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GM crops banned in Peru
“There is an increasing consensus among consumers that they want safe, local, organic fresh food and that they want the environment and wildlife to be protected,”
- Walter Pengue from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina
In a bid to protect its local food producers, the country has approved a law establishing a moratorium on income and production of genetically modified organisms.
Peru’s President Ollanta Humala said the decision was made after hearing ‘the cries of agricultural organisations and civil society to take this important step in the defence of our biodiversity’.
Earlier this year, the administration of the outgoing Peruvian President slipped in a decree which opened the door for GM seeds. But the subsequent outcry forced not only the resignation of the Agriculture Minister, who had introduced the decree, but also a 10-year ban on GMOs.