Government Must Come Clean on Secret Dealings with Syngenta

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GMW: Government Must Come Clean on Secret Dealings with Syngenta

" GM WATCH " <info

Thu, 12 May 2005 08:52:37 +0100

 

 

GM WATCH

http://www.gmwatch.org

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The Groups are demanding that the U.S. regulatory agencies submit Bt10

to the full regulatory risk assessment that would usually be performed

for genetically engineered crops, perform thorough testing of the corn

seed supply to accurately determine the extent of contamination, and

remove contaminated corn pending a complete risk assessment process.

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Recall Urged for Illegal Biotech Corn

 

Government Must Come Clean on Secret Dealings with Crop Developer, Say

Groups

http://www.naturalnewswire.com/2005/05/recall_urged_fo.html

 

WASHINGTON -- Environmental and food safety groups today demanded in a

letter to the heads of three U.S. regulatory agencies that the

government remove unapproved genetically engineered corn from the

nation's food

and seed supply pending a thorough risk assessment. The groups also

called for the public release of details surrounding the government's

secret dealings with the crop's developer, Switzerland-based Sygnenta

Seeds, Inc. The letter was delivered to Stephen Johnson, Administrator of

the Environmental Protection Agency, Lester Crawford, Acting Commissioner

of the Food and Drug Administration, and Michael Johanns, Secretary of

the Department of Agriculture.

 

Several hundred tons of the unapproved Bt10 corn, enough to plant

37,000 acres, were mistakenly sold to U.S. farmers under the name of an

approved variety from 2001 to 2004. The resultant harvest of an estimated

165,000 tons have been sold as food or feed in the U.S. and abroad.

Syngenta first informed the U.S. government of the mix-up in December

2004,

but federal regulatory officials did not inform the U.S. public that

they were eating the untested corn until the story leaked four months

later. U.S. trading partners were also kept in the dark about possible

importation of the corn.

 

" The potential for yet undetected contamination of other corn varieties

via cross-pollination or seed mix-ups means the unapproved corn could

persist in the food supply for years, " said Doug Gurian-Sherman, senior

scientist with Center for Food Safety and a former risk assessment

scientist with EPA. " This possibility exists because U.S. regulatory

agencies have not followed their own risk assessment procedures for

allowing

commercialization of genetically engineered foods. "

 

Although the U.S. agencies have claimed that the corn is safe, they

have not conducted a full risk assessment as has been performed for all

previous commercialized genetically engineered crops. " The regulatory

agencies have accepted Syngenta’s uncorroborated assertions that

contamination is not continuing, despite the hollowness of such

assurances in

the past, " added Gurian-Sherman. " If contamination continues, exposure

of the public and environment, and the potential risks, may be higher

than the agencies assume. " The errant corn is genetically engineered to

produce a pesticidal toxin.

 

The EPA has claimed that the protein in Bt10 corn is the same as that

in previously approved genetically engineered corn but has not disclosed

the supporting data, contrary to previous risk assessments for

genetically engineered foods. In addition, regulation of genetically

engineered

foods also typically includes risk assessments for environmental

impacts and for so-called " unintended effects, " or unexpected changes

in the

crop that are known to occur with genetic engineering that may be

harmful. Neither types of risk have been evaluated for Bt10.

 

" Syngenta's genetically engineered Bt10 corn has not been tested or

approved for human consumption anywhere in the world, " said Bill Freese,

research analyst with Friends of the Earth and an expert on Bt crops.

" Plants engineered to produce pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and hundreds

of other untested compounds are being grown right now on tens of

thousands of acres in the U.S., and our federal regulators seem unable or

unwilling to control them. "

 

The prestigious science journal Nature, which broke the story in March,

recently published a scathing editorial reflecting the furor aroused in

Europe by Syngenta's wrong-doing and the U.S. government's

lackadaisical response. The incident has aggravated tensions between

the U.S. and

European trading partners over controversial genetically engineered

crops.

 

" One would think that given the skepticism over the safety of

genetically engineered crops, the U.S. authorities would do everything

in their

power to ensure the safety of Bt10 rather than watering down the

regulatory process, " remarked Joseph Mendelson, legal director of

Center for

Food Safety. " Shortchanging its own regulatory framework is no way to

assure the public that genetically engineered foods are safe. "

 

The Groups are demanding that the U.S. regulatory agencies submit Bt10

to the full regulatory risk assessment that would usually be performed

for genetically engineered crops, perform thorough testing of the corn

seed supply to accurately determine the extent of contamination, and

remove contaminated corn pending a complete risk assessment process.

 

Contact: Craig Culp, Center for Food Safety, (202) 547-9359, (301)

509-0925; Bill Freese, Friends of the Earth, (301) 985-3011

 

Center for Food Safety works to protect human health and the

environment by curbing the proliferation of harmful food production

technologies

and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture.

CFS engages in legal, scientific and grassroots initiatives to guide

national and international policymaking on critical food safety issues.

 

Center for Technology Assessment is committed to educating the public,

media and policymakers about new technologies that are harmful to human

health and the environment while working to curb their proliferation.

To accomplish this mission, CTA is comprised of four program areas:

Patent Watch, Global Warming & the Environment, Human Genetics and

Nanotechnology.

 

 

 

 

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