CANADA: September 3, 1999

   WINNIPEG - Several Canadian environmental and public interest groups
   said yesterday they would join forces to educate Canadians about
   genetically modified (GM) foods and possibly push to have them removed
   from store shelves. 

   "We arrived at agreement around the table that we wanted to work
   together, that public education was necessary, and to look at the
   regulatory framework in Canada," said Jean Christie of Rural
   Advancement Foundation International.

   The group, which monitors Canada's international policy negotiations
   on biodiversity, joined environmental groups like the Sierra Club and
   Greenpeace and the Council of Canadians, an independent citizens'
   group, to act together on the issue.

   The groups at the least advocate labeling of GM food products made
   from crops that have been genetically modified to resist pests or
   herbicides.

   At the most, they want sales of the products stopped.

   "There's just not enough information," Christie told Reuters from
   Ottawa.

   She said more research must be done to ensure that GM foods are safe
   to human health. The foods came into wide use in North America three
   years ago.

   Awareness of GM foods has been slow to grow in Canada and the United
   States, in sharp contrast to Europe where protests have been so strong
   that many retailers have refused to sell GM products.

   European buyers have rejected Canadian canola, a major oilseed crop
   which is mostly genetically modified.

   Canadian farmers also grow GM soybeans and corn, but the province of
   Ontario recently said it would begin segregating GM corn from regular
   corn to meet the demands of buyers who are responding to public
   concerns.

   "It happened surreptitiously in Canada," Christie said. "We never had
   a debate about whether people wanted to eat genetically modified
   food."

   The agricultural industry in North America has defended GM products,
   saying they are no different from regular food.

   But several large agribusiness companies have started to ask grain
   suppliers to segregate the crops to meet customer demands.

   European protests have centred on concerns about the health and
   environmental effects of GM crops and foods, and consumer groups, food
   makers and supermarkets have increasingly demanded segregation and
   labeling of GM food products.

   Christie estimated that 84 million acres worldwide have been planted
   to GM crops. This area is forecast to increase to 140 million acres
   next year.

   "They (GM crops) are in two-thirds of the processed food that's sold
   in Canada," she said.

   U.S. agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co. recently warned its
   grain suppliers to begin segregating genetically modified corn,
   soybeans and other crops from conventional crops.

   Story by Irene Marushko

   REUTERS NEWS SERVICE