British Medical Journal

Moratorium On GM Food Would Perpetuate World Hunger

There is a compelling moral imperative to make genetically modified crops available to developing countries who want to use them to alleviate hunger and poverty, according to a report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.

The council, an independent body which examines ethical issues raised by developments in medicine and biology, firmly rejected calls for a moratorium on the commercial planting of genetically modified (GM) crops, arguing that the technology has the potential to bring about important benefits such as improved nutrition, enhanced pest resistance, increased yields, and new products such as vaccines.

"We agree that a precautionary approach to so novel a technology as that of genetically modified crops is justified, but we would not wish anxieties about the very small risk to the inhabitants of developed countries to inhibit the research and development that can benefit the inhabitants of the poorer world....We should give more weight to the life-or-death concerns of the hungry, than to the less pressing concerns of the well-fed," the report said.

However, it acknowledged the widespread public unease about the technology, agreed that consumers should have the choice about whether to eat genetically modified foods, and welcomed the announcement made by the UK government that a biotechnology commission will be set up to monitor the impact on health and the environment.

"There must clearly continue to be strong and effective regulatory controls," the report states. "There must also be the possibility of appropriate sanctions if problems were to emerge....It will be important to try to ensure that the benefits (of the technology) are spread widely, and that the risks are not set aside because of commercial pressure."

Dealing with the possible threat to biodiversity, the report said: "if yield increases meant that marginal land could be taken out of cultivation and returned to the wild, then the use of genetically modified crops might tip the balance the other way."

The council expressed concern that some of the patenting practices of the four major industrial groups that control most of the technology may restrict competition and make it difficult for developing countries to gain access to the new technologies on fair terms.

It recommended that public sector institutions which hold such patents should serve the wider public interest by retaining their intellectual property and licensing it equitably.

It also urges national patent offices to discourage patent applications which would result in a single commercial organisation gaining control over a single crop.

Other recommendations cover a range of issues from protecting the environment and enhancing consumer information to increasing donor aid to poor countries so that they can benefit from genetic modification technology.