Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher
BROOKLIN, Canada, May 19 (IPS) - Africa's chief negotiator for the Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety has been denied entry into Canada to attend meetings to finalise key provisions regarding the international movement of genetically engineered organisms.
Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, the Ethiopian government's chief scientist, had his passport returned without the requested Canadian visa Wednesday despite previous visits to Canada. Tewolde is trying to attend talks starting May 30 in the Canadian city of Montreal. "I have been to Montreal many times," Tewolde said in an interview from Addis Ababa. "I have never heard of something like this happening before." While this may be just a case of "exceptional bureaucratic bungling", he said, he wonders if it's a not-so-subtle but effective way of preventing him from participating. "I have always been on the opposite side of the Canadian delegation especially on biosafety," he said. The U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the biosafety protocol in 2000 to address the safe transfer, handling, and use of living genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that could have an adverse effect on biodiversity. A respected scientist and champion of biodiversity, Tewolde received the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the alternative Nobel prize) from the king of Sweden in 2000. He is considered by some to be the father of the Biosafety Protocol. Unlike the U.S. and Canadian governments, he firmly believes in the need for strong international regulations for genetically engineered (GE) seeds and crops.
Africa's Top Biosafety Envoy Shut Out of Canada Talks
Stephen Leahy
IPS
Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, the Ethiopian government's chief scientist, had his passport returned without the requested Canadian visa Wednesday despite previous visits to Canada. Tewolde is trying to attend talks starting May 30 in the Canadian city of Montreal. "I have been to Montreal many times," Tewolde said in an interview from Addis Ababa. "I have never heard of something like this happening before." While this may be just a case of "exceptional bureaucratic bungling", he said, he wonders if it's a not-so-subtle but effective way of preventing him from participating. "I have always been on the opposite side of the Canadian delegation especially on biosafety," he said. The U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the biosafety protocol in 2000 to address the safe transfer, handling, and use of living genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that could have an adverse effect on biodiversity. A respected scientist and champion of biodiversity, Tewolde received the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the alternative Nobel prize) from the king of Sweden in 2000. He is considered by some to be the father of the Biosafety Protocol. Unlike the U.S. and Canadian governments, he firmly believes in the need for strong international regulations for genetically engineered (GE) seeds and crops.
Africa's Top Biosafety Envoy Shut Out of Canada Talks
Stephen Leahy
IPS
posted by The Cat's Dream at 12:53 PM
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