CPE Coordination Paysanne Européenne European Farmers Coordination Coordinadora Campesina Europea Rue Stévin 115 - 1000 Bruxelles - B tel: (32) 2 230 07 76 fax: (32) 2 230 03 48 E-mail: cpe@agoranet.be
PRESS RELEASE Brussels, May 28, 1999
The European Farmers' Co-ordination (CPE - Coordination Paysanne Européenne) supports the demonstration organised today in front of the MONSANTO center in Louvain La Neuve (B) on the initiative of the Intercontinental Caravan crossing Europe since May 22. The Vlaams Agrarisch Centrum (VAC) and the Front Uni des Jeunes Agriculteurs (FUJA) , Belgian members of the CPE, are participating to this demonstration.
This Caravan gathering several hundred people, among which many farmers from India, is opposed to the control by Monsanto of necessary resources to agriculture production such as seeds, and to the introduction of genetically modified seeds and genetically modified agriculture products into the market of their countries, and without their agreement.
The food sovereignty of populations is completely flouted from South to North and from East to West. The willing of the WTO to completely deregulate the agricultural trade and to let transnational companies privatize natural resources as seeds and genetic resources, water, is unacceptable. Meanwhile the resistance of the European public opinion against genetically modified organisms is becoming more and more evident to governments and retailing sector, it is necessary today to explain the international stakes and to mobilise the public opinion in favour of food sovereignty, sustainable way of agriculture production and fair trade without dumping.