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GREENPEACE BLOCKS CARGILL'S GMO FACILITY
IN FRANCE
 Brest,
2 December 1999 -- 30 activists today blocked the gates of
a Cargill soybean mill in Brest/France to protest the flood
of genetically engineered (GE) crops from the USA to Europe.
They demanded Cargill, the world’s largest grain trader and
leading importer of soybeans to Europe, to stop importing
GE crops. In the previous days hundreds of people have visited
the the Greenpeace ship Sirius in the Brest harbour and sent
faxes and protest letters to Cargill.
 A
majority of French and European consumers is against the use
of GE in food and most supermarket chains and major food producers
in France and Europe have now adopted a GE free policy. Most
animal feed producers and animal breeders in France want to
use non-GE animal feed only, but have not been able to locate
the supply, according to information acquired by Greenpeace.
It is also impossible for farmers to avoid GE animal feed
since no labelling rules for animal fodder exists in the EU,
although a draft for a Novel feed regulation has been sitting
on the EU Commission's desks now for over two years.
About
95 per cent of the soya grown in the US is used for animal
feed. In 1998 the EU imported nearly 15 million tons of soybeans.
During the three years of commercial growing of GE soybeans
the US soya exports to Europe have dropped about 39 per cent,
while GE free exports from Brazil rose from 3,1 to 5,4 million
tonnes.
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