10 On 17 February 2004, Brazilian scientific societies and organizations sent an open letter to senators on the bio-safety bill, which dealt with four points: 1. That the National Technical Commission on Bio-Safety was the only and definitive authority to evaluate the scientific nature of the matter and that the CTNBio technical report would apply both to research activities as well as to trade. 2. That CTNBio was the only and definitive authority to evaluate the safety of the products of science and technology in Brazil, with the National Bio-Safety Commission being responsible for considering the socio-economic relevance of permission to trade. 3. That the acts already practiced by CTNBio from 1995 onwards should be stressed, irrespective of whether they were related to trade or to research. 4. That CTNBio should also be considered as having the legitimacy to have the final word on research involving embryo stem cells. The letter was signed by the Brazilian Academy of Science, the National Association of Bio-Safety, the Brazilian Association of Muscular Dystrophy, the Brazilian Association for Food Protection, the Brazilian Center of Gene Storage, the Center of Studies of the Human Genome, the Brazilian Society for Food and Nutrition, the Brazilian Society of Food Science and Technology, the Brazilian Society of Genetics, the Brazilian Society for the Improvement of Plants and the Brazilian Society of Microbiology. Later, the Brazilian Society of Genetics and the Brazilian Society of Microbiology denied having signed the letter. In addition, according to its former president, Luiz Eduardo R. de Carvalho, the Brazilian Society of Food Science and Technology did not sign the letter. Cf. "Carta de scientists teve assinaturas forjadas", Folha de S.Paulo, 4 March 2004,