Ban Terminator Technology in Canada

Canada needs to ban Terminator Technology!

Use the below form to send an instant email to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Feel free to edit the letter and add your own comments. A copy of your letter will also be sent automatically to
Hon. Gerry Ritz, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and to Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Official Opposition. (Please note: The NDP and Bloc already support a ban on Terminator.)

To take further action and for more information see www.cban.ca/terminator or www.banterminator.org (The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network coordinates the Canadian wing of the International Ban Terminator Campaign.)

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Dear Prime Minister Harper,

I am writing to express my deep concerns about Terminator technology (Genetic Use Restriction Technology or GURTS) and urge you to legislate a ban on this dangerous technology.

NDP MP Alex Atamanenko has re-introduced the Private Members Bill - Bill C-353 - to ban the release, sale, importation and use of variety-related genetic use restriction technologies (GURTs) in seed. I ask you to support this Bill.

Terminator technology – gene seed sterilization technology - has been condemned across the world because of its serious potential impacts for farmers, Indigenous peoples, food security and biodiversity. The technology offers no agronomic benefits. Instead, Terminator is designed to maximize industry profits by preventing farmers from saving and re-using harvested seed. The technology threatens the livelihoods of Canadian farmers and the over 1.4 billion people who depend on farm-saved seeds as their primary seed source.

Seed and biotechnology corporations are promoting the false argument that Terminator could be used to stop unwanted genetic pollution from the industry’s genetically modified crops. However, Terminator technology is too complex and unreliable to prevent the movement of genes. If commercialized under the guise of a “biosafety” tool to prevent gene flow, Terminator genes could actually introduce new biosafety hazards since they can spread to neighbouring crops and wild relatives via pollen in the first generation. The spreading of sterile genes could result in catastrophe for farmers and agricultural biodiversity. Farmers who save and re-plant seeds contaminated by Terminator genes may find that these seeds do not germinate, potentially translating into significant yield losses.

As of 2006, there is a strengthened international moratorium at the UN on field-testing and commercial use of Terminator due to the seriousness of these concerns.

I urge the Conservative Government to respond to the concerns of Canadians and the international community by legislating a ban on Terminator. Please take this step to protect the rights of farmers to save seeds.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Cc: Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, The Honourable  Gerry Ritz; Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Official Opposition.

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CBAN - Canadian Biotechnology Action Network

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