Montreal Gazette
Saturday January 22, 2000 

Chairman gets taste of protest

Biotechnology conference to begin
ERIC SIBLIN
The Gazette

It was an old-fashioned cream pie in the face of the genetically modified 
food industry. 

Proponents of biotechnology were holding a press conference yesterday to 
extol the virtues of genetically altered products when a pie-wielding 
protester found his mark. 

"Down with biotechnology!" the assailant shouted. "We have to eat those foods 
- - not you!" 

Undaunted by this and other opposition surfacing as an international 
conference on the subject gets under way in Montreal, industry officials 
pressed their case for a global agreement that would not subordinate 
genetically modified products to environmental considerations. 

"We are true believers in this technology and the tremendous benefits it has 
to offer, whether it be in health care, agriculture or environmental 
protection," said Joyce Groote, chairman of the Global Industry Coalition. 

Thorny Question 

Groote recovered from her pie attack with impressive aplomb, saying: "At 
least they had the good taste to give me something that I actually enjoy." 

She added, "I guess my point would be that we're really trying to be 
constructive here, trying to make thoughtful comments to make a workable 
protocol," referring to the deal being negotiated under the auspices of the 
United Nations Biodiversity Secretariat. 

"We believe protecting biodiversity is very important. We're here in the 
spirit of co-operation, and I really believe that if you're reduced to 
tactics of pies and whatever other kind of food they would like to put 
forward - I would have questions." 

The thorny question of genetically modified products is the focus of an 
international conference that officially begins Monday, as representatives 
from 130 countries attempt to hammer out a deal that would regulate a growing 
and divisive industry. 

Plants or Animals 

The biotech approach borrows genetic coding from plants or animals, 
transferring the material to a plant in order to create a desired trait. It 
has caught on to the point where between 20 and 45 per cent of U.S. corn and 
soybeans were grown last year from seed engineered to produce its own 
insecticidal toxin, and such crops have ended up in many processed foods. 

Biotech backers point to the possibility that genetically modified seeds 
could one day create crops boasting high nutrition or capable of thriving in 
adverse weather. Critics contend that crops produced in such ways might not 
be safe and could have negative effects on the environment. 

Val Giddings, vice-president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, 
categorically denied yesterday that biotech crops trigger problems for human 
health or the environment. 

"Here's a fact: the products of biotechnology have been reviewed more in 
advance, in depth, in rigour than any other foods in the history of 
humanity," Giddings said. In the case of "the first tomato that was put on 
the market improved through biotechnology, the regulatory review documents 
for that occupies 6 feet of shelf space." 

"That's a standard that tomatoes produced through conventional breeding don't 
have to meet. So there is a vast amount of data that show these products are 
safe and a huge amount of experience that demonstrates that." 

Giddings maintained that some of the key demands made by critics - the right 
of countries to refuse importation of biotech foods without risking trade 
sanctions, the identification of such products, and liability - are either 
unnecessary or provided for in existing agreements. 

Yesterday's pie attack appears to have been carried out by Les Entartistes 
(Pie-Throwers), a Quebec group that targets federalist politicians and 
business leaders. The pie-thrower's exclamation of "Gloop- Gloop!" as he fled 
is the trademark battle-cry of Les Entartistes.