from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:
Good news: Monsanto appears to have given up on GM wheat. (COMPANY NEWS)
A new report overturns claims that GM crops are good for the environment, and more research from the United States confirms serious weed problems caused by GM herbicide-resistant crops. (ENVIRONMENT: NEW RESEARCH AND REPORT)
In India its emerging that agents are being paid to encourage farmers to cultivate Bt cotton. Local people are being offered cash incentives to whip up enthusiasm and help boost Monsanto's flagging sales. Local scientists and farmers also confirm that agriculture department scientists are massaging data on Bt cotton's performance by increasing yield figures and showing reduced pesticide use. (ASIA)
Claire This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org
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CONTENTS
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ASIA
LOBBYWATCH
AFRICA
LOBBYWATCH UK
THE AMERICAS
MIDDLE EAST
FOOD SAFETY
ENVIRONMENT: NEW RESEARCH AND REPORT
GM TREES
COMPANY NEWS
WORLDWIDE ACTION
Q & A
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ASIA
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+ NEW REVELATIONS ABOUT BT COTTON IN INDIA
A report from Gene Campaign says that in Andhra Pradesh, India, farmers have suffered heavy losses with Mahyco-Monsanto's MECH-12 and MECH-184 varieties. The reasons for this are low yield, premature falling of the cotton bolls and wilt leading to drying up of the roots. The varieties were found to be largely ineffective against the bollworm they are designed to resist. The cotton fibre is also of poor quality and fetches a lower price in the market.
EXCERPTS: The situation with Bt cotton is getting worse every year. Illegal varieties have spread at a fast rate and there is no response from the regulatory agencies... Farmers have suffered heavy losses [with Monsanto varieties]...
Local scientists and farmers confirm the observation that the State Agriculture department scientists who are collecting data on Bt cotton performance, are fudging data to show better performance. For example, 4 is made into 14 quintals yield and figures are similarly concocted to show reduced pesticide use.
Cotton traders observe that all Bt varieties have poorer quality fibre compared to non-Bt varieties.
...there are agents operating in villages, who encourage farmers to cultivate Bt. cotton. These agents are local people who are offered cash incentives by seed agents to promote the Monsanto cotton but usually do not grow it themselves... These agents spread rumors that the Monsanto seeds are in great demand... The local scientists say this is to boost the flagging sales of the Monsanto varieties.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4994
+ GOLDEN RICE IS A TECHNICAL FAILURE OBSCURING REAL SOLUTIONS
"The GE industry is using hungry children in India as their expense account to open up Indian markets to GE foods -- an untested, potentially dangerous and irresponsible act." - Divya Raghunandan
Five years after the hype on the so called "Golden Rice" started, Greenpeace claims that this project is a technical failure, not suited to overcome malnutrition and worse, is drawing funding and attention away from the real solutions to combat vitamin A deficiency (VAD). Greenpeace expects that industry scientists will shortly release new propaganda on Golden Rice, misleading the public again on real solutions for VAD.
"GE rice could, if introduced on a large scale, exacerbate malnutrition and undermine food security because it encourages a diet based on a single industrial staple food rather than upon the reintroduction of the many vitamin-rich food plants with high nutritional value that are cheap and already available." - Professor Klaus Becker, University of Hohenheim, Germany
FOR MORE ON GOLDEN RICE INCLUDING LINKS TO A SERIES OF REPORTS
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4995
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LOBBYWATCH
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+ BLACKWASHING MONSANTO
A new article from GM Watch founder, Jonathan Matthews, exposes how Bush and Monsanto are manufacturing black support for GMOs.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4987
+ NEW SEARCHABLE DATABASE ON THE REVOLVING DOOR AND BIOTECH
The Edmonds Institute has announced its "New Revolving Door", a searchable database about people who have worked in/for both government and industry, with emphasis on those connected to the biotechnology industry.
http://www.edmonds-institute.org/newdoor.html
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4983
+ REUTERS CHIEF IS GM ENTHUSIAST
Recently, we reported on the extraordinary surge in pro-GM stories produced by news agency Reuters.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4928
Could this occurrence be in any way connected with Reuters' recent appointment (October 2004) of a new chairman, Niall FitzGerald?
Prior to joining Reuters, FitzGerald was joint director and CEO of food giant Unilever in which capacity he told a conference of food executives that the time had come to reignite the debate in Britain over the acceptability of GM food and to win it. Marketing Week described FitzGerald's intervention as "part of a strategy by the food industry to 'soften up' public opinion in advance of a concerted effort to reintroduce genetically modified organisms, and their derivatives, to the human food chain". On another occasion Fitzgerald complained that Europe had given into "phantom fears" about GM and bought into "Frankenstein food scare tactics". He identified alarmist and hysterical reporting as one of the sourcs of the problem. Unilever under Fitzgerald did direct business with Monsanto which purchased Unilever's cereals division.
http://www.about.reuters.com/investors/corpinfo/board.asp
http://ngin.tripod.com/290102b.htm
http://www.lifesciencesnetwork.com/files/news-detail.asp?NewsID=7364
+ ALEX AVERY CLAIMS BENBROOK HAS BLOOD ON HIS HANDS
Alex Avery has been busy building on smears started by ex-Syngenta man, Willie DeGreef about critics of GM "whispering" their malign messages in the ears of African policy makers, leading them to reject GM food aid. DeGreef told a U.S. Grains Council meeting that he would like to identify who was responsible for such "crimes against humanity."
Now corporate attack dog Alex Avery has claimed on pro-GM listserv AgBioView that "if there is blood on someone's hands, [Dr Charles] Benbrook's are certainly more than a little red, as is the entire organic farming community."
Chuck Benbrook is a leading US agronomist and former Executive Director of the Board on Agriculture for the US National Academy of Sciences. Dr Benbrook had the temerity to tell Zambian scientists that Zambia's food crisis was being exploited by those seeking to score "political points" on behalf of biotech and that there was actually no shortage of non-GM foods which could be offered to Zambia.
Alex Avery works for his dad at the right-wing industry-funded Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues, of which Dennis Avery is the director. Like his dad, Alex Avery is an ardent supporter of GM crops, pesticides, irradiation, factory farming and free trade. Organic farming is the Averys' principal bugbear. In order to attack it they have produced wild accusations and daft statistics, leading to claims of "killer organic foods"!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4993
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AFRICA
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+ TANZANIAN FARMERS UP IN ARMS AGAINST GMO DRAFT POLICY
The government has been asked to defer tabling a draft policy on GMOs next month in the National Assembly, to give stakeholders time to study and review the document. Two farmers' associations, Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM-Tanzania) and MVIWATA, say the government did not include stakeholders' view in the draft policy. According to the two bodies the government should develop sustainable agriculture to improve food security.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4984
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LOBBYWATCH UK
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+ LORD OF UNREASON - TAVERNE'S NEW BOOK
This week saw the publication of 'The March of Unreason: Science, Democracy and the New Fundamentalism' by Lord Dick Taverne. Britain's Sunday Telegraph carried an excerpt under the headline, "A little pesticide does you good but 'organic' farming harms the world."
Taverne, a close associate of Lord Sainsbury, is probably best known as Chairman of the pro-GM lobby group Sense About Science. To read our PANTS ON FIRE citation for Lord Dick and his pals (including a couple of great cartoons), see: http://www.gmwatch.org/p2temp2.asp?aid=60&page=1&op=2
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4978
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4979
+ UK SCIENCE IN FOR A CHANGE AT THE TOP
Changes are said to be imminent among the ranks of known GM enthusiasts and biotech entrepreneurs who occupy the biggest political jobs in UK science. Lord May, president of the Royal Society, will leave his post in November. Among those thought to be in line to replace him is Sir John Krebs. Sir David King, the Government's chief scientific adviser, is also due to end his term in office then.
There is speculation that Lord Sainsbury, the science minister, may leave Parliament to concentrate on the family retailing business. And Ian Gibson, the Labour MP who spouts GM campaigner Derek Burke's words, does not know whether he will chair the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee after the forthcoming election.
But it's a change in our industrially-aligned science culture and the corporate dependence and cronyism that it breeds that's really needed.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4973
+ TOO MUCH COMMERCE HARMS SCIENCE - WINSTON
Leading UK scientist Lord Robert Winston says science risks being tainted by commercial interests, in the same week the government claimed it was essential to the UK's economic success. "Too much commercial activity can actually diminish the value of research... I think that is a danger... it has the strings attached which often blur what scientists are trying to do." Lord Winston was speaking as president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA).
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4973
+ UK GOVT COMMITTEE IGNORED BY BLAIR
The government stands accused of wilfully failing to co-operate with an MPs' committee set up by prime minister Tony Blair himself to monitor the government's performance on the environment. The Environmental Audit Committee's chairman, MP Peter Ainsworth, has accused government of adopting a dismissive approach to its work on controversial issues like GM crops. Last March, Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett announced her approval of the commercial cultivation of one strain of GM maize within days of the EAC producing a highly critical report unanimously advising against it. The timing of the announcement suggested Cabinet had approved the decision 24 hours before the EAC published its report after an inquiry lasting almost six months.
"The Government's response to the committee's report on GM crops was very poor," said Mr Ainsworth. "It effectively dismissed the report without even bothering to answer several of its key points, and also deliberately misinterpreted several other points in an attempt to rubbish its conclusions and recommendations."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4992
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THE AMERICAS
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+ NEW REPORT ON GM SOYA IN ARGENTINA SAYS GM CAUSES HUNGER AND DEPENDENCY
A new case study on the impact of GE soya in Argentina will feed into meetings exploring "sustainable soya production". The round table meeting will include representatives of industry and NGOs and will take place in Foz do Iguazu, Brazil, 17-18 March.
The report argues:
"Agriculture based on soya monocultures can never be sustainable. The 'sustainable soya' proposal to rotate soya monocultures with cattle production merely implies alternating extensive monocultures with intensive livestock production, both heavily mechanised and reliant on chemicals. Both occupy vast stretches of land, displacing other crops, whilst using minimal labour.
"The catastrophe that is unfolding in Argentina, as described in this case study, shows how genetic modification of crops creates hunger and dependency. The Argentine case is a warning that must not be ignored by people who want to defend their political sovereignty and their food security."
Originally prepared for the Gaia Foundation by Grupo de Reflexion Rural Argentina and published in 2004, this case study is a new document rewritten by Helena Paul (Econexus) with the original authors.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4991
+ ACTION AT ANIMAL FEED COMPANY PROVIMI IN ROTTERDAM IN SOLIDARITY WITH ARGENTINA
On the morning of March 16, a group of 25 activist had organised a protest at animal feed company Provimi in the Rotterdam Harbour. Provimi, a world leader in the animal feed business, is also a major consumer of soy from South America. The action was organised on the first day of the 'Iguazu
Counter Conference' against the greenwashing of the soy industry, organised by Via Campesina Argentina and GRR (Grupo de Reflexion Rural)
see www.aseed.net, www.indymedia.nl and www.biotechimc.org for more info and pictures
+ VERMONT PUSHES AHEAD WITH GM LIABILITY BILL
Vermont is pushing ahead with its GM seed liability legislation. the proposed law would prevent biotech companies from suing farmers who were found to be unknowingly or unintentionally growing patented GE crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4974
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MIDDLE EAST
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+ IS FAO FUNDING GM PROJECTS IN IRAN?
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is implementing several projects worth a total of US$6m in Iran. FAO official Dr Abdur Rashid is said to have discussed the possibility of promoting irrigated farming as well as an increase in the use of GM seeds with local agricultural authorities.
Environmental groups in Iran are reported to be strongly against the use of GM seeds. The largest, the Department of Environment (DoE), has voiced angry opposition to plans by agriculture officials to bring 200,000 hectares under cultivation of GM rice.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4975
+ IRANIAN SCIENTISTS PRODUCE KILLER GM RICE
Iran's first GM rice is reported to have been approved by national authorities and to be growing commercially for human consumption. Researchers at the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII) modified rice to resist attack by insects by inserting a bacterial gene that produces a toxin. The research was conducted in collaboration with the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Though the researchers claim the toxin does not affect mammals, no research has yet been published to demonstrate this.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4975
+ IRAQI GOVT URGED TO REVOKE "CYNICAL AND WICKED" PATENT LAW
The new Iraqi Government is being urged to revoke Order 81, the offending piece of legislation signed and brought into force by Paul Bremer, the Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, on 26 April 2004. NGOs have described Order 81 as "cynical and wicked", as the section relating to the registration and protection of plant varieties was slipped in almost as an appendage to an Order dealing with patents and industrial design.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4974
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FOOD SAFETY
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+ PUSZTAI GAGGED ON GM MAIZE THAT CAUSED RAT ABNORMALITIES
European food safety authorities have kept from the public information on the safety or otherwise of Monsanto's GM maize MON 863, says Ian Panton of GM Free Cymru. French scientists voiced concerns at abnormalities in rats fed the maize but it was approved anyway.
Ian Panton writes in an open letter to Geoffrey Podger, director of the European Food Safety Authority: "...in relation to public safety, I would specifically highlight the situation regarding MON 863. I also refer to the concerns raised in a French study last year. In spite of these concerns, the supporting Monsanto dossier held by EFSA, and the report on a 90-day rat feeding study, are treated as secret, as is a review document by Dr Arpad Pusztai, commissioned by the German competent authority. His review has not been released and he is effectively 'gagged' and prevented from either revealing his findings verbally or issuing copies of his report."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4986
Background: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4731
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ENVIRONMENT: NEW RESEARCH AND REPORT
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+ NEW RESEARCH SHOWS PROBLEMS WITH HERBICIDE-RESISTANT CROPS
Most of the increase in hectares of transgenic crops planted is attributable to herbicide-resistant soybean, maize, canola and cotton. In a comprehensive study published in the journal Pest Management Science, Michael Owen and Ian Zelaya of Iowa State University found that there are many risks associated with the production of GM and herbicide-resistant crops including problems with grain contamination, segregation and introgression of herbicide-resistant traits, marketplace acceptance and an increased reliance on herbicides for weed control.
The widespread adoption of herbicide-resistant crops has dramatically impacted weed communities. Weed populations have shifted to resistant species, making weed populations difficult to manage. Another problem is the emergence of the herbicide-resistant crops themselves as volunteer weeds. The speed at which these changes have occurred is cause for concern.
The full paper is available in Pest Management Science 61:301-311 (2005)
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4985
+ NEW STUDY OVERTURNS CLAIMED WILDLIFE BENEFITS OF GM CROPS
A new report published March 15 undermines claims that a four year UK research project into the growing of GM crops (the BRIGHT trials) showed that they were not harmful to farmland wildlife. The report, "An analysis of the findings of the BRIGHT trials with GM herbicide tolerant crops in relation to environmental impact", conducted for GeneWatch UK, the Five Year Freeze and Friends of the Earth by the Initiative on Organic Research, reveals that the design of the BRIGHT trials meant that environmental impacts could not be properly investigated.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4988
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GM TREES
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+ GM TREES IN CHINA
Scattered across at least seven provinces in China are said to be more than 1 million common Bt poplar trees designed to kill the insects that nibble their leaves. Other GM species, such as the larch and walnut, are in the works, Chinese researchers report.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4990
+ GM TREES: RESOURCES
GM Trees, the ultimate threat to forests - report
http://chrislang.blogspot.com/2004_12_20_chrislang_archive.html
WORLD RAINFOREST MOVEMENT
http://www.wrm.org.uy
GLOBAL BAN ON GM TREES
http://elonmerkki.net/forestforum
GLOBAL JUSTICE ECOLOGY PROJECT
http://www.globaljusticeecology.org
STOP GE TREES
http://www.stopgetrees.org
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COMPANY NEWS
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+ MONSANTO ABANDONS GM WHEAT
Monsanto said on 16 March it was unlikely any time soon to resurrect its project to develop GM wheat, which it suspended last May. The company instead would plough its resources into a conventionally bred variety of soybeans that will produce a cooking oil with a lower level of cholesterol-producing trans fatty acids.
Even those wheat industry leaders who were pro-GM warned that Roundup Ready wheat could devastate exports of all US and Canadian wheat.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4996
More on those new soybeans: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4619
+ KRAFT CEO SEES NUTRITION ROLE FOR GM FOODS
Kraft Foods Inc., which was at the center of a 2000 controversy over unapproved GM corn finding its way into the food chain, has said GM crops will play an important role in nutrition and the environment.
"We believe that over time genetically modified ingredients will play a very important role both nutritionally and environmentally in terms of reduction of pesticide use around the world," Kraft chief executive officer Roger Deromedi said. He was speaking at the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago.
In the fall of 2000, Kraft pulled its Taco Bell brand taco shells from US shelves after they were found to contain GM StarLink corn - approved only as feed for animals.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4989
+ KRAFT, CAMPBELL ACCUSED OF USING GMOs IN CHINESE MARKET
Greenpeace has accused Kraft and Campbell of using GM ingredients in their products sold in China. An inspection on 28 foods, commissioned by Greenpeace, found that Ritz biscuits of Kraft Foods Inc.and the corn soup of Campbell's Soup Company contained GM soy.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4989
+ MONSANTO PURSUES FARMERS
As if US farmers weren't in enough trouble, the "seed police" are after them. Monsanto is pursuing fines and jail sentences for farmers who use their seed in noncontractual ways - such as saving and sowing it the next season. The Center for Food Safety released an investigative review of Monsanto's use of US patent law to crack down on farmers. Here are some of their chilling findings:
*500: The number of U.S. farmers under investigation annually by Monsanto.
*$10 million: Monsanto's annual budget (plus 75 staff) devoted to investigating and prosecuting U.S. farmers.
*$15,253,602: The total recorded judgments granted to Monsanto for farmer lawsuits.
*$3,052,800: The largest recorded judgment in favor of Monsanto as a result of a farmer lawsuit.
*8 months: The prison sentence given to a Tennessee farmer convicted of violating an agreement with Monsanto.
*90 the lawsuits filed against U.S. farmers in 25 states, involving 147 farmers and 39 small businesses or farm companies.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4974
+ VIETNAMESE FURY AT AGENT ORANGE CASE
"WE WERE ONLY FOLLOWING ORDERS" - MONSANTO, DOW
Vietnamese plaintiffs have condemned a US court's decision to dismiss their legal action against manufacturers of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. "It is a wrong decision, unfair and irresponsible," said Nguyen Trong Nhan, vice president of Vietnam's Association of Agent Orange (VAVA). He said his group was thinking of appealing.
Lawyers for Dow and Monsanto urged Judge Jack B Weinstein to throw out the case because they said their clients were simply executing the orders of a US president, John Kennedy. Judge Weinstein said allegations the chemical caused birth defects and illness had not been proved.
Ngo Thanh Nhan, a professor who participated in a campaign to drum up support for the case, said, "If the medical files [of Vietnamese victims] are not convincing enough, we will use the ones of the American soldiers. There's no reason why those who sprayed chemical products got compensation for their contamination... and the direct victims' suit is rejected by an American court."
Judge Weinstein, now 82, has said since his involvement in previous Agent Orange cases in the 1980s that he does not believe lawyers can prove that Agent Orange causes specific diseases, other than a minor skin irritation. But lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that there is new scientific evidence about the dangers of Agent Orange that was not available in the 1980's and that Judge Weinstein's understanding of the scientific information is outdated.
In recent years, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences has said there is an "association" between exposure to Agent Orange and diseases including soft-tissue sarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4976
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4980
http://www.usvtc.org/AgentOrange/Agent%20Orange,%20the%20Next%20Generationhtm
http://www.themilitant.com/2005/6910/691050.html
+ UK FARMS "WANT TO GROW GM CROPS"!
The president of Monsanto says GM crops could be grown in the UK within five to 10 years. Hugh Grant told BBC Radio 4's Farming Today programme that his firm's research suggests the majority of UK farmers want the chance to grow GM crops. The research conducted over a year ago apparently asked farmers if they would consider growing the crops if there were a market for them. There is no market for them!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4992
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WORLDWIDE ACTION
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+ WORLD CONSUMER RIGHTS DAY: PEOPLE WORLDWIDE SAY NO TO GMO
On 15 March 2005, World Consumer Rights Day, African consumer organizations, together with consumer groups all over the world, said NO to GMOs. In India, the Goa Civic and Consumer Action Network held a Consumer Rights Solidarity Rally in Panjim on 14 March. And in Jamaica, the National Consumers' League is intensifying its campaign for the government to order that GM products be labelled. And there were other campaigning actions around the world triggering a wave of press reports in different countries.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4982
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Q & A's
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Send your questions and answers to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Q: Is there any evidence of GM DNA being present in the dairy products of GM-fed cattle?
A: In June 2004, Greenpeace said they had come across scientific evidence that GM material was getting into milk in Germany.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3878
According to a German media report, the study, from the 'Research Center for Milk and Foodstuffs in Weihenstephan, Bavaria, was kept under lock and key for three years. In the farmer's milk samples that were analyzed, DNA from GM Roundup Ready Soya and GM Bt176 maize were detected. The research report points out several possibilities as to how the gene segments may have found their way into the milk: via the GMO feed that was fed to the animals, or via the dust from the feed in case the air was contaminated with it. No further studies have been conducted to clarify how the DNA fragments got into the milk.
An English translation of the Bavarian report is available on request from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
According to one of our subscribers, a report on the study by the Danish government concluded that the GM-DNA present in dairy products must have been a result of external pollution (not through digestion). But how much this conclusion owes to science and how much to wishful thinking is uncertain. In any case, consumers do not want GM in their dairy products however it's getting there!