[Gen-Streitfall] URGENT - LETTER TO LULA - Please take action

[Andreas Bauer]

Hallo Attacies!

Hier ein Aktionsaufruf von gmwatch, den möglichst viele Menschen
unterstützen sollten. Bitte leitet den Aufruf an möglichst viele Menschen
weiter.
Darum geht es: Der brasilianische Präsident Lula will auch für diese
Anbausaison eine außergesetzliche Sondergenehmigung für den Anbau von
Gensoja erteilen. 
Die Zeit drängt.

Gruß,
Andreas


ACTION ALERT FROM GM WATCH
http://www.gmwatch.org

PLEASE TAKE ACTION!

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE FARMERS, CONSUMERS, AND CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS OF
BRAZIL.

(IF YOU HAVE TIME FOR ONLY ONE ACTION, CLICK THIS LINK:
http://www.gmwatch.org/proemail1.asp?id=5 )

Please send URGENT letters of protest (to the addresses below) asking the
Brazilian President to keep his promise not to give permission for GM crops
to
be grown in Brazil. 

Please also ask him to make sure that Brazil has effective biosafety
legislation. 

*Example letter below*

TIME IS VERY, VERY SHORT - Lula is expected to give permission at any time.

Please support the protests in Brazil.

IF YOU HAVE TIME FOR ONLY ONE ACTION, CLICK THIS LINK:
http://www.gmwatch.org/proemail1.asp?id=5

It will take you to a form which will enable you to quickly send your
protest to Lula.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS

If possible, please also e-mail copies of the letters you send to:
info at gmwatch.org

If you want to find out more about what's happening in Brazil, see:
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4394

CONTACT DETAILS - please also consider sending faxes where possible.

President
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Palacio do Planalto, 4' andar, 70150-900, Brasilia, DF, Brasil
Fax: 55 61 322 2314
Tel: 55 61 411 1201
E-mail: pr at planalto.gov.br
You can also send messages to the President via this online form:
http://www.planalto.gov.br/falepr/exec/index.cfm?acao=email.formulario

Or e-mail Lula's advisors:

Casa Civil - José Dirceu
E-mail: casacivil at planalto.gov.br
Postal Address:
Palácio do Planalto - 4º Andar
70150-900 - Brasília ? DF

Secretaria Geral - Luiz Soares Dulci
E-mail: sg at planalto.gov.br
Postal Aaddress:
Pça. dos Três Poderes, Palácio do Planalto
4º andar - Telefone: 411 1225
70.150-900 Brasília ? DF

EXAMPLE LETTER
(FOR YOU TO CUSTOMISE IF SHORT OF TIME)

To the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

We are writing to express our strong support for the many Brazilian
environmental, consumer and small farmer groups who are asking you to honour
your
previous statement that you will not grant "special permission" again for GM
soya to be planted in Brazil. 

As you know, Carlos Sperotto, president of the Rio Grande do Sul's
Agriculture Federation, has claimed that you will break this promise and
that his
farmers will plant GM soya in any case. 

We understand and share your strong desire to reduce hunger. We know that
you also place a strong emphasis on Brazilian exports but we believe your
support for agricultural production is being taken advantage of - that you
are
being blackmailed into accepting the demands of those who, backed by
multinational agribusiness corporations, wish to force GMOs onto Brazil, and
who are
using Sperotto and others to front their self-interested campaign. 

Theirs is a deliberate attack on Brazil's national sovereignty. Geneticist
Rubens Onofre Nodari, a professor at the Federal University of Santa
Catarina,
who also works in the Environmental Ministry's genetic resources section,
has commented that, "The government is being held hostage by farmers who
feel
free to do whatever they want." 

We ask you to listen not to Sperotto but to the voices of your own
Environment Minister and the many others who have written to ask you to
respect the
Precautionary Principle enshrined in the Convention on Biodiversity, of
which
Brazil is a signatory. This requires that approval is not given to the
commercial cultivation of GMOs without prior studies on the environmental
impact and
the risks to consumer health.

We not only support the call for no permission to be granted again for the
indiscriminate planting of GMOs, but also call on your Government to restore
the biosafety bill (Project Law) to the form in which it was originally
approved by the Chamber of Deputies back in February. The original bill
guaranteed
environmental security, consumer safety and national sovereignty, all of
which will be devastated by the bill in its present modified form, which has
become practically unrecognisable. 

We also consider that it is of fundamental importance that local state
governments be allowed to declare their territory GM-free if the people and
the
legislative assemblies opt for that, as has been the case in Santa Catarina,
Paraná and Goiás. 

We also consider it vital that people have the right to labels on food
products, showing whether they contain Genetically Modified ingredients or
not.
Such a law has already been approved, although not complied with, and will
be
revoked by the bill as modified in the Senate.

Brazilian civil society groups have written, "Mr. President, the alarming
inconsistencies and mistakes that the government is showing regarding this
issue leaves the organized civil society in extreme frustration and
disillusionment with your government, both in Brazil and abroad". They also
note that
these are the same people that "applauded the nomination of the Minister
Marina
Silva as a guarantee that finally, the issues regarding the environment and
sustainable development would be taken seriously by a Brazilian Government."
 

Please listen to their plea and show the courage and leadership to stand up
for the long-term interests of the Brazilian people, rather than those of
big
business.

Signed





-- 
"Wir brauchen keine Bio-Terroristen, wenn wir Gentechniker haben."
Independent Science Panel (www.indsp.org)