The Modified East - genetically modified crops - Monsanto Co - Advanta Seeds Inc

Ecologist, The, Sept, 2000 by Iza Kruszewska

There is a serious threat that countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States are becoming a dumping ground for GE seeds and products, as EU farmers and consumers reject them.

In the short term, if this region chooses to go the route of GM agriculture, there is the increasingly real threat that it will close itself off from EU markets, as consumers there reject GM food. The lack of any regulations to ensure segregation and labelling of GE foods, plus the threat of genetic contamination will undermine consumer confidence in agricultural products from throughout the region. Even EU consumer suspicion of GM contamination of foods imported from CEE-NIS will be sufficient to destroy this market for the farmers there. This would have disastrous impacts on the economies of CEE countries and NIS and the farmers there, given their reliance on agriculture.

The only viable alternative for agriculture in this region and entry into the EU market is to move towards organic and other more sustainable farming methods. The millions of smallholdings in this region, particularly in Poland and Croatia, the reduced use of agro-chemicals during the last decade and the availability of traditional varieties of plants provide an excellent base on which to build organic farming. 'Instead of looking towards genetic engineering to "improve" crop varieties, we need to look at what our rich local biodiversity has to offer. Due to our being economically "underdeveloped", we still have the biodiversity on which organic agriculture relies,' explains Vladimir Lay, from the Croatian group, Green Action.

Iza Kruszewska is an environmental activist who has been working with NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe for ten years, tracking the transfer of hazardous technologies.

A REPORT INTO the rampant usage of GM seeds and foods in former Soviet countries.