GMW: FIRST ON-LINE WORLDWIDE REGISTER OF GM CONTAMINATION

[Guest guest]

GMW: FIRST ON-LINE WORLDWIDE REGISTER OF GM CONTAMINATION

" GM WATCH " <info

Wed, 1 Jun 2005 10:36:53 +0100

 

 

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

------

1.FIRST ON-LINE WORLDWIDE REGISTER OF GM CONTAMINATION

2.Guardian article on new register

 

Go directly to the register: www.gmcontaminationregister.org

 

" If states don't act and set strict rules now, GM crops will further

contaminate lands, seeds and food around the world "

------

1.FIRST ON-LINE WORLDWIDE REGISTER OF GM CONTAMINATION INCIDENTS

LAUNCHED TODAY

 

GeneWatch UK and Greenpeace International Press Release

Embargoed 08.01GMT Wednesday 1st June 2005

 

Amsterdam/Buxton, 1 June 2005 -- Today, GeneWatch UK and Greenpeace

International are launching the first on-line register of genetically

modified contamination incidents. The on-line, searchable web site gives

details of all the known cases of GM contamination of food, feed, seed

and wild plants that have taken place worldwide.

 

" No Government or international agency has established a public record

of contamination incidents or other problems associated with GM crops.

This register has been established because the official approach of

'turning a blind eye' is not good enough when dealing with a technology

like GM where living organisms are released to the environment " , said Dr.

Sue Mayer, GeneWatch UK's Director. " We hope this register will form an

important resource for citizens and regulators in the future. "

 

Since their introduction in 1996, GM crops have contaminated food,

feed, seed and the environment right across the globe. Over 60

incidents of

illegal or unlabelled GM contamination have been documented in 27

countries on 5 continents, and those are only the recorded incidents. The

register (which can be found at www.gmcontaminationregister.org) also

gives links to more information about the incidents. Cases of illegal

releases of GM organisms and negative agricultural side-effects are also

included.

 

" This register is being launched when governments are meeting in

Montreal to decide on liability regulations for GM crops. If states

don't act

and set strict rules now, GM crops will further contaminate lands,

seeds and food around the world " said Doreen Stabinsky, of Greenpeace

International.

 

Highlights from the register:

 

27 countries have experienced a total of 63 cases of GM contamination

of food, feed, seed or wild plants.

 

The largest number of contamination incidents have taken place in the

USA (11 incidents).

 

Contamination from StarLink maize was found in 7 countries: USA,

Canada, Egypt, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Japan and South Korea.

 

Illegal releases of GM crops into the environment or food chain have

taken place in India (cotton), Brazil (cotton and soya), China (rice),

Croatia (maize), Europe, Germany (papaya) and Thailand (cotton and

papaya).

 

Six cases of negative agricultural side-effects have been recorded

including deformed cotton bolls and the emergence of herbicide tolerant

'super-weeds'.

 

For more information:

Dr. Sue Mayer, GeneWatch UK +44 1298 871898

Doreen Stabinsky, Greenpeace International +1 202 285 7398

 

Notes to editors:

 

Two maps of the contamination incidents are available on the web site:

 

Incidents of GM contamination, illegal releases and negative

agricultural side-effects worldwide.

 

All the countries affected by a GM contamination incident are shown in

this map produced using data from the register.

 

Since the first GM tomatoes were grown commercially in the USA in 1995,

and followed by Roundup Ready soybeans in 1996, there have been a range

of different incidents of GM contamination and illegal plantings. This

register has records of 63 incidents of contamination, 10 illegal

releases and 6 negative agricultural side-effects (some incidents fall

into

more than one category). The map shows how they are distributed

worldwide.

 

How StarLink contamination spread around the world

 

A new map shows how Starlink maize contamination has spread from the

US.

 

In September 2000, sampling by a coalition of public interest groups in

the US, showed that a variety of GM maize known as StarLink was present

in taco shells being sold for human consumption even though it was not

approved for this use and should only have been used for animal feed.

The StarLink maize, produced by Aventis (now Bayer CropScience), is

genetically modified to contain a gene from the bacterium Bacillus

thuringiensis coding for an insecticidal Bt toxin known as Cry9C.

Unlike the

Cry1A and Cry3A Bt toxins used in other GM crops, it is heat stable and

does not break down in gastric acid – characteristics shared by many

allergens.

 

Before the Starlink maize contamination was detected, it was exported

from the US and has now been found in a whole range of countries as this

map, produced using data from the register, illustrates.

------

2.Pressure groups release first international register of contamination

mishaps as governments meet to discuss problem

Paul Brown, environment correspondent

The Guardian, Wednesday June 1, 2005

http://society.guardian.co.uk/environment/news/0,14129,1496284,00.html

 

The first register of GM contamination incidents across the world,

which includes eight in Britain, is being published today as governments

meet to discuss how to protect the environment from unauthorised

releases.

 

Details of all known contamination of food, feed for animals, seed and

wild plants since GM crops were introduced in 1996 are available on a

website launched by GeneWatch UK and Greenpeace. More than 60 incidents

of illegal or unlabelled GM contamination have been documented in 27

countries. Cases of illegal releases of GM organisms and damaging

side-effects such as the development of super-weeds are also included.

 

Governments are meeting in Montreal, Canada, to try to develop rules to

allow all GM products to be traced so that if they were accidentally or

deliberately released into the environment the extent of the

contamination among non-GM plants or animals could be tracked. The

second thorny

issue governments are dealing with is liability - who pays when either

the natural environment is damaged by the spread of GM genes or organic

and conventional farmers lose markets through contamination. This is an

issue on which the British government has so far failed to develop a

policy.

 

Progress in these areas has been slow internationally and governments

are anxious to complete work this week on the agreement called the

Caragena protocol, part of the convention on biodiversity, to prevent

further contamination incidents. The US and the large agribusinesses

which

market GM are anxious to avoid any liability for unauthorised releases.

 

Campaigners compiled the register to show the extent of the problem and

put pressure on governments for action. Sue Mayer, the director of

GeneWatch UK said " No government or international agency has

established a

public record of contamination incidents or other problems associated

with GM crops. The official approach of turning a blind eye is not good

enough when dealing with a technology like GM where living organisms

are released into the environment. "

 

Campaigners believe that only strict rules with liability regulations

applied by governments can stop the unauthorised spread of GM seeds and

products. " If states do not act and set strict rules now GM crops will

further contaminate lands, seeds and food around the world, " Doreen

Stabinsky of Greenpeace International said yesterday

 

The worst single contamination incident was of StarLink Maize, a GM

variety approved only for animal feed which entered the human food chain

in seven countries, the US, Canada, Egypt, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Japan and

South Korea.

 

The maize was found in taco shells, a popular snack, and had been

genetically modified to produce an insecticidal toxin to protect the

plant

against boring insects. It does not break down in gastric acid, a

characteristic shared by many substances which can cause an allergic

reaction. Thousands of stores across the world were forced to withdraw

products

from sale because of the illegal contamination.

 

Other illegal releases into the environment or food chain include

cotton in India, cotton and soya in Brazil, rice in China, maize in

Croatia,

papaya in Germany and cotton and papaya in Thailand.

 

Trial and error

 

There have been eight incidents of GM contamination in Britain

 

1. In September 2000, during the UK field trials of herbicide tolerant

GM sugar beet, Aventis reported some plants did not die even when they

were sprayed with a different herbicide designed to kill them.

Investigations showed that some of the original seed was tolerate to two

herbicides and this had probably happened as a result of

cross-pollination

during production of original seed in Germany.

 

2 Aventis (now Bayer) revealed in 2002 that oilseed rape used at 12

sites in the UK's farm trials was contaminated with an unapproved GM

variety. The seed had been used at a total of 25 British trials dating

back to 1999.

 

3 The Food Standards Agency surveyed food and food ingredients in 2002

and found GM soybean in some products, including several labelled

non-GM. None were above the 1% level requiring a GM label under EU

law, but

failure to segregate GM and non-GM crops was thought to be the cause.

 

4. Friends of the Earth tested 21 samples of food and three of animal

feed in 1999 and found five contained GM material. Only one was

labelled. The companies concerned changed their suppliers.

 

5. Routine tests by the Soil Association in 2002 of animal feed

labelled organic found GM contamination even though GM is not

permitted in

organic products. The feed is believed to have come from Italy.

 

6. In 2001 trading standards officers in the Medway, Kent, sampled a

range of foods and found low levels of contamination in 10% of the

processed food sampled.

 

7. Ten samples out of 25 health and organic foods screened were found

to contain GM soya at levels below 1%, above which there is a legal

requirment to label them, but eight of those were wrongly labelled as

non-GM or organic.

 

8. In May 2000 the government admitted that Advanta seeds had imported

an oilseed rape variety called Hyola, which was contaminated with GM

herbicide tolerant seed because of cross-pollination. The seed was sown

on 4,700 hectares before the mistake was discovered. The company Advanta

Seeds eventually paid compensation to farmers who were forced to plough

up their crop because it was unsaleable.

 

 

 

 

 

-------------