ACTION ALERT: Contact USDA by Tuesday Night

[Guest guest]

> " News Update from The Campaign "

> <newsupdate

 

> ACTION ALERT: Contact USDA by Tuesday Night

> Sun, 8 Aug 2004 00:03:19 -0500

>

> News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically

> Engineered Foods

>

----

>

> Dear News Update Subscribers,

>

> On Friday, an important article ran in the Des

> Moines Register (posted

> below) that brought our attention to a significant

> development. We have

> issued an ACTION ALERT in response.

>

> ProdiGene Inc. has requested permission from the

> U.S. Department of

> Agriculture (USDA) to grow corn in Texas genetically

> engineered to contain

> two pharmaceutical components -- aprotinin and

> trypsinogen. The USDA's

> Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is

> requesting public comments,

> but they must be submitted no later than Tuesday

> night.

>

> The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

> feels the threat to the

> food supply from these so-called " PharmCrops " is so

> serious that we have

> established a separate PharmCrops web site at:

> http://www.pharmcrops.com

>

> We have set up an ACTION ALERT on the PharmCrops web

> site so you can

> instantly send comments on ProdiGene's permit

> requests to the USDA's

> Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at:

> http://www.pharmcrops.com/prodigenealert.php

>

> Since there are actually two permit requests pending

> from ProdiGene -- one

> for aprotinin and one for trypsinogen -- you will

> want to send two of the nearly

> identical messages to the USDA. And you can add your

> own comments if

> you desire.

>

> While you are commenting on the ProdiGene permit,

> you may also want to

> send e-mails and letters to your members of Congress

> on these risky crops.

> Legislation has already been introduced into House

> of Representatives by

> Representative Dennis Kucinich to prevent these

> crops from being grown in

> outdoor environments and in food crops. The bill is

> H.R. 2921, the

> " Genetically Engineered Pharmaceutical and

> Industrial Crop Safety Act. "

>

> Here is a link to contact your members of the U.S.

> Congress in support of

> this important food and environmental safety

> legislation:

> http://www.pharmcrops.com/congressalert.php

>

> Posted below is the article from the Des Moines

> Register titled " Biotech

> request alarms food industry. "

>

> HERE IS SOME GOOD NEWS!

>

> In a related story, on Wednesday, a federal judge

> ruled that the USDA has to

> identify where the open-field testing of genetically

> modified " PharmCrops "

> are growing in Hawaii. Earthjustice and the Center

> for Food Safety had sued

> the USDA saying that the government had not properly

> regulated these crops

> that contain drugs and chemicals.

>

> The second article posted below discusses this

> excellent ruling. It is titled:

> " Judge orders USDA to identify locations of biotech

> crops. "

>

> ACTION ALERT TEXT...

>

> Also posted below is the text of the ACTION ALERT to

> the USDA over the

> ProdiGene permit requests. Remember to send comments

> by Tuesday:

> http://www.pharmcrops.com/prodigenealert.php

>

> Thanks for your continued activism and support!

> http://www.thecampaign.org/donate.php

>

> Craig Winters

> Executive Director

> The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods

>

> The Campaign

> PO Box 55699

> Seattle, WA 98155

> Tel: 425-771-4049

> Fax: 603-825-5841

> E-mail: label

> Web Site: http://www.thecampaign.org

>

> Mission Statement: " To create a national grassroots

> consumer campaign for

> the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President

> to pass legislation that

> will require the labeling of genetically engineered

> foods in the United

> States. "

>

>

***************************************************************

>

>

> Biotech request alarms food industry

>

> The Grocery Manufacturers of America is concerned

> about ProdiGene's plans to

> grow biotech corn in Texas.

>

> By PHILIP BRASHER

> DES MOINES REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU

> August 6, 2004

>

> Washington, D.C. - A biotech company is seeking

> federal approval to begin

> regular production of pharmaceutical corn crops, a

> move that has alarmed the

> U.S. food industry.

>

> The Texas-based company, ProdiGene Inc., gave the

> biotech industry a black

> mark two years ago when it was caught mismanaging

> field trials of

> genetically modified crops in Iowa and Nebraska.

>

> ProdiGene, which is commercializing two medical

> products made from

> bioengineered corn, has asked the U.S. Agriculture

> Department to allow

> cultivation of the crops in Frio County, Texas, a

> thinly populated area

> southwest of San Antonio.

>

> The Grocery Manufacturers of America, which

> represents such brands as

> Kellogg, General Mills, Kraft and Gerber, opposes

> the application. In a

> letter July 28 to the USDA, the trade group said the

> government provides

> inadequate oversight of crops engineered for

> pharmaceutical and industrial

> purposes.

>

> " We have long memories of the potential impact this

> can have on our

> companies, " said Stephanie Childs, a group

> spokeswoman.

>

> Some food companies were required to do nationwide

> recalls three years ago,

> after a variety of biotech feed corn not approved

> for human consumption,

> StarLink, was found mixed with supplies of

> food-grade grain.

>

> ProdiGene officials did not return calls seeking

> comment.

>

> ProdiGene was forced to pay the government about $3

> million in penalties and

> cleanup costs for failing to prevent its

> pharmaceutical corn plants from

> getting mixed with crops intended for food or animal

> feed.

>

> ProdiGene's problems, coupled with tighter planting

> rules imposed by the

> USDA in 2003, dealt a sharp setback to Iowa's hopes

> of developing

> bio-farming.

>

> A taxpayer-financed Iowa investment fund bought into

> ProdiGene in 2001. Last

> year, a subsidiary of Iowa-based Stine Seed Co.

> purchased a majority

> ownership in ProdiGene.

>

> However, the food companies' opposition to

> ProdiGene's Texas plans

> highlights the industry's concern about biotech

> crops.

>

> There were no field trials of pharmaceutical crops

> in the state last year,

> and this year there is just one, which involves

> barley, not corn.

>

> The Grocery Manufacturers of America said the Food

> and Drug Administration

> should evaluate the safety of pharmaceutical or

> industrial crops before they

> are approved for cultivation.

>

> " Right now, as it stands, federal regulations say

> that if any of these

> plant-made pharmaceuticals make it into the food

> supply, we have an

> adulterated product, " Childs said. " It's our brands

> that get damaged. We're

> not ready to take that risk for a product that we're

> not developing. "

>

> The USDA took the unusual step of writing

> environmental assessments for the

> ProdiGene crops because the company plans repeated

> plantings during the next

> several years.

>

> USDA analysts concluded there would be little health

> or environmental risk

> from the corn crops, in part because little other

> corn is grown in Frio

> County. Although the location was not disclosed, the

> ProdiGene crops will be

> at least a mile away from any other corn with which

> they could

> cross-pollinate, the studies said.

>

> The corn would be used to manufacture trypsin, used

> for insulin, vaccines

> and other products, and aprotinin, which also has a

> number of medical

> applications. Both products are now derived from

> cattle tissue.

>

> The company will inspect the crops weekly at first

> and then daily during

> pollination, the USDA said. Several vegetable crops

> that will grow nearby,

> including onions and cabbage, will be picked by hand

> to ensure that no corn

> seeds are mixed with them.

>

> Two trade groups representing companies that process

> and ship grain - the

> National Grain and Feed Association and the North

> American Export Grain

> Association - told the USDA they were pleased the

> Texas farm is " far removed

> from major corn producing areas. "

>

> But Gregory Jaffe, who follows the biotech industry

> for the Center for

> Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy

> group, said the USDA

> released insufficient information about the site to

> judge whether the crop

> was a threat.

>

> He also shares the food industry's concern about

> ProdiGene's plans.

>

> " We should not engineer any food crop and allow it

> to be grown on a

> commercial scale without FDA determining that that

> crop is safe if it gets

> into the food supply, " he said.

>

> The USDA is taking public comment on the

> environmental assessments through

> Tuesday.

>

> In 2003, the USDA increased isolation and inspection

> requirements for

> pharmaceutical crops to avoid a repeat of the

> ProdiGene incidents.

>

> " We expected it would mean less pharmaceutical corn

> is grown in the Corn

> Belt, " said Cindy Smith, who oversees biotech

> regulation for the USDA. " We

> leave it up to researchers to decide where they are

> going to grow. "

>

>

***************************************************************

>

>

> Judge orders USDA to identify locations of biotech

> crops

>

> Associated Press

> August 6, 2004

>

> HONOLULU (AP) - A federal judge has ordered the U.S.

> Department of

> Agriculture to identify where four companies are

> performing open-field

> testing of genetically modified crops in Hawaii.

>

> U.S. District Judge David Ezra on Wednesday said the

> government must reveal

> the locations to the environmental watchdog group

> Earthjustice and the

> Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit group that

> tracks food production

> technologies.

>

> The groups sued the government in November, alleging

> that the agency has

> failed to properly regulate genetically engineered

> crops.

>

> " It's definitely a victory, " said Isaac Moriwake, an

> attorney for

> Earthjustice. " It's basically an affirmation that

> the defendants haven't

> been able to show that this kind of information is

> confidential. "

>

> The government and the biotech industry argued that

> public disclosure of the

> sites could lead to crop vandalism and corporate

> espionage of trade secrets.

>

> " It's disappointing, " said Lisa Dry, a spokeswoman

> for the Biotechnology

> Industry Organization. If crop locations were made

> public, it would be " a

> real detriment for continuing to do business in that

> area. "

>

> Ezra gave the USDA 90 days to prove that releasing

> the locations to the

> public would cause irreparable damage to the biotech

> industry.

>

> Earthjustice sought the locations of so-called

> " biopharms " to force the USDA

> to conduct environmental impact statements before

> allowing open-field crop

> research.

>

> Biopharming is a relatively new area of research

> where plants are engineered

> to produce nonfood items, such as drugs or

> industrial chemicals.

>

> Michael Rodemeyer, executive director for the

> independent Pew Initiative on

> Food and Biotechnology, said there are strong

> arguments on both sides of the

> disclosure issue.

>

> " Certainly there are ways to make more information

> available to consumers, "

> he said. " It's not clear that crop location

> information is really going to

> help people understand more about what these safety

> issues are.

>

> " It may give them a greater sense of confidence, but

> that has to in turn be

> weighed against the potential that these crops could

> end up being destroyed

> which may end up spreading some of these crops

> around. "

>

>

***************************************************************

>

>

> TEXT OF ACTION ALERT TO USDA:

> http://www.pharmcrops.com/prodigenealert.php

>

> Docket No. 04-044-1 [and Docket No. 04-041-1]

>

> Dear USDA-APHIS,

>

> I am writing to oppose the approval of the permit

> request by ProdiGene Inc.

> to grow corn in Texas that contains aprotinin. [and

> trypsinogen in Docket

> No. 04-041-1]

>

> Further, I oppose giving similar approval to any

> biotech company that

> requests to grow crops that contain pharmaceutical

> drugs and/or industrial

> chemicals in an outdoor environment. Crops

> containing pharmaceutical drugs

> or industrial chemicals should ONLY be grown in

> confined environments.

>

> Even when grown in controlled environments, the

> plants used should not

> include food crops such as corn, barley, rice,

> wheat, etc. In other words,

> only non-food crops such as tobacco should be

> permitted for use in

> developing pharmaceutical drugs and industrial

> chemicals, and even those

> should NOT be permitted to be grown outdoors.

>

> Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of

> Representatives by

> Representative Dennis Kucinich that mirrors the

> guidelines I am suggesting.

> The bill is H.R. 2921, the " Genetically Engineered

> Pharmaceutical and

> Industrial Crop Safety Act. "

>

> I encourage the USDA Animal and Plant Health

> Inspection Service (APHIS) to

> adopt the regulations detailed in H.R. 2921 as

> policy for the agency rather

> than waiting for this legislation to pass through

> Congress.

>

> Current USDA-APHIS policy regarding crops that

> contains pharmaceutical drugs

> and industrial chemicals is extremely irresponsible.

> It is absurd to allow

> corn to be used as a vehicle for producing drugs and

> chemicals since

> numerous studies indicate the pollen from corn can

> travel for many miles.

>

> For example, according to a report titled

> " Genetically modified organisms

> (GMOs): The significance of gene flow through pollen

> transfer " issued in

> 2002 by the European Environment Agency, " Maize

> (corn) pollen has been

> shown, by the action of wind, to cross with other

> cultivars of maize at up

> to 800 meters away. It is estimated that small

> quantities of pollen are

> likely to travel MUCH FURTHER UNDER SUITABLE

> ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS. "

> (emphasis added)

>

> In other words, it is easy for corn pollen to travel

> half a mile and it can

> go much further in a storm. And perhaps the USDA

> needs to be reminded that

> Texas is one of the top states in the country for

> tornados. Texas averages

> well over 100 tornados a year. The USDA is playing

> " Russian roulette " with

> the safety of the U.S. food supply if they allow

> pharmaceutical corn to be

> grown in Texas.

>

> If the USDA approves the ProdiGene Inc. permit to

> grow this pharmaceutical

> corn, I will consider joining in an effort than will

> be launched to boycott

> all corn products that are grown in the state of

> Texas.

>

> For the safety of the U.S. food supply, please act

> responsibly and turn down

> this permit request by ProdiGene inc.

>

> Sincerely,

>

> Your name here

>