Ronauli from
the National Consortium for the Preservation of Indonesian Forest
and Nature (Konphalindo) said here on Saturday.
She was asked to comment on the government's plan to ratify
the Cartagena Protocol.
The House of Representatives' Commission I for foreign affairs
is scheduled to hold a hearing on Monday with the Minister of the
Environment Nabiel Makarim to discuss the issue.
The lawmakers have been gathering information and input from
environmental activists and experts before coming to a decision
to ratify the protocol.
Ibrahim Ambong, the Commission I chairman in charge of the
deliberation, said that most legislators had expressed support
for the planned Cartagena Protocol's ratification.
"The final say, however, can be seen next week," he said.
The Cartagena Protocol was adopted in Montreal, Canada, in
2000 following the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992.
Indonesia has ratified the Convention through the enactment of
Law No. 5/1994 on Biological Diversity in 1994.
The convention's ratification was to prevent the country from
becoming a test laboratory for genetically modified organisms by
other countries.
The Cartagena Protocol was aimed at helping ensure an adequate
level of protection in the field of safe transfer, handling and
use of living modified organisms resulting from modern
biotechnology.
Some untested biotechnology may have adverse effects on the
conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking
also into account risks to human health and specifically focusing
on transboundary movements.
The most important aspect in the Cartagena Protocol is the
adoption of precautionary principles in anticipation of the
scientific uncertainty in the making of genetically modified
organisms.
The Cartagena Protocol mandates the need for risk assessment,
risk management and advanced procedural agreements before an
organism can be modified.
Konphalindo director Tejo Wahyu Jatmiko said that if Indonesia
ignored the protocol, it could become isolated from the
international community.
Ratifying the Cartagena Protocol, he said, would also protect
the Indonesian people from the possibly adverse impact of
consuming transgenic products.
Exporters must notify, in writing, the competent authorities
of the importers prior to the transboundary movement of living
modified organisms.
Key Articles
Article 4: This Protocol shall apply to the transboundary
movement, transit, handling and use of all living modified
organisms that may have adverse effects on the conservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account
risks to human health.
Article 5: Notwithstanding Article 4 and without prejudice to any
right of a party to subject all living modified organisms to risk
assessment prior to the making of decisions on import, this
Protocol shall not apply to the transboundary movement of living
modified organisms which are pharmaceuticals for human that are
addressed by other relevant international agreements or
organizations.
Source: The Cartagena Protocol