hat igen -- nehez kerdes (marmint: lasd a cikket alabb).  biztos vagyok 

benne, hogy a vonalban vannk mind szenvedelyes genpiszkalas-ellenzok es 

biotech tamogatok is.  erdekes lenne hallani az osszefoglalt 
erveiket...!  jomagam, bevallom, egyelore ovatos, szemlelodo 
allaspontyon 
vagyok.  magyarorszagon mar van forgalomban genpiszkalt aru?  (es sajat 

termeles, vagy import?).
diana

This news story is from the Environment News Service:
http://www.envirolink.org/environews/ens/
---

LONDON, England, June 20, 1997 (ENS) - Genetically altered agricultural
products are proven safe, and the United States will continue to press 
for
market access for these foods, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman 
told
the International Grains Council yesterday.

European consumers have been resistant to genetically altered foods, 
making
it a prominent political issue this year after last year's crop of 
American
genetically altered soybeans were exported mixed with ordinary beans.
Demonstrators in Austria and England took their views to ministers' 
offices
and food wholesalers last winter. In April, British consumers 
demonstrated
in front of supermarkets that carry foods such as soy products, 
believed to
made from mixed genetically altered and standard soybeans. Foods were
dumped in front of the shops in protest. In February, France became the
first European country to ban cultivation of genetically modified corn.
Italy followed suit in May.

Glickman said biotechnology provides a necessary tool for feeding the
growing number of people in the world in an environmentally sustainable 
way.

He knows from personal experience that biotechnology is an extremely
sensitive issue in Europe. "When I led the U.S. delegation to the World
Food Summit, protesters pelted me with genetically-engineered soybeans,
then took off all their clothes to draw the media's attention," 
Glickman
told delegates.

He believes that biotechnology holds out hope for feeding the world's
hungry. "In subsaharan Africa, where hunger is most epidemic, it is
estimated that a doubling of the projected increase in grain yields 
over
the next 10 years could cut the region's hungry by half - making a 25
percent dent in total world food aid needs. That is why, on the shores 
of
Lake Victoria, you'll find Kenyan researchers developing maize seeds 
that
have been genetically altered to resist a parasite that's cut corn 
crops in
half for millions of African farmers."

America exports most of the genetically altered agricultural products 
used
in the world today. Consumers in importing countries have been 
demanding
segregation of bioaltered foods from standard varieties. Glickman says 
the
U.S. is taking a firm position on this issue, "We will not tolerate
segregation."

"We know that biotechnology holds out our greatest hope of dramatically
increasing yields, in harsh weather climates, using less water, less
pesticides, crops with more nutritional value, and without the 
destruction
of fragile lands and forests," Glickman told the Council.

He insisted that "test after rigorous scientific test" has proven the
safety of bioaltered products. "We'll continue to insist on an 
arms-length,
objective testing process that is independent from industry," the U.S.
Agriculture Secretary promised.

But many European consumers remain unconvinced. The Natural Law Party 
of
the UK released a statement this spring outlining its objections to the
bioaltered foods now starting to appear in UK shops. "The genetic 
changes
now being made in our food are completely different to those resulting 
from
traditional methods of breeding. Yet, the sale of these foods is being
permitted without proper assessment of the risks and without adequately
informing the public, even though many scientists say that genetically
modified foods could cause serious damage to health and the 
environment,"
the Natural Law Party statement said.

Among the concerns raised by opponents of bioaltered foods are new 
toxins
and allergens in foods, increased, not decreased, use of chemicals on
crops, the creation of herbicide-resistant weeds, the spread of diseases
across species barriers, loss of bio-diversity in crops, and the
disturbance of ecological balance.

In the face of such objections, Glickman is adamant. "We will not be pushed
into allowing political science to govern these decisions. The stakes for
the world are simply too high," he told the Council.