14 May 2013 — Food and Water Watch

The article presents a report, done by the organization, that shows how US State Department has launched a strategy to promote agricultural biotechnology for the benefit of agribusiness and seed corporations, lobbying foreign governments to adopt pro-agricultural biotechnology policies and laws.

This report is based on the diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.

“Agricultural development is essential for the developing world to foster sustainable economies, enhance food security to combat global hunger and increase resiliency to climate change. Addressing these challenges will require diverse strategies that emphasize sustainable, productive approaches that are directed by countries in the developing world.

But in the past decade, the United States has aggressively pursued foreign policies in food and agriculture that benefit the largest seed companies. The U.S. State Department has launched a concerted strategy to promote agricultural biotechnology, often over the opposition of the public and governments, to the near exclusion of other more sustainable, more appropriate agricultural policy alternatives.

The U.S. State Department has also lobbied foreign governments to adopt pro-agricultural biotechnology policies and laws, operated a rigorous public relations campaign to improve the image of biotechnology and challenged commonsense biotechnology safeguards and rules — even including opposing laws requiring the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods.

Food & Water Watch closely examined five years of State Department diplomatic cables from 2005 to 2009 to provide the first comprehensive analysis of the strategy, tactics and U.S. foreign policy objectives to foist pro-agricultural biotechnology policies worldwide. Read the full report to learn more.”

Read the original article on Food and Water Watch website: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/reports/biotech-ambassadors/ (where there is a link to download the full report in PDF)

Direct link to the PDF: http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/Biotech_Report_US.pdf

Food and Water Watch is an international non profit organization that promotes policies of sustainable and secure food systems, advocates for public control of water resources and services and work to stop the financialization of nature and the privatization of common resources.