Guest guest Posted September 17, 2004 Report Share Posted September 17, 2004 WEEKLY WATCH number 90 --------------------------- --------------------------- from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor --------------------------- The prize for the most spectacular U-turn of recent weeks goes to the Thai Prime Minister, who happily morphed from an enthusiastic passenger on the train to GMO-land, to denying any GM contamination of papayas from government GM trials, to admitting the contamination, and finally to recommending that Thai farmers embrace organic methods! The country's flirtation with GM is reported to have already cost it one billion baht and the story isn't over yet (THAILAND LATEST). Don't miss EPA toxicologist Suzanne Wuerthele's rundown on why folic-acid-enriched GM tomatoes are a terminally stupid idea (GM MEDICINES) – and all the news from around the globe. Claire claire www.lobbywatch.org / www.gmwatch.org --------------------------- CONTENTS --------------------------- LOBBYWATCH FOOD SECURITY FOOD SAFETY GM MEDICINES THAILAND LATEST BAD-IDEA VIRUS GRIPS ASIA OTHER NEWS FROM ASIA EUROPE THE AMERICAS AFRICA AUSTRALASIA DONATIONS --------------------------- LOBBYWATCH --------------------------- + CATHOLICS CONDEMN GM CONFERENCE A Catholic group, the Australia-based Columban Centre for Peace, Ecology and Justice, is protesting the pro-GM bias of an upcoming conference in Rome. The conference, " The Moral Imperative of Biotechnology " to be held September 24, 2004 at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy, is organised by The Pontifical Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the US Embassy to the Holy See. One of the speakers is GM lobbyist Prof C S Prakash. The group writes, " The presence at your Conference as a speaker of Dr C S Prakash, an avowed lobbyist for international GM corporations, gives a forum for a powerful Public Relations coup. " Another conference speaker, Peter Raven, has been described by geneticist Wes Jackson as, in a certain sense, " a paid traveling salesman for Monsanto. " More on Prakash: http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=106 More on Raven: http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=191 And as the group points out, " Your conference lacks representation by Bishops' Conferences and Catholic agencies working directly with the hungry and malnourished of the world but also opposed to GM food solutions, for example, from Southern Africa. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4323 + QUOTE BY A CATHOLIC PRIEST CRITICAL OF THE CONFERENCE " I worked with the T'boli people in Mindanao for over ten years during which I came to know and respect the bishop of the diocese of Marbel, Dinualdo Gutierrez. He has led a vigorous campaign against sowing Bt corn in his diocese because he sees what the impact will be on the people and the land. If the Vatican supports GE foods he and many others around the world will feel that the Catholic Church has abandoned them in favour of giant biotech corporations who are poised to make billions of dollars selling patented GE seeds. " It will be a tragedy if the Vatican listens to the corporate voice rather than the voice of countless Christian communities and their leaders in Third World countries. " - Fr Sean McDonagh of the Columban Missionaries in Ireland Read Fr McDonagh's excellent article on this subject. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4334 + CONFERENCE SPEAKER TELLING LIES IN VIETNAM Wherever in the world Vatican conference speaker Prof CS Prakash goes in his unstinting efforts to assist the biotechnology industry and the US economy, there follows a succession of media reports containing his latest remarkable claims. In Tanzania, for instance, he told his audience GM 'doubles production' (The Express, Tanzania, Aug 21, 2002). In the Philipinnes he said GM crops can help reduce farmers' post-harvest losses because 'most genetically-modified crops have longer shelf life'!! Aaron deGrassi of the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, provides another striking instance of Prakash's taste for advocacy over facts: 'Prakash has repeatedly cited [GM] sweet potatoes [in Kenya] as a positive example of the benefits of GM for African countries, but has confessed to having no knowledge of the results of scientific trials in Kenya.' When the results of those much hyped trials were finally reported at the beginning of this year, it emerged that the GM sweet potatoes had performed abysmally. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=2481 This week Prof Prakash is bombarding yet another developing country with industry propaganda. This time it's the turn of Vietnam. Adopting GM crops, Prakash has been telling the Vietnamese, will not only boost their country's exports, it'll create jobs for 60 percent of the labour force!!! http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4351 The chracteristic most commonly engineered into GM crops is herbicide tolerance. This form of weed control enables farmers to dispense with labour - something many Third World countries have in abundance. GM crops are thus a recipe for exacerbating rural unemployment and increasing poverty, by forcing labourers off the land. What can one say about a man who travels the globe as a VIP in order to tell poor and sometimes desperate countries a series of falsehoods? He's certainly an expert on " The Moral Imperative of Biospinology " . For more on CS Prakash and his many enormities - see: http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=106 & page=P ------- FOOD SECURITY ------- + GM CROPS ALONE WILL NOT END HUNGER - EXPERTS Swiss experts have warned that GM crops are not the only nor the best way to combat global hunger. A government advisory committee said not enough research had been carried out into the impact of gene technology. The Ethics Committee on Non-Human Technology called for closer coordination of state-funded research programmes in an effort to help improve the provision of food for people in developing countries. But the authors argue that state-funded research projects should not give preference to GM crops and called on the scientific community to consider other options, adding that alternative methods were often more promising and produced better results. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4318 ------- FOOD SAFETY ------- + NZ: DID MONSANTO BREACH GM RAT FEEDING DECLARATION? New Zealand's Green Party is demanding to know why Monsanto still hasn't provided Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) with the adverse rat-feeding data on their GE corn MON 863, despite supposedly signing a declaration it would reveal all the facts relevant to its approval application. " We have now established that Monsanto is required to sign a statutory declaration with each application it submits to FSANZ, declaring that it has not withheld any information that might prejudice its application, " said Sue Kedgley, the Green Party's Safe Food Spokesperson. " It now appears that Monsanto has breached the terms of such a declaration by withholding this 90-day study showing abnormalities in rats fed MON863. This is a serious matter that calls into question the integrity of the entire GE food assessment process. " Just yesterday the media reported that 11 international medical journals have adopted a collective policy that adverse effects of pharmaceutical testing must be released by companies. Surely the same standard of care should apply to food? " Ms Kedgley has today written to FSANZ asking them to confirm that Monsanto signed the required declaration, why Monsanto had withheld their MON863 for approval and to confirm that this breached the terms of such a declaration. She also wants to know why Monsanto is still withholding the full data of the rat-feeding study and their original summary. " FSANZ guidelines clearly state that companies must supply them with copies of original reports and that summaries do not contain adequate material. Given these guidelines, why is Monsanto still refusing to hand over the raw data? The Green Party now has the report by France's Commission du Genie Biomoleculaire (CGB) that denied approval to MON863 and which was the basis of the Le Monde article that broke the rat-feeding story. " We call upon FSANZ to make the CGB report on MON863 available in English on its website so that independent scientists can evaluate it. " Given that this genetically engineered corn is likely to be present, unlabelled, in hundreds of foods on sale in New Zealand, it is urgent that its safety is independently verified and the full data showing abnormalities in rats is made available for independent expert and public scrutiny, " said Ms Kedgley. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4347 News of this study was broken by French newspaper Le Monde. For the article, see http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3308 ------- GM MEDICINES ------- + HUMAN GENES AND GM TOMATOES AS MEDICINES Scientists at the University of Florida have genetically engineered tomatoes to contain extra folic acid, on the grounds that (to quote from the paper) " folic acid deficiency is a major factor in neural tube birth defects, such defects are very prevalent in modern society. The deficiency is also implicated in breast cancer and heart disease. " The paper goes on, " The most simple procedure has been to add folate to bakery products. The publication below shows how tomatoes may be enhanced by genetic modification using a synthetic copy of a human gene. " EPA toxicologist Dr Suzanne Wuerthele, writing in a personal capacity, deals with many of the issues raised by this GM tomato point by point. Excerpt: 1. Is this really necessary? Folate is readily available in supplements, and women who could get pregnant are advised to take folate supplements. This seems to be an effective solution, at least among people who can afford the supplements. Will poor women who cannot afford supplements be able to afford these high-tech tomatoes? Surely the University of Florida will at least want to patent the GE folate tomato so they can recoup what will likely be high development costs. They may also wish to make a profit from future sales. 2. Folate content in supplements can be carefully controlled, but it is not likely to be controlled in a perishable fruit which comes in different sizes, and which might produce different amounts of folate at different stages of ripeness or even under different agronomic conditions. Recently researchers who toyed with the idea of producing vaccines in tomatoes admitted that the fruit would have to be dried, pulverized, chemically analyzed and encapsulated so that dose could be controlled. What is the advantage of going through all this when we already have folate in supplement form? 3. We have learned that it would be necessary to eat many pounds of " golden rice " daily to prevent Vitamin A deficiency. How many GE folate tomatoes would a woman have to eat to ensure she will not have a child with neural tube defects? 4. Could GE folate tomatoes present a risk of excessive consumption? Even though oral folic acid is not directly toxic to humans, it may counteract the effect of antiepileptic drugs. FDA has recommended that oral tablets of folic acid be limited to 1 mg or less. How could people who need to avoid excess folate identify the GE folate tomatoes? Will FDA require folate tomatoes to be labeled with a warning? Who would be liable if someone with epilepsy had seizures as a result of eating folate tomatoes? 5. Genetically engineered organisms have produced unintended toxicants. Genetically engineered yeast developed for the brewing industry produced the toxicant methyl glyoxal and had to be abandoned. High methionine soybeans containing a nut transgene had to be abandoned when it was learned that people allergic to nuts could react to the soybeans. Roundup Ready (glyphosate-resistant) soybeans have a lower concentration of some phytoestrogens than normal soybeans. Will the GE folate tomato produce unintended toxicants, or allergens or have reduced nutritional properties? Will FDA require the manufacturers of the folate tomato to ensure its equivalency to normal tomatoes with real data? Or will it just assume it is " substantially equivalent " as it does with other GE crops? [GM WATCH COMMENT: I know two women who had to abandon attempts to take folic acid supplements when pregnant because they had allergic reactions. Will the folate tomato be the first GM food to undergo allergy testing since the brazil nut soybean? Don't hold your breath...] http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4339 --------------------------- THAILAND LATEST --------------------------- + 4 SEPT: PAPAYAS NOT GM, CLAIMS AG MINISTRY The Agriculture Department yesterday denied that papayas destined for European markets and elsewhere were GM crops. " Exporters can apply for a department certificate to prove the papayas have not been contaminated, " said department director general Chakarn Saengruksawong. Chakarn said his department's field tests with genetically modified (GM) papayas had not contaminated local crops and that Thailand had not condoned the planting of GM crops. " I can speak with authority that Thailand has not produced GM papayas or GM crops of any kind, " he said. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4341 + 14 SEPT: GM PAPAYA CONFIRMED The Agriculture Ministry admitted it had found GM papaya on a farm in Khon Kaen and vowed to destroy the produce of any farm where GMO contaminated fruit is discovered. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4341 + 14 SEPT: CLEANUP OPERATION FOR GM PAPAYA Clean-up operations will be organised to tackle contamination of plantations in the country by GM papayas, the Agriculture Department said. The procedure has three stages - eradication of all papaya trees in affected plantations, imposition quarantine zones and investigations into how the contamination occurred, said department chief Chakan Saengraksawong. The steps are similar to existing plant disease outbreak control measures, he said, and will be set up under the Plant Quarantine Act, which prohibits planting of 89 transgenic crops, including papaya, outside the government's research station due to the potential impact on human health and the environment. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4341 + 16 SEPT: 1,000 GM PAPAYA TREES FELLED An agricultural research station has destroyed 1,000 suspected GM papaya trees in Muang district. Witoon Lianchamroon, director of Biothai, had previoulsy called for the immediate destruction of all suspected GM papaya trees in tandem with a reasonable compensation scheme for papaya growers who had been affected by the Government's negligence in controlling the spread of GM crops. He also called on the government to order Kasetsart and Mahidol university researchers, who are also conducting experiments on GM papaya, to destroy their transgenic papaya trees to prevent similar incidents in the future. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4348 + FROM GM TO ORGANIC IN 5 STEPS: THAILAND'S BIOTECH TRAIN CRASH (1) 24 Aug 2004: In a radio interview, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said of GM crops, " If we (Thailand) don't start now, we will miss this scientific train and lose out in the world. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4257 (2) 24 Aug: [benigno Peczon, a scientist and a holder of a PhD from Purdue University] lauded the move by the Thai government, saying this [move to embrace GM crops] will " send positive signals across Asia. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4257 (3) 26 Aug: Chawanwut Chainuwut, Thai ag ministry's deputy secretary-general: " Personally, I support the premier's policy [to go ahead with GM crops in Thailand]. The leakage of GM matter during field testing is something preventable and I believe we can control it as we learned a lesson from the Bt cotton case. " In the case of Bt cotton, trial crops leaked into the local area around the experimental fields. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4262 (4) 8 Sept: The Bangkok Post, The Nation and the AFP agency reported that European importers had cancelled orders of Thai papaya products after news that field trials of GM papaya had possibly contaminated nearby farms. The move followed independent labs in Hong Kong confirming papaya on the Thai market were the Kaek Dam Tha Phra strain that are officially only grown at Government research stations. A of a Thai organic exporter affected said the European reaction has been " faster than the bird flu impact " , while an executive of a leading fruit exporter said the move had already cost the Thai industry one billion baht (NZ$37 million). http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4316 (5) 11 Sept: In a bid to make Thailand the 'Kitchen of the World', Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra urged local farmers to switch to using organic fertilizers, instead of chemical ones. The country has to import chemical fertilizers worth 25 billion baht and insect pesticides valued about 7 billion baht annually, he said. The use of chemical fertilizers does not produce satisfactory output for crops, while it causes dangers such as cancer and difficulty in breathing. Organic fertilizer is also cheap, he said. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4346 + SCIENTISTS MUST LISTEN TO THE PUBLIC An editorial in Thai newspaper The Nation says science policies can backfire if scientists fail to look beyond the lab [unfortunately, some often fail to look so far as the lab itself, if one is to judge by the quality of existing GM 'science']: " Who's to say whether the resistance of European consumers to GM products is more or less reasonable than the whole-hearted welcoming of the technology by the United States? ... more fundamental questions need to be asked. What is the technology for? Who controls it? Who will take responsibility if things go wrong? " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4337 + GM DEBATE HAS SPIRITUAL ASPECT A Thai Buddhist writes in the Bangkok Post: " It is very sad to see that the GM food debate in Thailand is limited to 'science' and 'business'. .... Since GMOs are created by scientists and not by nature, we need to rely on our beliefs, not just scientific 'evidence'. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4330 + NEW RICE STRAIN RESISTS BLAST DISEASE A new non-GM Hom Mali rice strain that resists blast disease, a contagious infection that damages about one-third of the country's total premium output each year, will be introduced late this year, according to the Thai Department of Agriculture. Much GM rice research is aimed at producing blast resistance, but this rice shows it's redundant. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4346 --------------------------- BAD-IDEA VIRUS GRIPS ASIA --------------------------- ** " This notion that you lure biotech to your community to save its economy is laughable. This is a bad-idea virus that has swept through governors, mayors and economic development officials. " - Joseph Cortright, an economist who wrote a report on the issue published by the Brookings Institute** + INDIA: GUJARAT TO CONSIDER VENTURE CAPITAL FOR BIOTECH INDUSTRY [GM WATCH COMMENT: note that in this article, Gujarat Chief Minister and biotech enthusiast uses " BT " interchangeably for the GM Bt cotton and as an acronym for the word " biotech " , i.e. he appears not to understand that Bt (as in " Bt cotton " ) is an acronym for " Bacillus thuringiensis " !] Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has promised the biotech industry the same facilities as were provided to the information technology (IT) sector. " For me, IT stands for India today and BT for Bharat tomorrow, " Modi told the inaugural session of BioGujarat, a two-day national exposition and conference on the BT industry organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). " We will treat both the sectors equally, " the chief minister added. Gujarat's Chief Minister is keen to claim personal responsibility for the legalisation of Bt cotton in India: " Soon after I was elected chief minister (in October 2001), I received a letter from Union Ministry of Environment and Forests asking me to take measures against those farmers of the state who had used BT-cotton [illegally]. " But I was convinced of the benefits of the genetically modified seeds. I replied that you would first have to arrest me. Later, the ministry permitted the use of BT-cotton, " he said. Contrast the Chief Minister's proud boast with the fate of those farmers who 'benefited' from the GM cotton legalisation that he claims to have brought about: " The 55,000 farmers who sowed [GM] cotton seed on over 42,000 hectares across the country last year were an unhappy lot. This was corroborated by studies conducted by the governments of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, as also by independent agencies. Following widespread complaints of failure of Bt cotton in Madhya Pradesh early last year, the GEAC commissioned a seven-member team of scientists to evaluate the performance of the crop. The study showed that Bt cotton failed in Madhya Pradesh 'due to wilting and large-scale drying of the crop at the peak bolling stage, accompanied by leaf-dropping and shedding, as also forced bursting of immaculate bolls'. According to the study, non-Bt plants performed much better. " - freeindia.com article http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4324 + MALAYSIA: CONTINUING HYPE FOR BIOTECH An article by Chee Yoke Heong, researcher with Third World Network, Malaysia, highlights the baseless faith that governments have in biotech as an engine to drive their troubled economies: Excerpt: .... the Malaysian Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Jamaluddin Jarjis ... led a contingent, including government officials and representatives from the private sector, aimed at wooing investors to invest in Malaysia's biotechnology initiative, the Biovalley. Like Singapore and India, Malaysia has embarked on a mission to set up a biotechnology centre to spearhead the country into the biotechnology era. " We are committed to providing attractive incentive packages to biotechnology companies investing in Malaysia, " the minister promised. That package would cover a wide spectrum of financing structures... This relentless belief in the technology and the high regard it is given more often than not ignores the many aspects of the failure and weaknesses of the technology. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4327 --------------------------- OTHER NEWS FROM ASIA --------------------------- + PHILIPPINES: GOVT TOLD, DON'T LET FARMERS BE HELD HOSTAGE A scientist and science workers' group leader on Thursday warned farmers that they would end up hostage by transnational corporations selling agrochemical products if the government reneges on its mandate to support agricultural research as a result of the financial crisis. Dr Giovanni Tapang, chairman of Samahan ng Nagtataguyod ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Sambayanan, said that if there is no government subsidy to agricultural research, particularly to the Philippine Rice Research Institute, transnational corporations would plow in money into the research facility. Their investments, which could take the form of partnerships and joint ventures, would enable the foreign companies, said Tapang, to impose their agenda that could ultimately result to their control of the market - from seeds and inputs production to insurance of farmers. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4336 + CHINA'S GM TREE MADNESS New Scientist reports how China may have planted more than a million genetically modified trees yet no one knows for sure where all the trees have been planted, or what effect they will have on native forests! At a meeting on GM safety in Beijing in July, a number of scientists complained about the absence of proper controls over GM trees within China. Xue Dayuan of the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science says that the GMO Safety Administration Office of China's Ministry of Agriculture has no control over GM trees because they are not classified as crops. But the State Forestry Bureau, which oversees tree plantations, does not have a licensing system like the one run by the ministry, he told the meeting. " There is an urgent need for cooperation between the two bodies, " Xue told the China Daily online newspaper. Not least because the experiments in Xinjiang have shown that genes from the GM poplars are turning up in natural varieties growing nearby. Another critic is Wang Huoran, who represents the Chinese Academy of Sciences at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. In November 2003 he is reported to have told an FAO panel that GM poplar trees " are so widely planted in northern China that pollen and seed dispersal cannot be prevented " . http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4353 ------- EUROPE ------- + NEW EU RULES FAIL TO HALT FALL IN GM RESEARCH GM crop research has continued to suffer in Europe despite agreement of revised rules on " deliberate release " of GMOs, according to a European Commission report. Reviewing early experience with the directive, the report notes that in most EU-15 countries there was " steep decline " in notifications of GM crop field trials even after its entry into force in 2001. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4319 + EUROCRATS ACCUSED OF " CAVING IN " TO US The European Union's executive Commission has been accused in a letter Friday by an alliance of environmental, farming and civil society organisations of " caving in " to pressure by the United States and the World Trade Organisation to accept genetically modified (GM) foods. The Commission will on Monday Sept. 20 push European member states to vote on the import of a controversial GM maize made by the US biotech giant Monsanto. This will be the Commission's eighth attempt to get its member states to accept a GM food. The US, Canada and Argentina started proceedings last year in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over Europe's position on GM foods. Since the trade dispute started the Commission has forced through 2 GM products without the support of either the public or the member states, and has pressurized countries to drop their national bans on GM foods and crops. The Commission is also arguing in the WTO that there is scientific uncertainty over the safety of GM foods at the same time as pushing products domestically in Europe! Monsanto's GM maize called MON863 – to be voted on on Monday - has been heavily criticised by scientists from a number of countries, in particular France. The French Commission for Genetic Engineering (CGB) was alarmed by the results of a feeding study of MON863 on rats that showed significantly different levels of white blood cells, kidney weights and kidney structure, as well as lower albumin/globulin rates in the rats fed the GM maize. The Director of the French National research body, INRA, stated, " I hear the argument of natural variability, but what struck me in this file is the number of anomalies. There are too many elements here where significant variations are observed. I never saw that in another file. " . The confidential minutes of the CGB meeting (in French) are available from Friends of the Earth. Adrian Bebb, GM campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe said: " The European Commission is caving in to the bullying of the United States. They are forcing more and more genetically modified foods and crops onto the market against a background of scientific disagreements. Their actions are undemocratic and against the will of the European public who have made it consistently clear that they do not want to eat genetically foods. Europe should stand firm against the US pressure and protect its people and environment from this genetically modified experiment. " In May this year campaigners delivered a petition to the WTO signed by more than 100,000 citizens from 90 countries and more than 544 organisations representing 48 million people. The signatories, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and French small farmers' leader Jose Bové, have called on the WTO not to undermine the sovereign right of any country to protect its citizens and the environment from GM foods and crops. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4358 + GM MAIZE MOVE " DESPICABLE " A decision by the EU Commission to allow European farmers to grow 17 varieties of GM maize has been condemned as illogical and despicable. The watchdog group GM Free Cymru reacted angrily to last week's move and is calling on the National Assembly and Defra to lodge a formal objection on the grounds that the MON810 range poses unacceptable risks to human health and the environment. The varieties have been developed by Monsanto. Six are already listed in France and 11 in Spain, and the retiring EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection David Byrne has now ruled that they must also go on the European register. GM Free Cymru spokesman Dr Brian John said, " This is a despicable piece of opportunism, pushed through by a group of commissioners who are shortly to retire, and in particular at the behest of David Byrne, who has been a leading proponent of GM in agriculture ever since he took office. This has been done for the benefit of Monsanto, the World Trade Organisation and the United States of America, and is directly against the interests and the wishes of consumers within the EU countries. In other words, this has everything to do with politics and nothing to do with science. " Dr John said the MON810 range did not meet EU regulations. Monsanto had not provided molecular data to demonstrate genetic stability, and recent work in France and Belgium had shown that the line is inherently unstable. " It does not therefore meet the standards laid down in the EC seeds directive and should be rejected on that basis, " he said. " Austria and Italy have banned MON810, and the Belgian authorities now also have major concerns about it. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4343 + CAMPAIGN FOR GM-FREE ZONES GATHERS FORCE The Assembly of European Regions (AER) and Friends of the Earth Europe (FoE) have launched a joint campaign to protect traditional crops and products from the consequences of the introduction of new genetic technologies. The AER and FoE will lobby for a European legal framework on the coexistence of traditional and transgenic crops, as well as for the legal recognition of GMO-free zones and regions in Europe. The AER and FOE call for a binding EU coexistence regulation, following the example of the law that was recently adopted by the German Parliament, with a clear definition of: - biosafety measures such as separation distances between GM and non-GM crops and a public register for GMOs; - a liability scheme in the event that conventional and organic crops as well as their seeds are contaminated by GMOs, on the basis of the precautionary and polluter-pays principles; - the right of Member States and regional authorities to prohibit or restrict the use or sale of GMOs within the Common market if there is evidence of an advanced risk of extensive dissemination or a negative impact on the environment;- legal provisions enabling the regions to define GMO-free zones or regions. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4343 + EUROPE URGED TO EMBRACE GM FOODS BY CANADIAN BIOTECH INDUSTRY On the heels of the EU's clearance of 17 varieties of GM maize, which can now be grown on an unrestricted basis throughout Europe, several speakers at the ABIC2004 conference in Cologne, Germany said GM plants were shown to be safe, predicting Europeans would begin to accept the technology. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4338 http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4332 Curiously, ABIC appears to have few European connections. Most of its directors are connected to Canada, and the prairie city of Saskatoon in particular! http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4204 According to Friends of the Earth, the European Commission's plan to allow GM-contaminated seed contradicts a resolution adopted by the European Parliament in December 2003. The Parliament called on the Commission and Member States " not to proceed with the approval of the release of any further genetically modified varieties of plants until such time as binding rules on coexistence, backed up by a system of liability based firmly on the 'polluter pays' principle, have been agreed and implemented. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4338 + GMOS WILL NOT IMPROVE AGRICULTURE OR BENEFIT CONSUMERS - CONSUMER ORGS Two leading consumer rights organisations have condemned the ABIC2004 Manifesto, which aims to promote the rapid adoption of crops based on GMOs in Europe. Consumers International, which has 230 member organisations in 115 countries, and the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (VZBV), Germany's umbrella organisation representing 38 consumer groups, said the manifesto was a thinly disguised call for uncritical state and commercial support to push the GMO agenda in Europe despite widespread consumer resistance. The organisations were speaking on the eve of the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference (ABIC 2004), being held in Cologne, Germany, from 12-15 September. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4322 --------------------------- THE AMERICAS --------------------------- + CANADA'S FEDS SECRETLY WORKING ON GM WHEAT As in Thailand, the bad-idea virus means agricultural officials are willing to risk severe economic consequences in their desperation to push forward this HAZARDOUS technology. Darrin Qualman of Canada's National Farmers Union says, " Our customers have been very clear that there will be tremendous market loss " if GM contamination of wheat occurs but scientists and officials at Agriculture Canada are still working on genetically modified wheat at three secret locations in Western Canada this year. Qualman says rather than conducting field trials into GM wheat, federal researchers should look at developing a disease-resistant wheat through more conventional breeding methods. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4354 + BRAZIL GM REGULATORS LOOKING TO APPROVE MORE CROPS Environmental group GAIA reports that the situation in Brazil is taking a turn for the worse. After President Lula's 2003 election pledge to keep Brazil GM-free, he caved in to pressure from the USA and farmers in the Southern states who had been illegally growing GM soya, and allowed GM soya to be sold domestically just for the year 2003-2004. Now, those who want GM soya to be grown in 2004-05 [Monsanto and pals], are pushing for a Biosecurity Law to be passed quickly, which would allow GM planting to take place in October. The proposed Biosecurity Law is weak, and grants little capacity to the environmental bodies with safety concerns about GM. Furthermore, a federal court recently granted decision-making powers to the GM regulating body, the pro-GM National Technical Commission of Biosecurity (CTNBio), allowing them to overrule the 1999 decision of the environmental regulator Ibama, that environmental impact studies are necessary before commercial planting of a GM crop can be allowed. The need for environmental impact studies is enshrined in the Brazilian constitution. Immediately it was granted status, CTNBio declared it was considering clearance for commercial planting of GM soya, corn, cotton and rice. The crops may be given approval by December. However Greenpeace and Idec, a consumer watchdog, are planning to appeal the decision to allow CTNBio to waive the requirement for environmental assessments. After all, if there is no harm in GMOs, why fear the assessments? http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4325 + FRENCH WANT BRAZIL'S GM-FREE SOYA Meanwhile, the French province of Brittany, in the person of the vice governor, Pascale Loget, has signed a letter of intent with the state of Paraná for the purchase of non-GM soy from Brazil. Brittany annually imports 6 million tons of grains of the product. According to Loget, within 60 days Brittany will be declared a GM-free territory and is interested in how Paraná is enforcing a prohibition on the planting and sale of such crops. Loget explains that at the moment Brittany imports most of its soy from the state of Rio Grande do Sul where GM soy is grown and sold and wants to change that because it does not want GM soy even as animal feed. She says GM crops degrade the quality of food and that 80% of the population of France is opposed to consumption of GM foods even indirectly in milk and meat. The governor of Paraná, Roberto Requião told the French mission that he is opposed to GM food for three reasons: there is a need for more research on the effects on the environment and humans, they create a greater demand for pesticides and there is an economic disadvantage. Requião added that his state would have paid US$ 60 million in royalties this year if GM crops had been grown in Paraná. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4357 + THE FAHRENHEIT 9/11 OF GM FOOD Last March, GMO Free Mendocino ushered through a law banning GM crops and livestock. It was a David-thrashes-Goliath victory. Opponents of the legislation, led by the agricultural trade group CropLife America, outspent the anti-GMO activists by a nearly 10-1 ratio. But GMO Free Mendocino had a secret weapon: a film, then a work in progress, called The Future of Food. The new documentary, created by Deborah Koons Garcia (wife of The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia), uses archival footage and interviews with farmers and agriculture experts to argue that GMO foods are jeopardizing our food safety. Exploring a gamut of issues from so-called suicide seeds to lax food-safety enforcement laws, and from the controversy over patented genes to infected cornfields, the film is a comprehensive and chilling example of anti-GMO rhetoric. http://www.thefutureoffood.com " The Future of Food could be the Fahrenheit 9/11 of the genetically engineered food battle. " - Doug Mosel as quoted in Wired News Article " If you eat food, you need to see The Future of Food... " - Newstarget.com " This stylish film is not just for food faddists and nutritionists. It is a look at something we might not want to see: Monsanto, Roundup and Roundup-resistant seeds, collectively wreaking havoc on American farmers and our agricultural neighbors around the world. In the end, this documentary is a eloquent call to action. " - The Telluride Daily Planethttp://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4331 + HAWAII: GM PAPAYA PROTESTED A group of Big Island farmers opposed to GM plants dumped more than 20 papaya fruit into a trash bin on the University of Hawaii-Hilo campus on 9 September in a symbolic protest of contamination of their trees by plants created by Univ of Hawaii scientists. The group, which includes 100 small farmers, is calling on the Univ of Hawaii to create a plan to prevent cross-pollination of their papaya trees as well as offering liability protection for growers if their markets are lost. The farmers say a new study they financed shows major contamination of their trees by GM plants that could affect their ability to market papaya to Japan, deeply cutting into Hawaii's export market of non-engineered papaya. The papaya industry is worth about $12 million annually. Japan does not allow Hawaii's GM papaya to be imported. Neither does the European Union. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4321 + HAWAIIANS WARN THAIS AGAINST GM PAPAYA Hawaiian farmers previously warned Thai farmers against planting GM papaya, saying that the plant would invade local varieties, with serious market loss. " The introduction of GM papaya has brought economic and environmental disasters to farmers in Hawaii in the past five years, " Melanie Bondera told a press conference organised by Greenpeace Southeast Asia. " I understand that GM papaya is going to be introduced in Thailand soon. So, we would like to caution you about its possible adverse impacts.'' GM papaya grown in Hawaii had a weaker tree, softer fruit and was less popular with consumers than other varieties. The strain also required greater use of fertiliser and pesticides, which increased costs. " GM papaya sells for only 13-17 cents a pound compared to the 45-85 cents a pound for non-GM varieties,'' she said. The rejection of GM papaya by the Japanese market had been a devastating blow for Hawaiian farmers. " About 60% of Hawaiian papaya were imported by Japan, but since the GM papaya's introduction by scientists of the University of Hawaii, Japan has rejected papaya shipments from Hawaii because its consumers are against GM food, " she said. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4337 --------------------------- AFRICA --------------------------- + KENYA FIGHTS BACK AGAINST BRITISH BIOPIRATES Officially, they are called Puradax cellulase and IndiAge Neutra. Unofficially, they are small revolutions for the fashion conscious and environmentally aware - two new enzymes that can whiten and brighten fabrics without using bleach, and that can soften denim and give it that stonewashed look. But a powerful Kenyan government agency is claiming that these popular western " inventions " , sold by a giant US biotech company to clothing and detergent companies around the world, in fact originate with British academic bioprospectors who, they allege, took micro-organisms from lakes in the Rift Valley without permission and then patented some of the genes. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which usually tries to protect mega-fauna such as elephants and lions, said that it was looking for international lawyers to help it claim royalties from companies who have profited from some of the world's smallest organisms. The dispute revolves around genes extracted from extremophiles - minute organisms capable of surviving in extreme environmental conditions - discovered in the 1990s in highly alkaline lakes in the Rift Valley by a group of British academics led by William Grant, a professor at the department of microbiology and immunology at the University of Leicester. Grant has declined to talk, but Genencor International, the world's largest industrial biotech company, said this week that one of its employees was also on the expedition to the Rift Valley lakes and shares a patent on one of the enzymes with the Leicester academic. .... under the international Convention on Biological Diversity, governments and companies are committed to a " fair, equitable sharing of the benefits accruing from ... genetic resources " . The US, which has not signed up to the treaty that came out of the Earth summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, is under increasing pressure to sign. - John Vidal, The Guardian, September 8, 2004 http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4333 + HOW KENYA'S BIOLOGICAL WEALTH WAS TAKEN AWAY Scientists at Kenyatta University (KU) have been linked to an international deal leading to the extraction of biological wealth from lakes Bogoria and Nakuru in the early 1990s. Prof Wanjiru Mwatha, chair of Kenyatta University's Botany Department, is claimed to have been party to the research expedition that resulted in Genencor International Inc - a US-based biotech company - scooping samples of extremophiles from the two lakes and developing the industrial enzymes it has been selling for millions of dollars. Though Genencor has admitted getting millions of dollars by selling the two enzymes, Kenya - and, particularly, the marginalised people around Lake Bogoria - have not received a single cent. Owing to this, the Kenya Wildlife Service is planning legal action. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4333 ------- AUSTRALASIA ------- + NZ: BIOETHICS COUNCIL REPORT WHITEWASHES MAORI CONCERNS Maori researchers have nailed the real reason for much so-called public consultation on unpopular technologies like GM: that of managing perception. The 'Human Genes In Other Organisms Report' released by the Bioethics Council ''reads more like an advertisement for the biotechnology industry and mad scientists'' say the Maori researchers. The report, widely touted to canvas the cultural, ethical and spiritual concerns of New Zealanders, comes down heavily in favour of placing human genes and their replicas into other species. Especially of concern has been the lack of awareness of scientific research that questions the merit and safety of transgenic research. Maori researcher Dr Paul Reynolds says that there has been consistent opposition by Maori to the developments of the technologies: " From 1998 until 2003, Maori have spoken to the Royal Commission, submission processes, researchers, Ministry consultations, numerous forum including the Bioethics Council. The dialogue process that the Council undertook has failed to reflect what Maori said to them. They have whitewashed their concerns. In Maori assessments, a number of factors are being weighed up including whanau [Maori word for extended family] and environmental wellbeing, cultural factors, safety of experimentation, value for money spent, accountability, access, usage of public funds. " Maori researcher Glenis Philip-Barbara said, " the Gisborne [Maori] participation was strong and clear in its views but there is zero in the Report that adequately reflects what Maori participants have said. Once again it seems we have been sidelined. " Dr Reynolds says his research showed that " significant amounts of taxpayer funding is being channelled into areas that manage the perception of the public to biotechnologies in New Zealand. Managing perception is clearly what the Council seems to be about. A part of managing perception seems to be the marginalisation of Maori views in the report. Supposed dialogue and consultation has been extremely useful as part of a range of ways of managing public perceptions. However these processes have been extremely limited and still fail to engage the critical questions about whether the science has long-term risks and if in fact there are ever going to be any medical cures. The jury is still out on both these questions, but the council is supporting the continuance of a science that remains unpredictable and therefore potentially unsafe for future generations. " http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4329 ------- DONATIONS ------- Our thanks to all of you who have donated to GM WATCH. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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