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WEEKLY WATCH 135

" GM WATCH " <info

Thu, 4 Aug 2005 20:16:05 +0100

 

 

 

 

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WEEKLY WATCH number 135

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from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor

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Dear all:

 

We have two extraordinary pieces of news this week. First, Monsanto is

attempting to patent pigs - and these are not even GM pigs! (CORPORATE

CRIMES). Second, revelations of bribery and corruption in Brazil's

government may well explain the country's embrace of GM crops after

president Lula claimed it would be " insanity " to release transgenics (THE

AMERICAS).

 

In China, meanwhile, illegal GM rice is showing up in supermarkets, and

in India more and more is emerging about the extraordinary tactics used

by Monsanto to promote Bt cotton seeds to India's poor farmers at the

very time that scientific studies are documenting the failure of Bt

cotton. And studies in China and the U.S. show the Bt problem is not

confined to India.

 

Claire claire

www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

 

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CONTENTS

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ASIA

THE AMERICAS

AFRICA

EUROPE

CORPORATE CRIMES

CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF SCIENCE

GM CROPS? A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE

GM DANGERS

 

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ASIA

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+ CHINA: CARREFOUR SELLS ILLEGAL GM RICE

Environmental group Greenpeace said it had found GM rice not approved

for human consumption on sale at a Carrefour supermarket in central

China. The rice was discovered at the French retailer's store in Wuhan

city

in Hubei province. Since April, Greenpeace China researchers have

uncovered illegal GM rice being grown in Hubei. This rice produced

allergic

reactions when tested on mice.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5564

 

+ MONSANTO BRINGS ON THE DANCING GIRLS

The biotech industry and its supporters like to present it as a

science-based industry whose reputation has suffered only because its

scientifically validated claims have been undermined by emotional

appeals and

disinformation campaigns.

 

In fact, the reverse is the case. And nowhere can that be seen more

clearly than in India, where Monsanto has been using every trick in the

book to promote its GM cotton seeds while a series of scientific studies

have documented the failure of its Bt cotton. In the most recently

published study (see next item), government scientists at India's premier

cotton research institute have shown that Bt cotton doesn't have the

necessary toxicity to kill the bollworms it targets.

 

But Monsanto's Indian subsidiary Monsanto-Mahyco, unabashed, has been

hyping GM seeds to India's poor farmers as magical, as

celebrity-endorsed and now, as sexy!

 

For its promotional work this spring in the Punjab, where GM cotton

varieties have recently been approved for the first time, the company

hired Bollywood star Nana Patekar to give glamour to its products. It

also

made use of Guru Nanak in its sales pitch to the state's Sikh farmers

in order to try and give its seeds a miraculous aura. And now it has

emerged that the company even resorted to using dancing girls in its

promotional tours of Punjabi villages.

 

There's a striking contrast between the lavish nature of Monsanto's

promotional campaigns in India and its flat refusal to pay

compensation to

the farmers who suffered terrible losses as a result of cultivating its

seeds. That refusal to pay compensation for the harm it has done has

led the government in Andhra Pradesh to ban Monsanto from the state.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5558

 

+ BT COTTON FAILURE MEANS HIGHER PESTICIDE COSTS FOR FARMERS

An excellent front-page article from India's Financial Express has

details of the Bt cotton research showing that Bt cotton doesn't have the

necessary toxicity to kill the bollworms it targets. The study found

that the resistant power in cotton plant remains only for 110 days, after

which the crop can be exposed to bollworm attacks. The Cry1Ac level

declines as the plant grows and is found to drop below its " lethal level "

of 1.9 mg within 110 days after sowing.

 

One of the researchers at the Nagpur-based Central Institute of Cotton

Research (CICR), which carried out the study, commented, " The decline

in resistant power means that the farmer has to apply more chemical

pesticides to save his crop. Already, the cost of Bt cotton seeds are

high

and added to this, he incurs additional costs on pesticides.

Eventually, he lands up in heavy debts. "

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5559

 

+ BT PROBLEM FOUND IN CHINA AND U.S. TOO

The recent research from India's Central Institute of Cotton Research

showing the built in failure of the Bt protein in GM cotton to kill

insects has been presented in some quarters as a problem that is peculiar

to Bt cotton in India.

 

But in fact, the Indian research on Bt cotton isn't the only one to

show these Bt expression problems - it is confirmed by a recent Chinese

study and a recent US study.

 

The US study even suggests a mechanism (poor expression of the Bt toxin

in tissue with low levels of chlorophyll) which indicates a systemic

problem with Bt cotton. All of which suggests this problem is not just

something limited to Indian varieties or to growing conditions in India.

See abstracts of the Chinese and US studies at

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5566

 

+ SOLUTION TO FAILING GM CROPS - MORE GM!

It would be a mistake to think that in the wake of the latest research

showing Bt cotton is ineffective and potentially disastrous for

farmers, India's scientific establishment are about to provide the

politicians

with the wake-up call they so badly need. Far from drawing the obvious

lesson that it is time to withdraw from a discredited technology, the

research results are being spun as showing the need to go still further

and faster along the same path in the hope of finding a way out!

 

Looming and ineffectual Bt resistance is the result of gene

monoculture, scientists now claim, pointing to a need for stacked

genes and a

diverse use of genes in GM crops. And, guess what? Here come Monsanto and

Syngenta, amongst others, with exactly those kinds of products.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5565

 

+ SCIENTIST THREATENED FOR REPORTING SCIENCE

P V Satheesh reports on a shocking development in the state of

Karnataka, where Monsanto is very strong. A Professor of Agricultural

Sciences

had reported in a local newspaper the Bt cotton study by the Deccan

Development Society, which showed the crop's failure. The University

where

he works has served him a notice asking him why disciplinary action

should not be taken against him for causing " irrefutable damage to the

name of the university " !

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5570

 

+ PAKISTAN, INDIA AND U.S. BIOTECH TIES

Pakistan, India and USA are building closer science ties with each

other in crop biotechnology. The initial duration of the collaborative

research programme will be 5 years, beginning 1 January 2006.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5565

 

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THE AMERICAS

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+ TAX BREAKS GIVEN TO GM GRAIN DEALER TO MAKE ETHANOL

A so-called " Energy Bill " is being fast-tracked through the US

legislature. The bill will give $14.5 billion in tax breaks to such

'progressive' entities as Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, and coal

and nuclear

power corporations, not to mention the corporate corruption poster

child, Archer Daniels Midland, to make ethanol from all that GM corn they

grow.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5571

 

+ BRAZIL'S LEGISLATORS BRIBED TO PASS MONSANTO LAW

In the 2003 elections Brazil's president - Lula - pledged to keep his

country GM-free. For those who've been wondering how he moved from

saying it would be insanity to release transgenics, to doing exactly that

and then gaining sufficient political support to pass Brazil's now

notorious " Monsanto law " , this article provides an answer.

 

EXCERPT:

[revelations have emerged about] the depth of corruption all parties

have been involved in, including the PT [Lula's party]. The rotten smell

is still choking all Brazil with anger.

 

The most despicable revelation was that the mensalao was alive and

well. Mensalao is the name given to a weekly bribe the government party

pays to opposition parties in order to ensure the government can pass the

legislation it wants. Lula apparently used mensalao to pass such

anti-worker laws as his superannuation legislation, and allowing

genetically

modified food to be grown.

 

With this disclosure, the PT's image as a " clean " party was thrown out

the door. Now, growing dissatisfaction with Lula's policies is

threatening the government's stability.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5555

 

+ HELP BRAZIL GET A PROPER BIOSAFETY POLICY

GM-free Brazil are asking for letters to be sent from all over the

world to the Brazilian government calling for a proper biosafety

policy in

Brazil (i.e. for something better than Monsanto law!).

 

You can help simply by pasting some text in Portuguese into an email

and sending it to

Exma. Sra. Dilma Rousseff, Ministra Chefe da Casa Civil

e:mail: gabinete, casacivil,

johaness

The Portuguese text is at

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5560

 

+ HAWAIIANS CHALLENGE ALGAE " BIOPHARMING "

Citizen groups Ohana Pale Ke Ao, Kohanaiki Ohana, GMO Free Hawaii, and

Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, represented by Earthjustice, filed a

lawsuit in the Circuit Court of the State of Hawaii, against the Board of

Agriculture, State of Hawaii, challenging the approval of a permit to

allow the production of potentially dangerous GMOs on the Big Island.

 

The permit allows biotech company Mera Pharmaceutical to import and

produce in a state facility in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Island seven novel

strains of " biopharmaceutical " algae genetically modified to produce

unapproved experimental drugs. The suit seeks to compel the BOA to comply

with the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act by reviewing the potential

environmental impacts of the project. The suit also seeks to

invalidate the

BOA's approval and stop the project from proceeding until the mandated

review process is complete.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5563

 

+ OUTLAWING LOCAL GM BANS IN CALIFORNIA

The debate over GMOs just got a lot hotter in California. Last month,

Democratic State Senator Dean Florez introduced an amendment that would

effectively remove a community's control over its food supply.

 

Florez's amendment reads, in part, " no ordinance or regulation of any

political subdivision may prohibit or in any way attempt to regulate any

matter relating to the registration, labeling, sale, storage,

transportation, distribution, notification of use, or use of field crops. "

 

This controversial overhaul comes in response to three California

counties and two cities that banned the raising of GM crops and

livestock.

Activist groups are up in arms over the proposed legislation, calling it

an affront to local democracy.

 

It's easy to see why. Since California currently does not have any GMO

regulations at the state level, the proposed law will successfully

eliminate the only limitations that prevent biotech giants like Monsanto

and Syngenta from moving in with their patented GM seeds. Moreover, the

bill, known as SB 1056, takes pre-emptive measures to preclude people

from raising concerns about GMOs in the future, and in doing so deprives

the public of any chance debate on this hot-button issue.

 

Becky Tarbotton of Californians for GE-Free Agriculture, says, " If SB

1056 or a bill with similar pre-emptive language passes in California,

it will effectively override the ability of local communities, including

farmers, to make decisions about whether or not they want to grow

genetically engineered crops. "

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5568

 

+ BIOPHARM BILL PASSES OREGON SENATE

SB 570 WINS BY 17-13 MARGIN

Late Saturday afternoon, the Oregon Senate passed SB 570, the biopharm

bill, by a 17-13 count.

The passage marked the end of a seven-month effort in the legislature

to put a 4-year moratorium on biopharm and industrial crops, limiting

growing to non-food crops grown indoors. W

 

Although, with the session expected to end this week, there will be no

chance to introduce the bill in the House, this is still the furthest

that any legislative attempt to restrict biopharm crops has ever gone

in the U.S. It adds to the growing

concerns with current USDA regulations, which numerous scientific,

agricultural, medical, environmental, business and consumer protection

groups have criticized as inadequate to prevent contamination.

 

The bill was supported by 17 out of 18 Democrats. Unfortunately, none

of the 12 Republicans supported the bill, although several were very

much on the fence. This is too bad, since the bill is non-partisan -

everybody eats and no one wants drugs in their food.

 

Oregonians for Food and Shelter, a pro-industry group that includes

Monsanto, Dow and Dupont on its board, and the Oregon Farm Bureau opposed

the bill.

 

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AFRICA

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

 

+ GHANA STOPS IMPORT OF GM FOODS

Ghana's food and agriculture minister, Ernest Debrah, said the country

would reject without hesitation the importation of any GM foods, crops

and materials into the country.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5553

 

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EUROPE

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

 

+ CYPRUS BUCKLING UNDER U.S. PRESSURE

You may remember the recent Reuters article about how the US sent a

note to the Cypriot parliament warning against any move to pass a bill

requiring the display of GM food in shops on separate shelves. The note

warned that such a move would damage bilateral relations and urged

parliamentarians to oppose the passage of the bill.

 

The note also issued the following warning: " Do you really want to take

this step which will only hurt US-Cypriot relations while doing nothing

to protect the health and welfare of your citizens? " It then told the

Speaker of the Cypriot parliament to " do what you can to keep the bill

from coming to the floor " and that if he could not do this to " at least

postpone further consideration of this bill until after the summer

recess " .

 

Not long afterwards the local press reported that, " A vote on the

controversial bill to separate genetically modified foods on supermarket

shelves will likely be put off until after the summer break. " It also

reported that the bill's sponsor blamed " the potential delay on the

intervention of the US Embassy " . He pointed out that before the US

circulated

its note to parliament, all parties were ready to vote through the bill

on GM products. " We had three meetings about this before and all the

parties had agreed, now after the US Embassy intervention, they're not

sure any more. "

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5561

 

+ GM CORN PROTEST IN GERMANY

On 31 July, up to 400 campaigners from western Europe flocked to a

small village some 40 kilometers (25 miles) outside of Berlin to join

forces for a protest action which they called " voluntary field

liberation. "

Their plan was to symbolically destroy some GM corn in a field near the

village of Hohenstein.

 

One organizer, Michael Grolm, said the large number of police officers

needed to protect the relatively small parcel of land meant the protest

was a success. He said farmers and companies who want to propagate GM

grains will have a " difficult time " if so many police officers are

needed to protect farmland where GM crops are supposed to be grown.

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5556

 

+ HUNGARY: SCIENCE SPLIT ON GM ISSUES

Hungary's minister of economic affairs, Janos Koka, has been visiting

the US seeking investment for its biotech programme, at the same time as

the country is trying to maintain its GM-free status for the sake of

its export markets. Environmentalists believe that the biotech companies

and the US Embassy are pressuring Koka to campaign for the lifting of

GMO restrictions.

 

In Hungary, there is significant scientific opposition to GM. Professor

Bela Darvas of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Plant Protection

Institute, Ecotoxicology Department, Budapest has conducted tests of

DK-440-BTY (Yieldgard) Bt maize and found that it endangered Hungary's

protected species of butterflies. Also, he reported that the seed " has a

substantial impact on soil biology. The effect of the toxin on the soil

organisms is assumed to be responsible for the decline of biological

activity. "

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5552

 

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CORPORATE CRIMES

-------

 

+ MONSANTO'S NEW INVENTION: THE PIG!

Monsanto has filed several patents on breeding herds of pigs! The

patent applications were published in February 2005 at the World

Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva. Greenpeace

researcher

Christoph Then uncovered the fact that Monsanto is seeking patents not

only on

methods of breeding, but on herds of pigs kept for breeding, as well as

the offspring that result.

 

" If these patents are granted, Monsanto can legally prevent breeders

and farmers from breeding pigs whose characteristics are described in the

patent claims, or force them to pay royalties, " says Then. " It's a

first step toward the same kind of corporate control of an animal line

that

Monsanto is aggressively pursuing with various grain and vegetable

lines. "

 

The patents are based on simple procedures, but are incredibly broad in

their claims.

 

In one application (WO 2005/015989 to be precise) Monsanto is

describing very general methods of crossbreeding and selection, using

artificial

insemination and other breeding methods which are already in use. The

main " invention " is nothing more than a particular combination of these

elements designed to speed up the breeding cycle for selected traits,

in order to make the animals more commercially profitable.

 

TELL MONSANTO TO STOP PATENTING LIFE.

Let Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant (no relation to the actor who plays a

sleazy corporate executive in Bridget Jones' Diary) and the board of

Monsanto know you don't want them patenting your food.

http://www.greenpeace.org/no-pig-patent

 

Click below to send a link to a delightful pig image + this message as

an E-card to your friends and associates: " The Earth is flat, pigs were

invented by Monsanto, and genetically modified organisms are safe.

Right. "

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/photosvideos/photos/the-earth-is-flat-pi\

gs-were-i

 

Click below to send a link to an image of Monsanto's President + this

message as an E-card: " MONSANTO: NO FOOD SHALL BE GROWN THAT WE DON'T

OWN "

http://act.greenpeace.org/ecs/s2?i=1835 & sk=std & la=en

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5567

 

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CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF SCIENCE

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+ A SUMMER OF CORRUPT SCIENCE

Links to numerous articles on the corruption of science

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5569 :

 

EXAMPLE: Honest Science Under Siege

" In some areas of scientific endeavor, there are almost no independent

researchers left because nearly every scientist in the field is funded

by corporations with an axe to grind. "

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5521

 

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GM CROPS? A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE

-------

 

+ GM CROPS? A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE

EXCERPTS from updated report, 'GM Crops? A Christian Response',

published by Christian Ecology Link (CEL):

 

* Intrinsic value. We challenge the utilitarian assumption that the

only worthwhile living species are those which can be used by humans and

that other flora and fauna are expendable. Other species have intrinsic

value and are not merely collections of genes and chemicals or

resources for human use (Gen. 1.24-25).

 

* Human 'dominion'. Humans have responsibility for a 'garden' Earth

which belongs to God. We have a duty of care for our fellow creatures

which includes showing respect for the distinct nature of each. The

commission to till and keep the garden is often given too managerial,

manipulative a spin (Gen. 2.15).

 

* Reticence. Humans are clever but wisdom is found in respect for God's

constraints (Job 28).

 

* Christian social teaching encourages a preferential option for the

poor. Christian Aid, Cafod (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development )

and the CIIR (Catholic Institute for International Relations) are among

development agencies questioning GM crops. Far from ending starvation,

applying GM technology could place too much power over food into too few

hands and leave the poor more vulnerable. Fair distribution of food and

land would have more effect.

 

* Christian ethical concerns include environmental sustainability and

dietary choice as well as the relief of poverty. People who take a

principled precautionary stance against GM technology are entitled to

products wholly free from GM ingredients.

 

* The Christian 'good neighbour' principle requires an evaluation of

the potential indirect long-term effects of GM crops on the health,

environment and society of others.

 

Single copies of CEL's 8-page leaflet can be obtained free by sending

an A5 stamped addressed envelope to CEL Publications, 40 The Avenue,

Roundhay, Leeds, LS8 1JG,uk. It is also available as a pdf at

www.christian-ecology.org.uk/gmo.htm

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5554

 

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GM DANGERS

-------

 

+ SCRAMBLING AND GAMBLING WITH THE GENOME

" With genetic engineering, transferring genes from one species' DNA to

another is just like taking a page out of one book and putting it

between the pages of another book. " This popular analogy is used often by

advocates of GM food. The words on the page are made up of the four

letters, or molecules, of the genetic code, which line up in " base pairs "

along the DNA. The inserted page represents a gene, whose code produces

one or more proteins. The book is made up of chapters, which represent

chromosomes - large sections of DNA.

 

The analogy makes the process of genetic engineering appear to be as

simple and precise as inserting a new page. A groundbreaking report,

however, shreds the book analogy. Genome Scrambling - Myth or Reality?,

written by three scientists at the UK-based Econexus, reveals that the

process of genetic engineering results in widespread mutations within the

inserted gene, near its insertion, and in hundreds or thousands of

locations throughout the genome and that these are overlooked by many

scientists and regulators.

 

The report is an extensive review of research that overturns the

central arguments by biotech advocates that the technology is precise,

predictable, and safe, and that current studies are adequate. On the

contrary, it demonstrates that GM crops represent a significant gamble to

public health and the environment (see http://www.econexus.info/ ).

- Jeffrey M. Smith, author of Seeds of Deception, Spilling the Beans,

July 2005

http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5562

 

 

 

 

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