Dear Editor,

This government cannot kick this can down the road any further. Consumers are calling for action on the labelling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) now. We have been making this call since 1998 through lobbying the prime minister, leader of the Opposition, the scientific community and a wide cross section of our leaders in society.

Unfortunately, our fears are being manifested as animal and human population studies conducted in the more developed countries are being demonstrated. See www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAL_AMdMXqY.

The government ratified the Cartagena Protocol, September 25, 2012, and congratulations are in order, although it took us over 11 years to do so. there is also the need for the signing of the Nagoya Kuala Lumpur supplementary agreement on Redress and the completion of the overarching policy on Biosafety.

In India, statistics show that about 250,000 farmers in the cotton belt have committed suicide over 16 years because they cannot sustain the cost of the inputs to produce the GMO Bt cotton. Before the corporations came into the country, cotton seeds were low-cost or free (based on farmers saving seeds), that is, 5 - 7 rupees per kg; prices of the now patented seeds have gone to 3,600 rupees per kg, and all the input costs have skyrocketed.

In all cases where GMOs are planted, to every one pound of chemicals saved initially, four pounds are required in short order when the pests and herbs become resistant, and in some cases a machete has to be used to remove the weeds, to the point where corporations are about to genetically modify 2-4-D — the chemical weed killer used in the production of Agent Orange (used as a weapon of war) within the seeds to be able to combat the resistant weeds better.

These products, apart from pollution of our biodiversity, damage our internal organs, increases our children's susceptibility to autism, juvenile diabetes, Attention Deficit Disorder, cancer, infertility in men and women, changes in the sexual orientation of our people, alzheimer's dementia disease, aggressive behaviour, and have the ability to attach to our genome and so produces generational changes. All of these have been demonstrated in animal studies (no human studies have been done), and human and animal surveillance.

Most of the corn, soy, canola, sugar beet, sugar substitutes, processed foods, baby foods, animal feeds we import and force feed our people and animals (since they are not labelled) are GMOs, and contain the poisonous Glyphosate or Bt Baccillus Thuringiensis which our people have been consuming, with visibly many and increasingly negative effects. We need an end to this. Label GMOs now.

Carlton Stewart

Carlton Stewart Consultants

stewart.carlton@gmail.com