Biosafety Day - no visa for African negotiator

May 22 is called the International Day for Biological Diversity. It is celebrated annually as an important event. But this year, the United Nations say "it takes on new meaning, new significance and new urgency."

It is a day to think about Earths precious living genetic resources. Very few plants and animals are actually sustaining human life. Rice, corn, wheat and few other are seriously threatened. And new reports show that global fish stocks are down 90% since the beginning of industrialized fishing.

Sadly, most of the terrible destruction takes place in developing countries. That is why I was really upset to hear that Africa's chief negotiator for the Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety has been denied entry into Canada to attend meetings to finalise key provisions regarding the international movement of genetically engineered organisms. The biosafety meetings begin next week in the Canadian city of Montreal.

Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, the Ethiopian government's chief scientist, had his passport returned without the requested Canadian visa Wednesday despite previous visits to Canada, according to IPS. ''I have been to Montreal many times,'' Tewolde said in an interview from Addis Ababa. ''I have never heard of something like this happening before.''

A respected scientist and champion of biodiversity, Tewolde received the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the alternative Nobel prize) from the king of Sweden in 2000. He is considered by some to be the father of the Biosafety Protocol.

Unlike the U.S. and Canadian governments, he firmly believes in the need for strong international regulations for genetically engineered (GE) seeds and crops.

''We're not just upset, we're pissed off about this,'' said Pat Mooney, executive director of a Canadian NGO called the ETC Group.

''I wouldn't have believed it was deliberate but after the CBD meeting in Bangkok I'm not so sure,'' Mooney told IPS.

In Bangkok last February, he said, the Canadian government used ''heavy-handed tactics'' to try and lift a de-facto moratorium on the so-called Terminator, a GE technology that makes seeds sterile. Only strong objections from African countries, Austria, Switzerland, Peru, and the Philippines kept the moratorium in place.

The son of a farmer, Tewolde has publicly clashed with Canadian and U.S. representatives at international meetings over issues such as patents on seeds and the risks of GE crops.

Shame on Canada!

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