GMW:_Starlink_saga_still_goes_on/What_the_Starlink_fiasco_tells_us

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GMW:_Starlink_saga_still_goes_on/What_the_Starlink_fiasco_tells_us

" GM_WATCH "

Thu, 1 Jul 2004 11:57:48 +0100

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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" StarLink shows that the biotechnology industry has to worry about more than

consumer sentiment, " - Thomas Reddick, a St. Louis-based attorney who

chairs the American Bar Association's agricultural management committee

 

The National Corn Growers Association called the settlement " a step in the right

direction, but payments amount to little more than 'a drop in the bucket' for

farmers who experienced significant losses because of the StarLink disaster. "

 

" The class action bar is teed up for the next big thing, and that's a force that

can stifle innovation. You could push products off, such as biotech wheat, even

when the public is ready for them. " - Thomas Reddick

 

1.Starlink latest

2.What the Starlink fiasco tells us

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1.NCGA: StarLink lawsuit moving closer to resolution

Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News

June 14, 2004

 

Corn farmers who filed claims last year as part of the class action lawsuit

against StarLink corn may soon receive compensation for their losses, according

to the National Corn Growers Association.

 

Thousands of growers who grew corn between 1998 and 2002 were eligible to

receive a recovery from the " Non-StarLink Farmer Actions " settlement. After

repeated inquiries by the Nebraska Corn Board, the Garden City Group a New

York-based law firm, revealed that more than 150,000 claims were filed and just

6% of those claims were deficient, NCGA reported, adding that growers who filed

deficient claims should have received a letter explaining how to correct the

claim.

 

" The StarLink dilemma was an unfortunate situation for all corn growers, not

just those who used the StarLink product, " NCGA said in a statement. " Corn

prices dropped significantly as a result of the situation and that impacted the

entire industry. We're glad to see that qualified corn growers will finally be

recouped for some of the lost market

opportunities they experienced. "

 

NCGA called the settlement " a step in the right direction, but payments amount

to little more than 'a drop in the bucket' for farmers who experienced

significant losses because of the StarLink disaster. "

 

StarLink Logistics and Advanta USA agreed to pay a total of $112.2 million,

including interest, to fund the settlement for non-StarLink commercial corn

farmers nationwide. The Garden City Group estimated that farmers who qualify for

a settlement would likely receive $1 to $2 per affected acre in the form of a

prepaid debit card.

 

" StarLink shows that the biotechnology industry has to worry about more than

consumer sentiment, " Thomas Reddick, a St. Louis-based attorney who

chairs the American Bar Association's agricultural management committee, told

Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News. " The class action bar is teed up

for the next big thing, and that's a force that can stifle innovation. You could

push products off, such as biotech wheat, even when the public is ready for

them. "

 

For more information on the lawsuit, go to

http://www.nonstarlinkfarmerssettlement.com/

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2.What the Starlink fiasco tells us

 

The Starlink fiasco started when in October 2000 traces of an Aventis GM corn

[maize] called StarLink showed up in taco shells in the U.S. even though it was

not approved for human consumption. It led to a massive recall of over 300 food

brands. The 'StarLink' gene has also shown up unexpectedly in a second company's

corn and in US corn exports. The Starlink fiasco has wide implications for the

use of GM crops in farming.

 

BIG CONTAMINATION FACTOR

" In Iowa, StarLink corn represented 1 percent of the total crop, only 1 percent.

It has tainted 50 percent of the harvest. "

ABC NEWS November 28, 2000

 

Dale Farnham, an Iowa State University agronomist:

" No one knows how far the corn pollen can travel, some studies have said a

quarter of a mile "

 

" Aventis CropScience Wednesday was at a loss to explain why another variety of

corn besides its StarLink brand is producing the [starLink] Cry9C protein. "

United Press International November 22, 2000, Second corn variety producing

Cry9C

 

On the possibility of unintentional mixing of GM and non-GM post-harvest,

agronomist Dale Farnham says: " There are no safeguards. "

 

" The US Department of Agriculture claims to know where the maize — banned from

all food use globally and only recently approved for US exports — is located.

Aventis, the French firm which developed the genetically modified maize sold

throughout the US maize belt in 1999 and 2000, says it knows, also. So do I:

StarLink maize is everywhere. "

US agricultural journalist Alan Guebert writing in Farmers Weekly, December 8,

2000

 

BIG LEMMING FACTOR... F-F-F-F-FASHION!

Donald White, a University of Illinois plant pathologist, on why US farmers have

gone for GM corn: " ...what happens is there is a herd mentality. Everyone has to

have a biotech program. " White's view chimes in with a University of Iowa study

on why farmers were growing GM soya which concluded, " It is interesting to

note....that increasing crop yields was cited by over half the farmers as the

reason for planting GMO soybeans, yet yields were actually lower " .

 

BIG ECONOMIC FACTOR

US corn exports to big buyers are being hurt: " ...traders in Tokyo said on

Wednesday the discovery that StarLink`s Cry9C protein had spread to another

variety of corn only deepened doubts that U.S. corn can be kept free of genetic

modification. "

 

But in 1999 *even before Starlink* US corn exports to Europe dropped by 96%

because the US cannot provide non-GM corn.

 

BAD FUTURE FACTOR

 

US corn farmer and GM seed salesman, Nebraska, Dec 2000: " ....you guys [uS

Government] created this monster; you clean it up. I have learned my lesson. No

more GMO crops on this farm — ever. " [quoted in UK 'Farmers Weekly' December 8,

2000]

 

All quotes unless otherwise indicated taken from:

Corn leaving bad taste in world markets as GMO worries build Reuters, Wednesday

-- November 22, 2000