national
farmers union
GANANOQUE, Ont.-"In the David and Goliath battle over the milk hormone rBGH, farmers and consumers have won another victory." Peter Dowling, National Farmers Union Coordinator for Ontario, was commenting on the decision by Codex Alimentarius, an international standards body, to not endorse Bovine Growth Hormone, despite pressure from biotechnology giant Monsanto and the industry lobby. It will be up to each country independently to accept or reject the controversial drug.
"Hearing that news from our international contacts just made my Canada Day," said Dowling. "The companies that make this intrusive hormone have been pushing for years to get it endorsed internationally. Now they have failed. That is something to celebrate."
At its meeting in Rome this week, Codex Alimentarius, a little-known international food standards body, decided to not specify any standard for rBGH, also known as rBST. Canada and European countries have banned the genetically engineered hormone, which harms cows and may create serious health risks for humans.
"It's amazing that they decided to just drop the issue," said Dowling. "The US and the big corporations are used to getting their way at Codex. But they must have realized that with all the public opposition to rBGH, the scientific evidence of possible human health risks, and the exposure of industry control over the process, they just might lose - and lose very publicly. They didn't want that."
"Besides," Dowling continued, "there are a lot of questionable things going on between the drug companies and the regulators, here in Canada and internationally." In evidence before the Senate Agriculture Committee over the past year, farmer and citizen groups and Health Canada scientists exposed massive corporate influence and official collusion in industry's efforts to get rBGH approved here.
"That pattern of cozy relationships involves Monsanto and other industry lobbyists, the top brass at Health Canada, the US Food and Drug Administration, and international bodies like Codex," said Dowling. "The last thing they wanted was to have more of that dirty linen hung out on the line at a big international meeting."
Canada rejected rBGH in January of this year after more than ten years of controversy. The National Farmers Union continues to play a strong role on milk hormone and other food safety issues, and to call for a full public investigation into the way Health Canada deals with such approvals.
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