The Terminator warned, "I'll be back!," and the Gene Giants, in cooperation with governments, are rolling out the red carpet. Once again, genetic seed sterilization technology is threatening the 12,000-year old tradition of farmers saving, adapting and exchanging seed and the 1.4 billion people who depend on farm-saved seed as their primary seed source. ETC Group urges you to participate in the global BAN TERMINATOR campaign (see below). Support is particularly critical in advance of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meetings in Spain and Brazil early next year, where Terminator is on the agenda. Let's terminate Terminator, once and for all!

Please circulate widely and get involved. (posted October 2005)

BAN TERMINATOR SEEDS - Join the Global Campaign

http://www.banterminator.org (in English, Espanol, en francais)

Terminator Technology - "Suicide seeds" are back! Your action is needed.

Unfortunately Terminator is not yesterday's news. Corporations and governments are again pushing hard to commercialize Terminator technology - plants that are genetically modified to render sterile seeds at harvest. The Canadian government tried to overturn the international (United Nations) de facto moratorium on Terminator in February 2005. To meet this new crisis and re-build global opposition, we ask you to join the new Ban Terminator Campaign and take action with us.

Mobilization is needed now to pressure governments to ban Terminator nationally and internationally. There are two important United Nations meetings coming up where debates on Terminator are planned. We will work to establish a ban on Terminator at the major meetings of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity: January 23-27 in Spain and March 20-31 in Brazil.

Your action is needed NOW to make this happen.

We ask individuals, communities and groups across the world to take action locally, nationally, and internationally as part of the new global strategy.

Many of you are working to secure Farmers' Rights, food sovereignty and the self-determination of your peoples and communities. You have successfully opposed Terminator in the past. Please add Terminator to your campaign work now - and please add your work and voices to the Ban Terminator Campaign.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

- Groups and communities please "Endorse the Campaign" so we can show
governments how strong the global opposition is http://
www.banterminator.org/take_action/sign_on_to_ban_terminator
- Subscribe to receive Action Alerts and breaking news so that you can take immediate action when it is needed the most
http://www.banterminator.org/take_action/subscribe
- Join with others in your area to pressure your government to ban
Terminator nationally and at the United Nations. We can help provide materials and contacts.
- Organize events and actions - Become a Ban Terminator contact and organizer.
- Share information on Terminator in your community so that we can work together
- Pass a resolution in your group or community against Terminator to communicate your protest and reasons clearly for all to see
- Visit http://www.banterminator.org for action ideas, information and campaign materials

Your input is important to us - join the strategy - participate in the campaign.

COMING SOON! to www.banterminator.org : "Select Your Country" Action
and Frequently Asked Questions

CAMPAIGN DETAILS:

Purpose: The Ban Terminator Campaign seeks to promote government bans on Terminator technology at the national and international levels, and supports the efforts of civil society, farmers, Indigenous peoples and social movements to campaign against it.

Strategy: The international de facto moratorium on Terminator technology at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is under attack. Two upcoming meetings of the CBD where Terminator is on the agenda - the Working Group on Article 8 (j) in Granada, Spain January 23-27 and the 8th Conference of the Parties (COP8) to the CBD in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil March 20-31 2006 - offer important opportunities to strengthen the moratorium. The build-up to these meetings is also an important opportunity to encourage governments to establish national prohibitions on Terminator technology - just as Brazil and India have done. Corporations will not stop their efforts to commercialize Terminator until governments prohibit the technology.

Origins: The Ban Terminator Campaign was initiated in response to recent efforts by governments and corporations to push for Terminator field trials and commercialization. Despite widespread opposition, in February 2005, the Canadian government attempted to overturn the CBD's international de facto moratorium on Terminator technology. The Ban Terminator Campaign was formed in response, following discussions initiated by Canadian-based civil society organizations (ETC group, Inter Pares, National Farmers Union, and USC Canada).

History: In 1998, ETC group (then RAFI) discovered Terminator patents. In 1999, in response to the avalanche of public opposition, two of the world's largest seed and agrochemical corporations, Monsanto and AstraZeneca (now Syngenta), publicly vowed not to commercialize Terminator seeds. In 2000, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity adopted a de facto moratorium on Terminator seeds. As a result, many people believed that the crisis had passed, and the issue faded from public view. Unfortunately, Terminator is still being developed and is now being heavily promoted.

Structure:

The Ban Terminator Campaign's steering committee:

AS-PTA - Assessoria e Servicos a Projectos em Agricultura Alternativa
www.aspta.org.br
ETC Group - Action group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration
www.etcgroup.org
GRAIN www.grain.org
Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism www.ipcb.org
ITDG - Intermediate Technology Development Group www.itdg.org
Pesticide Action Network - Asia and the Pacific www.panap.net
Third World Network www.twnside.org.sg www.biosafety-info.net
Via Campesina www.viacampesina.org