Greenpeace In Dock As Bean Fleet Is Blocked

Greenpeace successfully block genetically modified soya import from US

1st March 2000

After five days of concerted direct action, Greenpeace campaigners have succeeded in preventing a cargo ship packed with GM soya from docking in Liverpool. Six activists boarded the 60,000 ton bulk carrier Iolcos Grace off the coast of Anglesey in North Wales and barricaded themselves into the anchor chamber and remained their until the ship was forced to leave.

The owners of the ship's cargo, US agribusiness giants Cargill, operate the only GM soya mill in the UK in Liverpool and Greenpeace argue that the mill is the largest source of GM contamination in the UK. The GM soya was to have been used for animal feed, and therefore would have entered the meat and diary products food chain for human consumption. "This ship is carrying a cargo that nobody wants and most people would like to see sent home," said Greenpeace GM campaigner, Jim Tomas. "There's no demand for GM crops and it's pointless bringing in thousands of tonnes of the stuff only to contaminate the food chain."

It is the second major GM victory for Greenpeace this month. On Feb 11, a 30,000 ton shipment of US maize was turned away by the Brazilian authorities after warnings from Greenpeace that the shipment may have been GM contaminated. The recent adoption of of the Biosafety Protocol in Canada, means that governments can now refuse to accept imports of GM crops on the basis of the 'precautionary principle'.