MICHEL TEMER President of the Republic ELISEU PADILHA Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic JOSÉ RICARDO ROSENO Special Secretary for Family Farming and Agrarian Development JEFFERSON CORITEAC Deputy Executive Secretary of for Family Farming and Agrarian Development JOSÉ ROBERTO VIEIRA SANTOS Subsecretary of Planning and Management RAQUEL SANTORI Subsecretary of de Agrarian Reordering EVERTON AUGUSTO PAIVA FERREIRA Subsecretary of Family Farming MARCELO MARTINS Subsecretary of Rural Development SORRIVAL DE LIMA Subsecretary of Land Regularization in the Legal Amazon CARLOS EDUARDO BOVO Director of the Coordination of Strategic Management, Monitoring and Evaluation (CGMA / NEAD) WILLY DE LA PIEDRA MESONES Coordinator-General for Strategic Management, Monitoring and Evaluation (CGMA / NEAD) Copyright 2017 MDA mda.gov.br Series NEAD Debate 27 Agrarian Studies and Rural Development Centre/ Coordination of Strategic Management, Monitoring and Evaluation (NEAD) Esplanada dos Ministérios, Bloco C, 5º andar – sala 543 CEP 70.046-900 Brasília/DF Editorial staff Editorial production: Ana Carolina Fleury and Mariana Camargo Spelling and grammar review: Ana Carolina Fleury, Mariana Camargo and Grafica Ideal Graphic and editorial design: Aline Pereira - Ascom/MDA Transgenic Crops – hazards and uncertainties: More than 750 studies disregarded by the GMOs regulatory bodies / Gilles Ferment ... [ et al. ].– Brasília: Ministry of Agrarian Development, 2017. 450p. _ ( Nead debate ; 27 ) ISBN 978-85- 8354-015- 1 1. Trangenic plants. 2. Agrobiodiversity. 3. Biological hazards. I. Ferment, Gilles. II. Series CDU 631.52 Gilles Ferment Leonardo Melgarejo Gabriel Bianconi Fernandes José Maria Ferraz Transgenic Crops hazards and uncertainties More than 750 studies disregarded by the GMOs regulatory bodies Special Secretariat for Family Farming and Agrarian Development Brasília, 2017 Dedication to teacher Magda Zanoni This publication represents the continuity of the work started by Magda Zanoni, in the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MDA), in order to discuss the risk of the transgenic plants to the health and the environment. In her work at the MDA and as a representative of the Ministry at CTNBio, Magda made efforts to call the attention to the importance of this debate. Magda worked for many years as a researcher from the Center for Agricultural Studies and Rural Development (NEAD/MDA), and published a number of books. Among them, in 2007 she co- organized “Plantas Geneticamente Modificadas: riscos e incertezas” [Genetically Modified Plants: hazards and uncertaities], which was the embryo of this work. In addition to her direct involvement with the biotechnologies subject, Magda always defended the need for a “good use” of science, with transdisciplinary vision and proposing the fair re-distribution of its benefits, especially for the rural populations, who develop the current agriculture as a perennial service for mankind. Her academic background was always accompanied by a tireless social activism, writing up and promoting discussions about a “Citizen Science”. She dedicated herself for many years to deepening the dialogue and consolidate the cooperation between Brazil and France, between academic institutions and, also, between farmers organizations. Her work was based on innovative actions and on the search for constructing new approaches about science, particularly in the articulations between research and qualification. Graduated in Natural Sciences and Biological and Geological Sciences from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Magda continued her academic studies in France, as a result of an 5 Transgenic Crops - hazards and uncertainties enforced exile due to her resistance activism against the military dictatorship and in defend of Brazil’s re-democratization. There, she was awarded a number of titles, among them the Doctorate in Development Sociology one, at University Paris I – Sorbonne. She retired as a Maître de Conférence in University Paris VII. She worked for many years as a researcher from LADYS - Laboratory for Social Dynamics and Recomposition of Spaces, of the University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense. Magda died on March 10th, 2015 and this work is dedicated to her. 6 Preface For the fifth consecutive year, Brazil is considered as being the second largest producer of transgenic plants of the world, after the United States. The area for this type of culture already exceeded 40 million of hectares in our country. The continuous increase of the area planted with transgenic soy, maize and cotton varieties, and the successive commercial release of new genetically modified organisms (GMOs), with combined alterated genes now, indicate the importance of monitoring their possible impacts to the environment, in general, and the human health, in particular. With this respect, the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) bring to the public this work which provides subsides to the qualification of risk evaluation processes associated to the growth of transgenic crops and to the consumption of their products and derivatives. The publication, intended to risk managers, researches, professionals from the biological, legal, economic and other areas, as well as to the other individuals interested on the subject, results from the Group of Agrobiodiversity Studies (GEA). The extensive systematization work contained in this book gather references of scientific articles that are available for consultation via Internet, scientific publications or databank websites. The presented references correspond to studies published by independent researchers in magazines and indexed journals. Most of the articles can be accessed for free reading and download. In more than 750 indications of texts from renowned research institutes established in several regions of the planet, scientists warn about the hazards and uncertainties involved in the massive environmental release of transgenic plants. By evidencing and documenting the absence of scientific consensus with respect to the transgenics impacts to the people’s health and to the social-ecological 7 Transgenic Crops - hazards and uncertainties biodiversity, thise book brings vast elements for the evaluation of problems resulting from the adoption of this type of biotechnology. The information here gathered reinforce the urgent need for critical analyses of the current agricultural and agrarian development model, opening the discussion for the search for alternatives for the rural environment and livelihood. With the book “Transgenic Crops – hazards and uncertainties: More than 750 studies disregarded by the GMOs regulatory bodies”, the MDA’s intention is, therefore, to promote the thinking and contribute to the debate about the release and use of transgenic plants, focused on the importance of maintaining the biodiversity and agrobiodiversity, the safety and food sovereignty and the sustainable rural development. Have a good reading! Patrus Ananias Minister of State of Agrarian Development December 2014 until April 2016 8 Presentation This book has a different format from the conventional ones that propose to present a bibliographic review of scientific publications related to a certain subject. It innovates by placing questions about aspects of the scientific debate on the genetic modification of living organisms for, subsequently, presenting a list of bibliographic references opposed to the versions adopted by regulatory agencies and disclosed in marketing campaigns of transgenics producer companies. All the references presented here correspond to studies published by independent researchers in magazines and indexed journals. These articles enable to problematize those examined subjects, taking into consideration arguments sometimes radically opposed to those produced by the agrochemical and biotechnological companies or at their service. Researchers, students, opinion makers and those in line with the groups which believe or are interested in defending the hypothesis of the absence of environmental and health risks in the commercial use of transgenic plants, will have here the opportunity to review their opinions . To the others, this document provides supportive elements to guide the debate with the first ones, when it comes to defending the interests of society, nature preservation and a more sustainable agricultural model. The present bibliographic review includes hazards to the human and animal health, risks to the environment, as well as agronomic or socioeconomic problems. Examples include evidences of increased Cry1 toxin-resistant insect attacks and multiplication of herbicide- tolerant weed2 populations. The impacts of toxins and pesticides associated to genetically modified plants are also discussed. 1 Proteins with insecticidal properties that result in the death of certain insects when consumed. 2 Also mistakenly called “weeds”. 9 Transgenic Crops - hazards and uncertainties The book evaluates biosafety issues with focus on aspects that have been neglected by most of transgenic risk evaluation bodies, such as the National Technical Biosafety Commission (CTNBio) and registration and inspections agencies like Anvisa and Ibama in Brazil. The elements described in about 750 studies validated by scientific magazines with editorial board clearly show that there is no consensus in the scientific community about the genetic modification subject and its impacts. Such lack of consensus, object of many warnings from the Group of Agrobiodiversity Studies (GEA), linked