Concerned with how trade agreements affect women and children, Women’s Division directors acted. They passed resolutions addressing genetically engineered food and trade with Myanmar, formerly Burma.
In response to moral questions regarding genetically engineered food, the Women’s Division voted to call on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to mandate safety testing and labeling of genetically engineered food. They also agreed to prepare educational materials and methods to help their 1-million members challenge the Free Trade of the Americas agreement until it meets food safety standards.
The appeal to the FDA is in line with the United Methodist Church’s Social Principles which state that "the onus should be on the producers and users of any suspected toxic substance to prove that it is in fact, both safe and necessary, even if it is already in commerce."
Marilyn Clement, executive secretary for economic justice of the Women’s Division, says that the Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement forces nations to purchase genetically engineered food. Nations who refuse to purchase this food would be liable for creating barriers to "free trade."
"Although this agreement has been negotiated in secret for almost ten years, it is now being forced to face public scrutiny as governments attempt to get final approval to sign it," says Ms. Clement.
The FDA is not testing genetically engineered foods for safety and is making the labeling of these foods voluntary, according to Ms. Clement.
"Not surprisingly, no genetically engineered food producers have volunteered to label their products," she says. "Consumers and medical researchers will be deprived of the knowledge they need to hold food producers liable should any of these novel foods prove hazardous."
Ms. Clement says that some corporations argue that these foods will help feed the world, but overwhelming evidence proves differently.
"We can be assured that these foods are not directed toward the hungry. Enough food is already available to provide at least 4.3 pounds of food per person a day worldwide. The problem is distribution," she says.
This is not the first time United Methodist Women have protested against genetically engineered food. Last summer, members of the 1-million member organization, sent postcards to the Food and Drug Administration demanding safety testing and mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods.
The Women’s Division also addressed trade with Myanmar, a country known for its slave labor and human rights abuses. Directors voted to support Senator Tom Harkin’s Bill #53246, which "prohibits the importation of any textile or apparel article that is produced, manufactured, or grown in Burma."
They also agreed to actively challenge U.S. corporations that continue to purchase or sell goods in Burma. The action comes after a small delegation from the Women’s Division traveled to Myanmar and witnessed some of the atrocities.
Eleven percent of the Burmese people are forced into slave labors. Some factories are now paying workers as little as 4 cents per hour, according to the Free Burma Coalition.
Meanwhile, education has been taken from all children except for those of the military. Other reports tell of the rape of village women by the military and citizens not being allowed to use email, cell phones, or the Internet.
The human rights abuses in Myanmar have been an ongoing concern of the Women’s Division. They signed on to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court last year supporting the state of Massachusetts. The state offered a cost preference bid for contractors who had no business in Myanmar.
The Women’s Division represents United Methodist Women, a one-million member organization whose purpose is to foster spiritual growth, develop leaders and advocate for justice. Members raise more than $20 million a year for programs and projects related to women, children and youth in the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world.
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