Fwd: PANUPS: USDA Sued for Overlooking Risks of Biopharm

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PANUPS: USDA Sued for Overlooking Risks of Biopharm

Thu, 20 Nov 2003 09:48:48 -0800

 

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P A N U P S

Pesticide Action Network Updates Service

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USDA Sued for Overlooking Risks of Biopharm

 

November 20, 2003

 

PANNA along with several other public interest organizations filed a lawsuit on

November 12, 2003, to force the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to safely

regulate biopharm crops--plants that have been genetically engineered to produce

pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals. The suit asks USDA to fully assess the

environmental and public health risks of open-air testing of biopharm crops

currently underway in Hawai`i and throughout the United States. Attorneys with

Earthjustice filed the suit brought by Center for Food Safety, Friends of the

Earth, KAHEA--The Hawaiian Environmental Alliance, and PANNA.

 

Monsanto, DuPont, ProdiGene, Dow and others have conducted hundreds of field

tests of crops genetically engineered to produce pharmaceuticals and industrial

chemicals. Experimental genetically engineered plants have produced a blood

clotting agent, a blood thinner, blood proteins, experimental animal vaccines,

industrial enzymes, antibodies, and a potent abortion-inducing compound once

considered for use as an AIDS drug. Open-air field testing has been done in many

states, with Nebraska and Hawai`i, where more than two dozen tests have taken

place, the favorite sites.

 

The wildlife, farms and residents of Hawai`i are particularly vulnerable to

contamination because the islands are home to more than one third of all U.S.

endangered species (more per square mile than anywhere else on earth) and

farming takes place close to sensitive wildlife areas and population centers.

Some biopharm plants are extremely potent, and are active at billionths of a

gram. None have been approved for human consumption. Arguments in the suit point

out that biopharm corn, which is the crop most often used, could contaminate

Hawaiian seed corn--corn widely grown to produce seeds for sale throughout the

world.

 

Current practices in the field-testing of genetically-engineered crops have

raised concerns at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which last year

fined Dow AgroSciences and Pioneer Hi-Bred International for increasing the risk

of cross-breeding by not complying with permits in tests of non-biopharm

genetically engineered corn on Kaua`i and Moloka`i. Also, in 2002, the USDA

cited ProdiGene twice for allowing biopharm corn to contaminate crops destined

for human consumption. In one case, 500,000 bushels of Nebraskan soybeans stored

and ready for processing were found to be contaminated with biopharm corn. In

another case, 155 acres of corn was destroyed because it may have been

contaminated. A 2002 study by the National Academy of Sciences found the

environmental impacts of biopharm agriculture cannot be predicted, and that the

novel compounds being produced by these plants may contaminate human and animal

food supplies.

 

Farmers are not informed of biopharm experiments underway near their crops, and

the location of testing sites is not publicly available. In July 2003, one of

the plaintiffs in the current suit sued the Hawai`i Department of Agriculture

seeking public access to records regarding biopharm field tests, as well as the

safety measures in place to control them.

 

In March of 2003, USDA announced it would increase buffer zones between biopharm

crops and other food or livestock crops from one-half mile to one mile, increase

the number of field site inspections, as well as restrictions on food and feed

crops grown at the test sites the following season, and require dedicated

mechanized equipment for planting and harvesting. These steps do not remove the

risk, argues Skip Spitzer of PANNA: " In the U.S., the approach to biopharm

trials has been remarkably casual. Regulatory agencies in general have taken a

'commercialize now, see what happens later' stance, experimenting with public

health and the environment. "

 

The lawsuit asks the court to require USDA to develop an Environmental Impact

Statement, to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service as required by the

Endangered Species Act, to fully consider the effects of growing biopharm crops

on listed species, and to develop regulations that adequately protect public

health and the environment.

 

Sources: Lawsuit Challenges Open Air Testing Press Release, November 12, 2003,

EarthJustice, Center for Food Safety, Friends of the Earth, KAHEA and PANNA;

Backgrounder on Genetically Engineered Biopharmaceutical Crops, Center for Food

Safety, http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org; Biopharm Corn Contaminates Food Crop

in U.S , PANNA Global Pesticide Campaigner December 2002.

 

Contact: PANNA, Center for Food Safety, email office.

 

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and reporting on

pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the mainstream media. It's

produced by Pesticide Action Network North America, a non-profit and

non-governmental organization working to advance sustainable alternatives to

pesticides worldwide.

 

You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and all

contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit

http://www.panna.org/donate.

 

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Email: panna

Web: http://www.panna.org

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