LEGAL PETITION AGAINST 5 US AGENCIES AIMS TO STOP WORLD'S FIRST GE FISH RELEASE

9 May 2001

Washington DC/Amsterdam: Greenpeace has signed onto a a series of legal petitions filed today by the US consumer group the Center for Food Safety demanding that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and four other US Government agencies institute a moratorium on the release of genetically engineered (GE) fish into open waters until appropriate legislation banning GE Fish can be put in place. Co-signers to the petitions include over 60 other fisheries protection, conservation, and consumer organizations.

This legal action is being taken in response to an application, filed by the US-Canadian company A/F Proteins to commercialise the world's first GE Fish, a salmon, which would grow 3-4 times faster than normal.

The US FDA is presently reviewing this application as a new animal drug under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

The FDA insists that no new regulations are required to deal with GE Fish. (1)

"This alarmingly narrow and dogmatic view taken by the FDA shows, why this agency is not the appropriate body to make far reaching, potentially irreversible decisions about the future fish stocks and the ecology of the oceans," said Lindsay Keenan of Greenpeace International.

A joint petition to US Department of Interior (DOI) and the US Department of Commerce (DOC) requests a ban on the use of GE Fish in ocean pens in accordance with the Endangered Species Act and the Aquatic Nuisance Species Act.

A further petition to the Department of Defense (DOD) requests a ban on the use of GE Fish in ocean pens in accordance with the Rivers and Harbors Act that gives DOD legislation over all structures, such as pens, in navigable water. Finally a petition to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) requests specific requirements for containment in enclosed aquaculture facilities for GE Fish in accordance with the Aquaculture Policy Act.

"The patchwork of regulations and regulatory bodies that need to be addressed in this petition demonstrates that the US Government do not have any adequate legal and scientific framework to regulate genetically engineered fish," said Keenan. Under US law, a federal agency is required to respond to the substantive issues raised by a petition.

GE fish experiments are being conducted in many countries with up to 35 species of fish. So far however none of these have been released into the environment or commercialised. GE fish have the potential to cause irreversible damage to wild fish stocks and to the wider marine environment.

Four weeks ago Greenpeace activists had exposed and quarantined the GE fish hatching facility of A/F proteins at Prince Edward Island, Canada and also launched a call for GMO free Seas (3) at the International Boston Seafood Fair

"The release of genetically engineered fish into the Oceans is a global threat and must be prohibited under International Law," said Greenpeace's Oceans campaigns co-ordinator Matthew Gianni at the meeting of the UN General Assembly oceans working group in New York. "We call upon the International community to support our appeal for GMO free Seas and prevent any transgenic fish from escaping into the worlds oceans."

(1) " The genetically modified growth hormone for the fish, for example, will be regulated the same way the agency (US FDA) regulates bovine somatotropin, the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, that makes cows produce more milk. Transgenics simply provides another means to add growth hormone to an animal." In the FDA feature "A New Kind of Fish Story: The Coming of Biotech Animals" at http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2001/101_fish.html For more details of the FDA position see also http://www.fda.gov/cvm/biotechnology/shellfish/sld001.htm

Background information

(A) The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (an organisation dedicated to the scientific study of fishes, amphibians and reptiles) and the Royal Society of Canada recently recommended a moratorium on rearing genetically engineered fish in aquatic facilities.

(B) The Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean (NASCO) has expressed concerns about possibly irreversible effects of trangenic fish in the oceans, and called upon its members, including the United States, to prevent any of such releases. It has also established precautionary guidelines for action on transgenic salmon that have been completely ignored by the US FDA so far. GE Fish are on the agenda of the NASCO annual meeting that takes place in Spain from 4th till 8th June.

(C) Swedish Minister of the Environment - Kjell Larsson - Letter to Greenpeace 11/4/2001 - "…I can assure you that the Swedish Government share the concerns expressed in your letter on the use of GMOs in aquatic environments…"

(D) Norwegian Royal Ministry of the Environment - Deputy Director General - Steinar Hermansen Letter to Greenpeace 6/4/2001 - "…With specific reference to GE Salmon, the Ministry…expressed our concern relating to the plans of A/F Protein Inc. in a letter to the FDA 24 May 2000. Our concern was re-iterated 30 March this year".

(E) United Kingdom Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (UK MAFF) has adopted a policy whereby, "Any transgenic fish kept in England and Wales should be confined to self-contained land-based and escape-proof facilities with all measures taken so they cannot deliberately or accidentally be released into the natural environment". (F) In the US the State of Maryland on April 11 enacted a law prohibiting any transgenic fish in it's State waterways.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
On the petition: Centre for Food Safety, Joe Mendelson and Tracy Letterman
+1 202 5479359, www.centreforfoodsafety.org
Greenpeace USA: Charles Margulis, +1 202 2583029
Greenpeace International press desk, Amsterdam: Teresa Merilainen
+31.20.523 6637

Background information

(A) The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (an organisation dedicated to the scientific study of fishes, amphibians and reptiles) and the Royal Society of Canada recently recommended a moratorium on rearing genetically engineered fish in aquatic facilities.

(B) The Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean (NASCO) has expressed concerns about possibly irreversible effects of trangenic fish in the oceans, and called upon its members, including the United States, to prevent any of such releases. It has also established precautionary guidelines for action on transgenic salmon that have been completely ignored by the US FDA so far. GE Fish are on the agenda of the NASCO annual meeting that takes place in Spain from 4th till 8th June.

(C) Swedish Minister of the Environment - Kjell Larsson - Letter to Greenpeace 11/4/2001 - "…I can assure you that the Swedish Government share the concerns expressed in your letter on the use of GMOs in aquatic environments…"

(D) Norwegian Royal Ministry of the Environment - Deputy Director General - Steinar Hermansen Letter to Greenpeace 6/4/2001 - "…With specific reference to GE Salmon, the Ministry…expressed our concern relating to the plans of A/F Protein Inc. in a letter to the FDA 24 May 2000. Our concern was re-iterated 30 March this year".

(E) United Kingdom Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (UK MAFF) has adopted a policy whereby, "Any transgenic fish kept in England and Wales should be confined to self-contained land-based and escape-proof facilities with all measures taken so they cannot deliberately or accidentally be released into the natural environment". (F) In the US the State of Maryland on April 11 enacted a law prohibiting any transgenic fish in it's State waterways.