After Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong announced in late August that Vietnam would allow mass-cultivation of genetically modified crops (GMCs) like corn, soybean and cotton in 2012, this information has caught the deep interest of the public. Vietnamese scientists and consumer protection representatives have expressed grave concerns about this permission at a seminar held by the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations on October 5.
The first worry is not how GMCs will constitute threats to human health or the environment, but the dependence of farmers on GMCs produced by several multinational corporations. For the time being, GMCs are mainly produced by two world-leading companies, namely Monsanto and Syngenta. In 2010, Monsanto and Syngenta made profit of US$1.1 billion and US$1.4 billion on revenues of US$10.5 billion and US$11.4 billion, respectively. GMCs are much more expensive than traditional crops. Dr Nguyen Hong Minh, Director of High Quality Vegetation Variety Research and Development Centre, recommended that the more farmers rely on GMCs, the more they have to pay. In a poor country like Vietnam, farmers will be unable to bear high costs and the income gap will be gradually widened. Pressures of reliance on GMC producers will intensify as a matter of fact. Huge profits from production and supply of GMCs are the driving force for producers to actively persuade countries to plant GMCs and replace traditional crop varieties.
Mr Do Gia Phan, a representative from the Consumer Protection Association, expressed his fears about the impacts of GMCs on human health for present and future generations. Although there is no scientific evidence on the adverse impacts of GMCs on the health of investors, there is also no scientific confirmation that such impacts will not happen.
Indeed, Vietnam annually imports millions of tonnes of GMCs like potatoes, corn and tomatoes. These agricultural products are mainly used for animal feed production. However, a lot of GMCs have been found sold on marketplaces, while consumers have not been informed.
Professor Tran Dinh Long, President of the Vietnam Seedlings Association, said: Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have potential long-term risks to human health like allergy, antibiotic resistance, and intoxication. Antibiotic genes may potentially spread into GMOs consumed by humans and animals and such genes will inhabit in intestines. Besides, GMCs may potentially spread modified genes into their wild relatives, pests and diseases to increase their resistance to pests, diseases and herbicide or increase toxicity of GMCs to useful species or help harmful insects resist pesticides or kill many helpful insects. Then, natural food chains will be affected.
Contrary to propaganda delivered by some Vietnamese scientists that GMCs are saving human beings from starvation, Mr Tran Dac Loi, Vice President of the Vietnam Peace and Development Fund, pointed out that a recent global agricultural report conducted by 400 scientists from 58 countries, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Bank (WB) and UNESCO, affirmed that GMCs did not play any role in ensuring food supply, poverty reduction or climate change mitigation. The report asserted that the penetration of GMCs will diminish the diversity of seedlings - the primary resource for food security.
Like it or not, the global and Vietnamese markets are full of GMCs and GMOs. Close oversight over suppliers and proper labelling for GMCs/GMOs are crucial to let consumers decide what to buy and to eat, said Mr Do Gia Phan.
Thanh Yen
Vietnamese
