Guest guest Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 WEEKLY_WATCH_74 " GM_WATCH " Fri, 28 May 2004 11:09:30 +0100 ----------- WEEKLY WATCH number 74 ----------- ----------- from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor ----------- Dear all, I recently suggested that if the GM industry were compelled to make public all data on the GMOs put forward for approval, it would create a noose for its own neck. So I was gladdened to hear that in South Africa, which the industry has set up as the back door into the entire African continent, an NGO is taking the government to court to force the release of data. As well as the court case, there have also been several public protests in South Africa this week - see FOCUS ON AFRICA. This is all part of the fantastic job people in South Africa are doing to challenge the biotech industry's take-over of their country's regulatory system and their agriculture. The law should be on the their side, so we await next week's judgement with great interest. It seems that everywhere this hazardous technology gets a toe-hold it is in dubious circumstances and the results are protests and problems – see, for instance, this week's reports from the PHILIPPINES, INDONESIA, INDIA… Finally, don't miss a story from the USA (US: RESISTANCE GROWS AS OPPRESSION HARDENS AND CONTAMINATION SPREADS), which, if accurate, is seriously shocking. The story tells how an activist artist specialising in work critical of GM had to report the sudden death of his wife from a heart attack. He ended up being arrested and illegally detained under the ill-begotten and much-abused Patriot Act. His art materials (which included a perfectly legal GM testing kit) and computer, and even his wife's body, were taken into the custody of the FBI. The Feds apparently are unable to tell the difference between art materials and bioterror weapons. Please note our important CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK. Claire claire www.ngin.org.uk / www.gmwatch.org --------------------------- CONTENTS --------------------------- FOCUS ON AFRICA EURO-VICTORIES OF THE WEEK FOOD SAFETY US: RESISTANCE GROWS AS OPPRESSION HARDENS AND CONTAMINATION SPREADS FAO REPORT PHILIPPINES: MORE PROTESTS AGAINST MONSANTO INDIA: VISION 2020 BOOTED OUT? WTO NEW ZEALAND CAMPAIGN VICTORY CANADA: PATENT LAW DECISION NOW IN INDONESIA: NEW CORRUPTION ENQUIRY DESPERATE GM PLUG OF THE WEEK BIOTECH: DIGGING ITS HOLE DEEPER EVERY YEAR CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK REASSURING QUOTE OF THE WEEK DONATIONS HEADLINES OF THE WEEK SUBSCRIPTIONS --------------------------- FOCUS ON AFRICA --------------------------- + SOUTH AFRICAN COURT CASE SEEKS TO MAKE GM INFORMATION PUBLIC The NGO Biowatch is currently taking the South African Government to court, over access to information on GM crops in South Africa. For years, the NGO has been trying to get access to the safety data and information on which GMOs are being imported, tested, grown and released, which it says the public has the right to know. But the registrar of genetic resources has consistently stalled, claiming that the data is confidential business information. Now Biowatch has taken their demand to the Pretoria High Court, where the Registrar of Genetic Resources, the Executive Council for Genetically Modified Organisms and the minister of agriculture have been joined by biotech companies Monsanto and Delta Pine Land, and seed company Stoneville Pedigreed, who are seeking to prevent the information about their products being made public. The case started on Monday, and has been accompanied by protests from the public, demanding their right to know about GMOs in their food. Under questioning, the respondents admitted that Biowatch was entitled to most of the information it sought, but tried to claim that the amount of information being requested was too much for understaffed Registrar of Genetic Resources to deal with. To which the judge replied: " The effect of (this argument) is that because a particular state organ is understaffed people are going to be denied their Constitutional Rights to access information. " The judge said that his decision would probably not be made until the end of next week. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3625 More articles and press releases: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1531701,00.html http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=14 & art_id=qw1085574064320B216 & set_id=1 http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=14 & art_id=vn20040527124427690C156030 & set\ _id=1 + GMO PROTESTERS TURN PARLIAMENT INTO CEREAL The main entrance leading to Parliament was turned into a cereal when protesters campaigning against GMOs emptied a bag of yellow maize and milk to highlight their concerns. The protest, organised by the Environmental Justice Network Forum (EJNF), was in support of Biowatch. Biowatch, an NGO, is currently involved in litigation in the Pretoria High Court on the lack of information from the government on the licensing and production of GMOs in South Africa. " We are surprised at the position the South African government is taking with GMOs. It is not an Afro-centric position, " said ENJF Western Cape co-ordinator Thabang Ngcozela, referring to other African countries who have taken a stance against GMOs. Ngcozela accused the government of underhand tactics, by taking advantage of the majority of people who were ignorant of GMOs. " Not many people know about GMOs, and the government is taking advantage of them, by example, not labelling GMO products, " he said. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3625 Pictures of the protest are at http://wfeet.za.net/indymedia/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album02 --------------------------- EURO-VICTORIES OF THE WEEK --------------------------- + EU: CONSUMER RESISTANCE PUTS GM CORN ON HOLD Despite the European Commission's recent authorisation of the GM corn Bt-11, the producer, Syngenta, has announced that it will not commercialise it for the time being due to strong consumer resistance. Syngenta cited the resistance of the European food industry to add GM corn to their product range. André Goig of Syngenta said that the food industry had clearly announced that they would not commercialise GM maize. He stated that Syngenta was now trying to secure EU approval to cultivate Bt-11 for animal feed, saying that farmers were more likely to accept the product. However, this also would only be commercialised if and when clients were interested in using the maize. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3612 Syngenta not to market BT11 in the EU Food Ingredients First, Netherlands - May 27, 2004 http://www.foodingredientsfirst.com/newsmaker_article.asp?idNewsMaker=5791 & fSite\ =AO545 Syngenta decides not to market GM product in the EU after all Cordis News, EU - May 26, 2004 http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS & ACTION=D & SESSION= & RCN=\ EN_RCN_ID:22074 + GERMAN PARLIAMENT DEMANDS GM LABELLING AT DETECTION LEVEL Campaign group Save Our Seeds has welcomed the German Parliament's demand for labelling of all GM contamination of seeds at the detection level and intends to implement appropriate legislation at the European level. Germany, the EU's largest member state, now follows Italy, Denmark, Austria and Luxembourg in taking a clear position to keep GMOs out of our seeds. " This decision would not have come about without the continued campaigning of hundreds of environmental, farmers and consumers organisations, trade unions, scientists and churches as well as 200.000 European citizens who have signed the Save our Seeds petition for pure seeds, " said SoS spokesman Benedikt Haerlin. --------------------------- FOOD SAFETY --------------------------- + GM SOY ALTERS STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF LIVER CELLS Research from Italy shows changes in the nuclei of hepatocytes (large liver cells) in GM-fed mice. Heaptocytes have many metabolic functions, including storage and detoxification. Manuela Malatesta, Chiara Caporaloni, Stefano Gavaudan, Marco B.L. Rocchi, Sonja Serafini, Cinzia Tiberi and Giancarlo Gazzanelli, " Ultrastructural Morphometrical and Immunocytochemical Analyses of Hepatocyte Nuclei from Mice Fed on Genetically Modified Soybean " , Cell Structure and Function, Vol. 27 (2002) , No. 4 pp.173-18 http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3622 + MONSANTO DEFIES GERMAN GOVERNMENT ON RISK STUDY Monsanto has refused a request by the German government to hand over a study showing that rats fed a variety of Monsanto GM maize suffered serious health abnormalities, Greenpeace revealed. The German government, who assessed Monsanto's original application for approval of the MON863 maize, officially asked the company to present the full study to them, after Le Monde disclosed its details last month. But Monsanto has refused to hand over the document, claiming it is " confidential business information " . This contravenes EU law, which stipulates that any information concerning human health or environmental safety must be made public. The study, carried out by Monsanto, found that rats fed with MON863 suffered a number of abnormal effects in the development of blood cells and vital organs, including the kidneys. Despite being aware of these results, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) delivered a positive assessment on the maize on 19 April. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3589 + GM FOODS: A CONCERN FOR THE ALLERGIC From Judy Tidwell, Your Guide to Allergies. http://allergies.about.com/cs/gmfoods/a/aa103000a.htm Genetically modified (GM) foods should be a concern for those who suffer from food allergies because they are not tested, regulated, or required to be labeled. There is concern that GM foods pose an allergy risk. Currently the list of GM food products intersects with the eight most common food allergens: eggs, milk, fish, peanuts, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, and wheat. Proteins in food are what trigger most allergic reactions in people. Most of the foreign proteins being gene-spliced into foods have never been eaten by humans before or tested for their safety. There also is no mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods. Those who suffer from food allergies have no way of knowing if the food they purchase contains GM foods. GM foods have been a topic on the Allergies Forum. Here is a sampling of what is being discussed: DONNIEJ: " These GM foods have been dumped on the market, untested, unregulated, and unlabeled. I feel that I've been used as a lab rat! Now that I've eliminated almost all traces of GM foods, I feel better then I had in several years. I still encounter allergens, once in awhile, but I'm not reacting constantly, like I was before. " To read the entire discussion or share your thoughts visit the Allergies Forum: http://forums.about.com/ab-allergies/messages?lgnF=y & msg=321.1 http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3549 --------------------------- US: RESISTANCE GROWS AS OPPRESSION HARDENS AND CONTAMINATION SPREADS --------------------------- + FBI ABDUCTS ARTIST, SEIZES ART American artist Steve Kurtz was already suffering from one tragedy when he called 911 early in the morning to tell them his wife had suffered a cardiac arrest and died in her sleep. The police arrived and, cranked up on the rhetoric of the " War on Terror, " decided Kurtz's art supplies were actually bioterrorism weapons. Thus began an Orwellian stream of events in which FBI agents abducted Kurtz without charges, sealed off his entire block, and confiscated his computers, manuscripts, art supplies... and even his wife's body. Like the case of Brandon Mayfield, the Muslim lawyer from Portland imprisoned for two weeks on the flimsiest of false evidence, Kurtz's case amply demonstrates the dangers posed by the US Patriot Act coupled with government-nurtured terrorism hysteria. Steve Kurtz is Associate Professor in the Department of Art at the State University of New York's University at Buffalo, and a member of the internationally acclaimed Critical Art Ensemble. Kurtz's wife, Hope Kurtz, died in her sleep of cardiac arrest in the early morning hours of May 11. Police arrived, became suspicious of Kurtz's art supplies and called the FBI. Within hours, FBI agents had " detained " Kurtz as a suspected bioterrorist and cordoned off the entire block around his house. (Kurtz walked away the next day on the advice of a lawyer, his " detention " having proved to be illegal.) Over the next few days, dozens of agents in hazmat suits, from a number of law enforcement agencies, sifted through Kurtz's work, analysing it on-site and impounding computers, manuscripts, books, equipment, and even his wife's body for further analysis. Meanwhile, the Buffalo Health Department condemned his house as a health risk. Kurtz, a member of the Critical Art Ensemble, makes art which addresses the politics of biotechnology. " Free Range Grains, " CAE's latest project, included a mobile DNA extraction laboratory for testing food products for possible transgenic contamination. It was this equipment which triggered the Kafkaesque chain of events. FBI field and laboratory tests have shown that Kurtz's equipment was not used for any illegal purpose. In fact, it is not even possible to use this equipment for the production or weaponization of dangerous germs. Furthermore, any person in the US may legally obtain and possess such equipment. For more information and to contribute to Steve Kurtz's defence fund: http://www.rtmark.com/CAEdefense/ + PHARM CROP PRODUCTS GROWN AND MARKETED IN US Prof. Joe Cummins has revealed that dangerous GM pharmaceutical crops have been produced and marketed in the US for at least two years, unbeknownst to the public, via a gaping loophole in the regulatory process. There has been a great deal of public opposition recently to the testing of rice genetically modified to produce the human proteins lysozyme and lactoferrin in the United States. So far, those tests have been stalled. But Sigma-Aldrich, a US chemical company, has been marketing the biopharmaceutical products trypsin, avidin and beta-glucuronidase (GUS) processed from transgenic maize, for at least two years. Meanwhile, Prodigene Corporation and Sigma-Aldrich are marketing aprotinin (AproliZean) from maize and from a transgenic tobacco. Trypsin is a digestive enzyme used extensively in research, to treat disease and in food processing. The product TrypZean is marketed as an animal free product, and is produced jointly by Sigma-Aldrich and Prodigene (the company fined for contaminating food crops with biopharmaceuticals in the United States last year). The development of GM food crops generally follows a certain pattern in the United States: First, controlled field tests are undertaken for a number of seasons. Then, the proponent applies for deregulation of the GM crop following reviews by the Animal Plant Health Service (APHIS) of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) if the GM crop includes a plant incorporated bio-pesticide. Upon completion of the process, the GM crop is deemed to be deregulated and can be grown without monitoring. However, none of the biopharmaceutical-producing GM crops appears to have gone through the usual regulatory process. Instead they appeared to have progressed from field-testing to marketing without the benefit of final regulatory approval, with apparently full cooperation of the FDA and USDA (the agriculture department has proprietary interest in some of the biopharmaceuticals). The biopharmaceuticals have proceeded to the market via the backdoor, thanks to a loophole in the regulation of field tests. ... A fully referenced version of this article is posted on ISIS members' website. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/full/GMBIMFull.php http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3624 + WEED WITH ROUNDUP IMMUNITY GALLOPING ACROSS STATE US farmers are now being instructed to routinely use the endocrine disrupting herbicide 2,4-D in order to cope with the growing problem of Roundup resistant weeds. They are being advised to do this regardless of whether they are yet experiencing resistance problems. Marestail populations that are immune to glyphosate were first identified in 2002 in the southeast Indiana counties of Jackson, Bartholomew, Clark, Jefferson and Jennings. Recent field inspections by Purdue University researchers found the weeds in another 15 counties to the north and west, said Bill Johnson, Purdue Extension weed specialist. Marestail -- also known as horseweed -- already has developed resistance to ALS inhibitors and triazines. " So we're running out of effective tools to manage the weed, " Johnson said. Aceto-lactase synthase (ALS) inhibitors kill weeds by preventing them from producing essential amino acids necessary for growth. Triazine herbicides work by interrupting a weed's photosynthesis. Farmers are relying too much on glyphosate-based herbicides, according to Johnson. If farmers begin noticing glyphosate-resistant marestail in their fields, one option is to utilize 2,4-D in their burndown applications next year. " We know that 2,4-D is very effective on these weeds, so farmers need to use it in their burndown if they have marestail in their field, regardless of whether they think it is glyphosate-resistant, " Johnson said. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3618 + MORE HERBICIDE RESISTANCE A team of US researchers have published a paper describing a new detoxifying enzyme that allows plants to resist glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. This it is claimed will lead to more and cheaper glyphosate-resistant crops. That of course would mean a still faster spread of glyphosate-resitant weeds! http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3621 + GM FOOD FIZZLES OUT WITH CONSUMERS AND FARMERS A US (Detroit) newspaper reports on the meltdown of the biotech industry. A decade after they were first promoted by the US government there is virtually no market anywhere for GM foods and the cultivation of the few key crops survives mainly because of the animal feed industry. Both consumer rejection and flawed technology are blamed for the fiasco. Ironically the one justification in the article for GM crops - reduced pesticide use - has also proven to be untrue. Consumer opposition is reinforced by farmer dissatisfaction. Another US newspaper (Missouri) reports on the anger of Farmers Unions at Monsanto's contracts that prevent farmers from saving and replanting their own seeds. The union is pressing the state government to overturn the patent law that enables Monsanto to set such conditions. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3547 + PROTESTS AT BERKELEY GRADUATION CEREMONY The recent graduation ceremony at the University of California Berkeley was marked by imaginative protests over the treatment of Dr Ignacio Chapela. Read more about it here: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3587 + THE FRAUD OF 'SOUND SCIENCE' An excellent article with the above title is published in The Gadflyer, a new progressive internet mag: http://gadflyer.com/articles/?ArticleID=100 Excerpt: Much of the modern conservative agenda on science is embodied in the enigmatic phrase " sound science, " a term used with increasing frequency these days despite its apparent lack of a clear, agreed-upon definition. In one sense, " sound science " simply means " good science. " Indeed, when unwitting liberals and journalists have been caught using the phrase - which happens quite frequently - it appears to have been with this meaning in mind. Conservatives, too, want people to hear " good science " when they say " sound science. " But there are reasons for thinking they actually mean something more by the term. The Bush administration has invoked " sound science " on issues ranging from climate change to arsenic in drinking water, virtually always in defence of a looser government regulatory standard than might otherwise have been adopted. In this sense, " sound science " seems to mean requiring a high burden of proof before taking government action to protect public health and the environment (not really a scientific position at all). Indeed, in an online discussion of " Sound Science and Public Policy, " the Western Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives, chaired by Utah Republican Chris Cannon, notes that " environmental laws should be made with great caution and demand a high degree of scientific certainty " - once again, a policy statement rather than one having to do strictly with science. A short history of the phrase " sound science, " and its development into a mantra of the political right, clearly demonstrates its anti-regulatory, pro-industry slant... http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3548 --------------------------- FAO REPORT --------------------------- + DEVINDER SHARMA ON THE FAO REPORT Not so long ago the Director-General of the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Jacques Diouf, pointed out that irrigation and road-building were far more urgent priorities in improving Africa's agriculture than encouraging the introduction of GM crops. (African farmers need water not GM crops - FAO head) http://www.thecampaign.org/News/nov03h.php But now the FAO has put out a 200-page report saying GM crops are great for the third world. Devinder Sharma gives his response at http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3586 + NLP WESSEX COMMENTS FAO produced a major report in 2000 which revealed that GMOs were not needed to feed the world (see http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/faoreport.htm ). Once that report was given prominence by anti-GM campaigners FAO was then nobbled by the US and the biotech industry... Since its 2000 report the FAO has become a target of huge pressure from the US government and the biotechnology corporate interests that it favours. According to the Guardian 14 June 2002 : " A [uN FAO] world food summit ended in recrimination yesterday when it was branded a waste of time for everyone except the United States, which successfully sold genetically modified crops as a solution to famine'. One member of the US delegation led by Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman made clear what the main US interest in the UN summit was: 'We're here to sell biotech, and that's what we've done.' " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3594 + FOOD ETHICS COUNCIL CONDEMNS FAO REPORT The independent Food Ethics Council has criticised the UN FAO for a report which backs GM crops in the fight against hunger. The UN report asks whether GM crops might help poor farmers. It concludes that they could, even though there is little evidence of their potential so far. This has been picked up by the US-led pro-GM lobby as a ringing endorsement for the technology. As a result, the report's finer points have been lost. Crucially, its call for poor farmers to have a major say in all research intended to help them, including a say in whether or not to use biotechnology, has been swamped by the recommendation for more government investment in GM. " It's a complete contradiction to say that poor farmers should have a choice and then to deny them that choice by calling for blanket spending on GM research, " said Dr Tom MacMillan, Executive Director of the Food Ethics Council. " The report even acknowledges that when farmers have been involved in research, they've generally steered clear of GM! " The report hypes up GM crops because it asks the wrong question. If the UN had asked how agricultural research could better meet the needs of poor and hungry people, instead of focusing on biotechnology, it would have reached a much more sensible conclusion about the potential contribution of GM crops. " This debate is so well-worn that you have to wonder why the UN took this line, " said Helen Browning, Chair of the Food Ethics Council. " Whatever the motive, the result is a report that's really about trade wars and transatlantic politics, and not about fighting hunger. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3594 + IPC ASIA SAYS GM IS NOT MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE POOR International Planning Committee Asia (IPC), a NGO working on food sovereignty, said of the FAO report: " FAO is retrogressing from the global momentum against genetic engineering in food and agriculture. " The FAO report, " The State of World Food and Agriculture 2004 " , urged significant private and public investments in new genetic technologies for major food crops of the poor such as rice, wheat, white maize, potato and cassava and the so called " orphan crops " which include cowpea, millet, sorghum and teff. IPC Asia commented that FAO's recommendation comes despite increasing evidence on the adverse ecological and health impacts of genetically engineered crops and resistance from governments and farmers to the technology. " We are not guinea pigs " , says Philippine farmer leader Danilo Ramos. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3594 SEE ALSO: FAO PROMOTES GMOS, SLAP IN THE FACE OF THOSE WHO DEFEND FOOD SOVEREIGNTY Via Campesina, Honduras, Press Release http://www.viacampesina.org/art_english.php3?id_article=332 ISP to FAO: GM Crops Not the Answer The views of the Independent Science Panel http://www.i-sis.org.uk/ISPtoFAO.php Wytze de Lang report s that last Tuesday (25th May) Prabhu Pingali, one of the supervisors of the latest FAO report, admitted while speaking in the Netherlands that, " The promises of biotechnology for the poor willonly be realised when a lot of conditions like better infrastructure, good sanitation, clean water etc. have first been fulfilled " In the discussion after the presentation Pingali was questioned further on this, since if this is the case why did FAO put such a pro-GM report rather than focus on the real needs of the poor which are clearly different than genetic technologies. Pingali admitted this was a valid comment but said biiotechnology was the focus of this particular report. --------------------------- PHILIPPINES: MORE PROTESTS AGAINST MONSANTO --------------------------- + MONSANTO FOUND " GUILTY " IN THE PHILIPPINES KORONADAL CITY -- Some 1,000 protesters rallied Thursday outside the plant of seed giant Monsantoin General Santos City where they held a mock trial and judged the firm guilty for promoting the controversial Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn which they claimed is hazardous to humans and the environment. Eliezer Billanes, chair of the South Cotabato Movement Against Genetically Modified Organisms (SCMAGMO), said mebers of organizations from as far as North Cotabato and Davao del Sur had joined the rally. Monsanto was found " guilty " of causing illnesses to humans and poisoning the environment, he added. " Monsanto should stop the commercial distribution of Bt corn, " he said in a telephone interview. Among those who joined the protest action representatives from the local Catholic Church. In December 2002, the Philippine government, through the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Plant Industry, approved Monsanto's application for the commercialization of Bt corn, despite widespread protests including a hunger strike headed by Roberto Versola in front of the Department of Agriculture’s main office in Metro Manila. Prior to that disgusted farmers stormed and uprooted Monsanto's Bt corn field test site in barangay Maltana in Tampakan, South Cotabato. --------------------------- INDIA: VISION 2020 BOOTED OUT? --------------------------- + GEORGE MONBIOT ON HOW ADHRA PRADESH REJECTED VISION 2020 George Monbiot writes about the recent electoral rout in Andhra Pradesh, India, where voters roundly rejected a dangerous experiment masterminded by the UK and US governments to corporatise the state's agriculture (the plans included the promotion of GM rops) at the cost of mass starvation. The " Vision 2020 " plan was drawn up by US consultancy company McKinsey and paid for by British and US taxpayers. It was obediently adopted by Andhra Pradesh's chief minister (widely viewed as a favourite puppet of Western interests), to the disgust of the people, who called it " the return of the East India Company " . Now that this unpopular government has gone, it remains to be seen what will happen to Vision 2020. Excerpt: " Vision 2020 " , is one of those documents whose summary says one thing and whose contents quite another. It begins, for example, by insisting that education and healthcare must be made available to everyone. Only later do you discover that the state's hospitals and universities are to be privatised and funded by " user charges " . It extols small businesses but, way beyond the point at which most people stop reading, reveals that it intends to " eliminate " the laws which defend them, and replace small investors, who " lack motivation " , with " large corporations " . It claims it will " generate employment " in the countryside, and goes on to insist that over 20 million people should be thrown off the land. Put all these - and the other proposals for privatisation, deregulation and the shrinking of the state - together, and you see that McKinsey has unwittingly developed a blueprint for mass starvation. You dispossess 20 million farmers from the land just as the state is reducing the number of its employees and foreign corporations are " rationalising " the rest of the workforce, and you end up with millions without work or state support. " The State's people, " McKinsey warns, " will need to be enlightened about the benefits of change. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3586 --------------------------- WTO --------------------------- + CITIZENS TELL WTO " HANDS OFF OUR FOOD " 100,000 citizens from 91 countries, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and French small farmers' leader Jose Bové, together with more than 544 organisations representing 48 million people, are telling the WTO not to undermine the sovereign right of any country to protect its citizens and the environment from GM foods and crops. The delivery of the petition ( " citizen's objection " ) to the WTO comes as part of a global bite-back campaign against a complaint filed at the WTO by the US, Argentina and Canada a year ago. These countries accuse the European Union of blocking trade in GM crops and foods and May 25 is the official deadline for WTO countries to submit evidence in the complaint. Sign today: http://www.bite-back.org/ + WTO MUST NOT BE STOOGE SAY GROUPS AROUND THE WORLD 14 leading public interest organisations, spanning Europe, North and South America and Asia, filed an amicus curiae (or 'friend of the court') brief with the World Trade Organisation on 27 May 2004. Dr Sue Mayer, of GeneWatch UK, a member and Co-ordinator of the Amicus Coalition, said, " The science of GM crops and foods is very uncertain. The potential for serious and irreversible risks to the environment and human health remains. The ownership and control of the technology by multi-national corporations means it does not meet the needs of the poor and hungry. We believe countries should be able to decide their own level of protection from the risks of GM crops and food, free from bullying by the GM exporting countries. The WTO must not let itself be used as the stooge of the biotech industry when it considers this case. " The full amicus brief and background information is available on www.genecampaign.org --------------------------- NEW ZEALAND CAMPAIGN VICTORY --------------------------- + MCDONALDS SEEK NON-GE FEED Greenpeace New Zealand has announced that it will end its public campaign against McDonalds New Zealand following a statement from the fast food giant that they are seeking a non-GE feed supply for their chicken products. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3595 SEE ALSO - CAMPAIGNS OF THE WEEK --------------------------- CANADA: PATENT LAW DECISION NOW IN --------------------------- + RESULT IN ON PERCY SCHMEISER CASE There's both bad and good news from the Canadian Supreme Court case in which Monsanto sued Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser for stealing its patented genes when his canola crop was found to be contaminated with GM Roundup Ready traits. The bad news is that the court has upheld the Monsanto's right to have a patent on a plant and has found Percy guilty of infringing its patent. This decision sets a dangerous precedent for justice in that it upholds the patentability of crops and seems to uphold the fact that Monsanto can claim ownership and rewards even over unintentional pollution. The good news is that the court has not upheld that Percy should pay damages because he did not profit from the GM technology by spraying Roundup. Both parties have to pay their own court costs. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3607 See Percy's response at http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3616 GRAIN comments: " ...the Supreme Court decision could trigger a major backlash against Monsanto. The true face of the " gene revolution " and of the control handed to transnational corporations through patents on life has been laid bare. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3616 + TELL MONSANTO WHERE TO GO! If you think your property may have GM canola lurking somewhere (or GM maize or soy or cotton), tell Monsanto where to go! Take action! Send a letter to Monsanto warning them that their GM seeds may be trespassing on your land by clicking at http://www.etcgroup.org/takeaction.asp --------------------------- INDONESIA --------------------------- + INDONESIA STARTS MONSANTO INQUIRY Indonesia's new anticorruption commission has begun its own investigation into allegations that Monsanto bribed an Indonesian government official two years ago, providing an early test of the new body's ability to crack down on graft. The US Department of Justice has been investigating the suspicious Monsanto payment, which could have violated the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Under that law, a company can face a maximum fine of $2 million per violation, while an individual faces up to five years' imprisonment. The US Securities and Exchange Commission also can impose fines. http://afr.com/articles/2004/05/27/1085641647404.html If Monsanto bought its way into Indonesia, then the irony is it ended up pulling out because, it said, it was losing money. Indonesian farmers who grew Monsanto's Bt cotton complained that the company weren't the only ones out of pocket! --------------------------- DESPERATE GM PLUG OF THE WEEK --------------------------- + TO BE TAKEN WITH A PINCH OF SALT Following the recent recycling of the discredited but perennially persistent pro-GM scare story of the almost-extinct banana (only GM can save it!), another old favourite has popped up. This time, it's The Guardian that's fallen for the much-hyped salt-tolerant GM crops that will save us from the creeping salination of soils. Breathless excerpt from " Breakthrough may bring life to barren earth " : Some scientists now think they have the answer to what has become agriculture's greatest challenge. Yesterday a group of world-class researchers in the US announced that their company, FuturaGene, had developed the means to make plants fight harder for their survival in harsh environments. Instead of putting new genes into the plants to help them survive, the scientists have found a way to make certain genes already present go into overdrive, beefing up the plants' defences to salty soils, cold weather and drought. If the plants perform as well as hoped, it could dramatically change agriculture. Regions where crops have never been viable, because of extreme cold or frequent drought, could be useful farmland. " The real goal is not only to be able to plant in places where right now we can't grow anything, but to get more out of the land where we can, " said Bruno Ruggiero, the president of FuturaGene. " Cold, drought and salt significantly damage yields. And if we can get more out of the land, that means limiting the need to cut down forests for farmland, and using less water, " he said. GMWATCH comment: Salination of soils is caused by irrigation of degraded soils in hot climates. Much of the water quickly evaporates, leaving behind salts that build up to such high levels that plants fail to thrive. The problem is being solved in many areas by time-tested sustainable methods of better-managed irrigation, judicious rotation planting, and the incorporation of lots of organic matter into the soil, which improves its structure, nutrient and micro-organism levels, absorbency and water-holding properties. FuturaGene says it hopes to eventually develop plants that can be irrigated with salt water. You don't need more than a couple of brain cells to realise that this will add to the salination problem, not solve it. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3613 --------------------------- BIOTECH: DIGGING ITS HOLE DEEPER EVERY YEAR --------------------------- + BIOTECH'S DISMAL BOTTOM LINE: MORE THAN $40 BILLION IN LOSSES An uncharacteristically despondent article on GM investments with the above title has appeared in the usually bullish Wall Street Journal (20 May 04). Excerpt: Since the first biotechnology company went public a quarter-century ago, stock-market investors have put somewhere close to $100 billion into the industry. The results so far... [include] cumulative net losses of more than $40 billion for the industry's public companies. ...it's hard to argue that it's a good investment. Not only has the biotech industry yielded negative financial returns for decades, it generally digs its hole deeper every year. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3606 + FOR BIOTECH FOODS, A DWINDLING APPETITE And from the New York Times [excerpt]: ....to the extent biotechnology is growing, it is in a narrow range. Some 99 percent of the crops are grown in six countries - the United States, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, China and South Africa. And virtually all the worldwide acreage is devoted to only four crops: soybeans, corn, cotton and canola. With these four, genetic engineering caught on before consumer resistance gathered force a few years ago. These crops are also largely used for animal feed or clothing or to make oil and other ingredients for processed foods rather than eaten directly - something that has helped them gain acceptance. But recent attempts to move genetic engineering to other crops have met resistance... Just last week, Monsanto shelved plans to introduce the world's first genetically modified wheat In April, California officials rebuffed a request by Ventria Bioscience... to increase its acreage of an erxperimental rice crop engineered to produce human proteins... And the current edition of California Agriculture magazine laments a sharp drop in efforts to develop genetically engineered fruit and vegetables... ....the number of field trials in the United States involving biotech fruit and vegetables plummeted to about 20 by 2003 from about 120 in 1999, an article in California Agriculture said. ....Not only are there just four crops, but they are still limited to two main traits introduced by genetic engineering: insect resistance and herbicide resistance. There is also a question of how much the agricultural biotechnology industry can continue to expand without new crops, or at least new traits for the same four crops. The pace of new product introductions has fallen sharply. In the past three years, only two crops a year have been the subject of consultations with the Food and Drug Administration before marketing. In the late 1990s, it was not unusual for a dozen crops to go through this process each year. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3606 --------------------------- CAMPAIGNS OF THE WEEK --------------------------- + FIND OUT ABOUT NEW ZEALAND'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST GM IMPORTS – TAKING PLACE *TODAY* http://foodies.tiz.co.nz/stories/storyReader$1651 + SUPPORT GMO CAMPAIGN IN VENEZUELA Please support this international campaign to prohibit GMOs in Venezuela. Please complete the letter below as appropriate with your/your organisation's name and address and email, add or subtract parts as you prefer and then email it to ALL the following addresses: puebloalzao coordinadoraweb haynes and, if possible also fax it to the President's office at (58) 212-806 3450 Thanks, Lorna Haynes CENTINELA Coordinator RAPAL-VE . *** Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías En su Despacho President Chávez: We (I) of the Non-Governmental Organization .................. are/am writing to applaud and express our/my satisfaction at the welcome news of your decision to cancel all contracts Venezuela may have for transgenic soya seeds This is a very important decision, not only for Venezuela, but also for all developing nations, since this confrontation between the powerful transnational corporations and the people exists everywhere. However, very few governments have had the courage to resist the threats and economic blackmail of the United States´ government in support of its transnational corporations who are intent on imposing their genetically modified organisms (GMOs or transgenics) to assure markets for their transgenic products, thereby undermining the sovereignty of nations. However, Mr President, we have received information that Venezuela imports food and feed derived from GMOs. The use of GMOs involves many risks, not only for agriculture but also human health and environmental risks. Worldwide, traditional and conventional crop varieties are being contaminated by the pollen from GMOs. This genetic contamination is irreversible and impossible to control and means that these non-GM varieties will be lost forever and with them, we shall lose the option and the right to consume non-transgenic food. Genetic contamination violates basic human rights and undermines a nation's sovereignty over its agriculture and genetic resources, which are strategic resources for the food and medicines of future generations. It is urgent that this decision be consolidated in the form of legislation to prohibit all uses of GMOs in Venezuela. Hence, in solidarity with the people of Venezuela, we support the request of RAPAL-VE, other NGOs and concerned citizens urging you to legislate to prohibit in Venezuela the liberation and use of GMOs and products derived from GMOs. Yours sincerely, XXXXXNAME XXXXXXX XXXXXADDRESS AND EMAIL XXXXXXX ------- REASSURING QUOTE OF THE WEEK ------- + ECONOMIC PROTECTION AGENCY " EPA decisions now have a consistent pattern: disregard for inconvenient facts, a tilt toward industry, and a penchant for secrecy, " said longtime Environmental Protection Agency official Eric Schaeffer, who quit the agency in protest in 2002. He was responding to a new decision to exempt wood products plants from controls on emissions of formaldehyde, a chemical linked to cancer and leukemia. In making the decision, the EPA " relied on a risk assessment generated by a chemical industry-funded think tank, and a novel legal approach recommended by a timber industry lawyer. The regulation was ushered through the agency by senior officials with previous ties to the timber and chemical industries, " reports the Los Angeles Times. SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, May 21, 2004 http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-plywood21may21,1,7550783.st\ ory?coll=la-headlines-frontpage More web links related to this story are available at: http://www.prwatch.org/spin/May_2004.html#1085112002 ------- DONATIONS ------- Our thanks to all of you who have donated to GM WATCH. For those who have not yet contributed, you can donate online in any one of five currencies via PayPal, at http://www.gmwatch.org/donate.asp OR by cheque or postal order payable to 'NGIN', to be sent to: NGIN, 26 Pottergate, Norwich, NR2 1DX, UK. We appreciate your support. ------- HEADLINES OF THE WEEK: from the GMWATCH archive ------- 27/5/2004 Can Monsanto prosecute farmers in India? 27/5/2004 GM crops alter structure and function of liver, new research shows 27/5/2004 GM pharma crops secretly grown and marketed in America 27/5/2004 More herbicide resistance 27/5/2004 South African Court Case Seeks to Make GM Information Public 26/5/2004 Biotech is not the answer 26/5/2004 FBI abducts artist in GM detention case 26/5/2004 Penchant for secrecy - US & SA / Economic Protection Agency 26/5/2004 Weed with Roundup immunity galloping across state 25/5/2004 100,000 citizens from 91 countries, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, say " WTO - hands off our food " 25/5/2004 GM will not stop the salt 25/5/2004 Protests and court case in South Africa / Monsanto wants to control what South Africans are told 25/5/2004 Syngenta retreats on approved GM corn because of consumer resistance 24/5/2004 Biotech's deal with the devil 24/5/2004 Schmeiser claims moral and personal victory + lots of links 22/5/2004 Biotech in global retreat / Bay Area Mobilizes to Shut Down Biotech Convention 22/5/2004 GM Ending? / Science in Society #22 21/5/2004 Dwindling appetite for GM / Biotech's Dismal Bottom Line 21/5/2004 Result just in on Percy Schmeiser decision 21/5/2004 THE WEEKLY WATCH 73 - PANTS SPECIAL! 20/5/2004 End to ban fails to sway stores / Protests after Europe ends GM food freeze 20/5/2004 Tell Monsanto Where To Go! - New letter writing campaign 20/5/2004 UN hunger message spun off course - Genetic Engineering is NOT meeting the needs of the poor! 20/5/2004 Victory in GM battle with McDonald's 19/5/2004 Bt cotton fails again 19/5/2004 Corn wars - Syngenta goes for the jugular 19/5/2004 GM actions worldwide/Protestors dump a thousand pints of GM milk on supermarket bosses 19/5/2004 Monsanto defies German government / Bureaucrats say yes - public says no! 19/5/2004 Protests at Berkeley graduation ceremony / The walking spreadsheet narrates 18/5/2004 Sharma on FAO / Monbiot on Andhra Pradesh 17/5/2004 The Fraud of 'Sound Science' 16/5/2004 Biotech food fizzles out In USA and farmers challenge Monsanto's contracts 16/5/2004 Exposing Corporate and Government Lies About The Safety Of GE Food 14/5/2004 Monsanto: it's all coming home to roost 13/5/2004 Dairy farms urged to cut out GM feed 13/5/2004 GM crops reap harvest of opposition in Australia 13/5/2004 GM refuges contaminated / " Resistance found in GM refuges " 13/5/2004 Illegal GM penetrating northern India / Broken promises 13/5/2004 Italian port blockade ends / Tragedy of GM in Argentina - new paper 13/5/2004 Monsanto Sues Syngenta / Syngenta buys AstraZeneca's Advanta / Syngenta to battle Monsanto over corn 13/5/2004 WEEKLY WATCH number 72 FOR THE COMPLETE GMWATCH ARCHIVE: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive.asp Friends. 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