Peru Moratorium on GMOs

THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE

Dear Friends and colleagues,

RE: Peru Moratorium on GMOs get a Boost

Earlier this year, the Peruvian Congress adopted a bill imposing a 10-year moratorium on the introduction of GMOs into the country (see BIS of 10 June 2011). However, that bill was not ratified by the then President.

Recently, three main commissions of the Congress have re-approved the moratorium and discussions have been ongoing with respect to the duration of the moratorium. On 3 November 2011, the Congress overwhelmingly approved a 10-year moratorium that prohibits GMOs from being imported for cultivation or to be raised locally (Item 1). The bill has to be now signed into law by President Ollanta Humala and all indications are that he will do so.

In a complementary development, the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture has enacted a Supreme Decree that prohibits the competent authority from accepting applications for the environmental release of GMOs in the agriculture and forestry sector, if the competent sectoral authority for agriculture does not have baseline information on native agrobiodiversity.

Please find below the text of the decree and an unofficial English translation of the operative paragraphs (Item 2).

With best wishes,

Third World Network

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Item 1

Peru’s Congress approves 10-year GMO ban

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, November 5 2011

http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2011/11/perus-congress-approves-10-year-gmo-ban/