GM-FREE BRAZIL
Periodical news & analysis of the Campaign For a GM-Free Brazil
Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, July 15, 2005
Bulletin #21

Ethical issues involving the regulation of the Biosafety Law
Lawyers involved with biotech companies and lobby campaign take part on the 
regulation process of the new law

There are some odd (to say the least) facts going on at the Working Group 
created to carry on the regulation of the Biosafety Law. It all started 
last April, right after the first meeting of the National Council on 
Biosafety (composed by 11 ministers), when companies’ representatives 
gathered to start working on the regulation of the new law. A member of the 
federal government, the juridical consultant of the Ministry of 
Agriculture, Márcio Mazaro, helped the group.

After a while, this anti-project was forwarded to the Ministry of Science 
and Technology _that hosts the CTNBio (National Technical Biosafety 
Committee) _, which hired, straight away, the services of the lawyer 
Reginaldo Minaré, in his turn, a person who had worked as a juridical 
consultant of the Committee and for pro-transgenic lobby entities, like the 
NGO Pró-Terra. Minaré had also been the advisor of Deputy Darcísio Perondi 
who took part on the lobbing campaign in favor of the Biosafety Bill 
(himself being the reporter of the law).

According to much trustful sources, the document created by the companies’ 
group was then discussed with professionals from Embrapa (Empresa 
Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária). At the end of this round, it became 
even more pro-transgenics, and yet included articles that were not approved 
by the Deputies Chamber and others rejected by President Lula.

The anti-project was finally conducted to the Working Group at the 
ministries level, composed by the ministries of Agriculture, Development, 
Science and Technology, Defense, Foreign Affairs, Environment, Health, 
Justice, Agrarian Ministry of Public Works and the Secretariat of Fishing. 
The Working Group is coordinated by the Civil Cabinet.

Again, another “influenced” person is chosen to lead the negotiations: the 
lawyer Caio Leonardo Bessa Rodrigues, juridical consultant of the Civil 
Cabinet. The thing is Rodrigues is not exactly an impartial person on this 
debate as he had already worked for the Pinheiro Neto Advocacy Office, the 
one entrusted to defend the interests of Monsanto in Brazil. Unnecessary 
say that the company is more than interested in ruling the regulation 
process so it can guarantee its future profits.

Rodrigues also performed an important role at the Second Meeting of Parties 
on the Cartagena Protocol, in Montreal (Canada), by leading the Brazilian 
delegacy on its purpose of blocking the negotiations around the labeling 
rules to be applied on transgenic shipments.

To complete this imbroglio, another lawyer, Beto Vasconcelos, 
self-described as a specialist in Biosafety and Environmental Law, who 
works for the Ministry of Science and Technology as a consultant and as an 
adviser for the so-called NGO CIB (Conselho de Informações em 
Biossegurança), also has a seat at the Working Group.

There is no concrete proof of corruption in this case, but there is, at 
least, an ethical problem and a matter of conflict of interests involved on 
the regulation of the Biosafety Bill. If the government is concerned about 
the transparency of the process, the minimum to be done would be the 
dismissal of Rodrigues. It is no longer a matter of discussing the 
advantages and disadvantages of GMOs, but if the subject will be dealt the 
way it deserves to be: with ethics, impartiality and exemption.