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