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Miami Herald Posted on Tue, Jun. 24, 2003 11 Biotech Protesters Arrested in Calif. JENNIFER COLEMAN Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. - At least 11 protesters were arrested Tuesday - including one subdued with a stun gun - as an international agriculture conference focused on genetically modified foods entered its second day. About 70 people have been arrested in demonstrations against the conference since Sunday, but protesters have been mostly peaceful in this city braced for violence. Law-enforcement officers outnumbered other people on downtown streets, and some offices and restaurants shut down for fear of disruptions. Tuesday's arrests came as protesters blocked traffic in front of the conference. One demonstrator was taken into custody after charging at officers who stunned him with a Taser weapon, police Chief Albert Najera said. At least 10 others were arrested for sitting in the street, Capt. Sam Somers said. Demonstrators have attempted to disrupt the Ministerial Conference and Expo on Agricultural Science and Technology, which they call an effort to push genetically altered crops on starving countries. The conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is focused on eliminating world hunger through genetically modified foods and other technologies. The three-day event has drawn agriculture ministers, scientists and health care experts from more than 100 countries, but none from the European Union, which banned the import of genetically modified food in 1998. Tito Barbini, a regional minister for agriculture in Tuscany, Italy, criticized the absence Tuesday in Sacramento. "There are no European ministers at a time when the United States is trying to heal the wounds opened by a war in Iraq," Barbini said. He appeared on behalf of the International Forum on Globalization, one of several groups opposing the conference. Gerry Kiely, a EU agriculture representative in Washington, said EU ministers were invited but canceled because the union is closing talks on agricultural reform. He said Germany, France and Spain have sent delegates. The United States is demanding that the World Trade Organization force the EU to end its ban, which was put in place after many consumers expressed concern about potential health risks. President Bush on Monday accused Europe of aggravating hunger in Africa by closing its markets to genetically modified food. Barbini said the EU may reach a compromise but it wants a system for labeling such foods, something the industry has resisted. Like European officials, agriculture ministers at the conference questioned the health risks of genetically altered crops and voiced concern about corporations controlling seed supply. Robert Fraley, executive vice president of Monsanto Co., one of the world's largest suppliers of herbicides and genetically altered seeds, said biotechnology is a safe way to help farmers grow more crops with fewer pesticides. "Biotech products, if anything, may be safer than conventional products because of all the testing," Fraley said. About 51 percent of the world's soybeans, 20 percent of its cotton and 9 percent of its corn is genetically modified. "This is just the beginning," Fraley said. "Where we are with biotechnology today is where we were with computers in the 1950s. We will see many, many more new products that will provide benefits and health." --- Associated Press writer Kim Baca contributed to this story. © 2003 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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