MONTHLY REVIEW No. 72

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GM WATCH MONTHLY REVIEW No. 72
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Lots of interesting news this month including all the latest news and comment for Weekly Watchers + the rest of the month's news in brief for those who only get our Monthly Reviews.

Look out too for all the latest news from GMWatch on Twitter. We only launched this service in the last couple of days but already it's drawn a great response. Find all our "tweets" here:
http://twitter.com/GMWatch

And please respond if you can to our current fimamcial appeal. We know late summer isn't the best of times to flag up the need for support, but with all that's been happening with getting the new website off the ground, this is the first chance we've had to draw breath and address this pressing issue. One of our readers suggested asking everyone to donate $40 a year (about GBP25 or 30 Euros) if they possibly could. But whatever anyone can afford will be a great help.  

Details below and thank you for your support, plus an especial thank you to those of you who've already responded.

Jonathan Matthews / Claire Robinson
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org / www.bangmfood.org / http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/GM_Watch:_Portal

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MONTHLY REVIEW CONTENTS
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GMWATCH APPEAL
*Recent News*  
FOOD SECURITY
LOBBYWATCH
ANIMAL FEED
FEEDING THE WORLD
CORPORATE CRIMES
GM FAILURES
NANOTECHNOLOGY
BIOWEAPONS
COMPANY NEWS
ORGANICS
GM TREES
SCIENTIFIC FRAUD
RESISTANCE  
*Rest of the month's news in brief*

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GMWATCH APPEAL
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+ PLEASE SUPPORT GMWATCH
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Recent News
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FOOD SECURITY
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+ FAMINE LIKELY IN AMERICA AGRONOMIST
Erik Scott is a seed dealer and agronomist from South Dakota in the US. He believes a famine in the US is likely for two reasons:
*Narrow seed genetics
*Dependence on imported nitrogen fertilizer

Erik explains that farmers in his area used to grow a wide variety of crops and developed their own varieties by saving seed. Now the main crops are corn and soy, both of which are GM. These crops are grown for these reasons:
*They attract subsidies
*They can be insured against failure
*They require less labour than other crops
*They are GM. The takeover of the seed industry has removed competition and made it hard to find non-GM seed.

Of course, these reasons have nothing to do with feeding people, a consideration that should be paramount but that has been sidelined.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11415:famine-in-america-likely-agronomist
http://tiny.cc/AmS21

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ PERFECT STORM OF MEDIA SPIN
If anyone doubts that a carefully coordinated campaign is underway to promote GM, they need only look to the material popping up in the UK media this week.
 
First there was a print supplement in The Guardian titled "Agriculture". It was placed and produced by the Lyonsdown media group. Lyonsdown don't say which of their corporate clients they produced the Guardian supplement for, but with its focus on Africa, and content from the UK's pro-GM Environment Minister Hilary Benn, Dominic Dyer of the Crop Protection Association (read pesticide lobby), and Derek Burke – the "Godfather" of the UK's GM lobby, it's not hard to figure.
 
On the same day that Dyer of the CPA was appearing in the Guardian's "special interest" supplement, he was also given a showcase for his views by BBC News. In his "Viewpoint" piece on how "False fears threaten food supplies", Dyer not only defends pesticides but promotes GMOs.
 
Dyer's pitch is that with a coming food crisis we cannot afford to restrict pesticides and if we do then the only way we'll survive will be thanks to GMOs! Given that the pesticide manufacturers that constitute the CPA's biggest members are also GM firms – this is a perfect "Heads we win, tails you lose" line of argument.
 
Meanwhile, the current issue of the food industry publication, the Fresh Produce Journal, which targets retailers, food service companies, importers, wholesalers and producers, has a special feature on "The great GM debate" authored by Bayer's Julian Little.  
 
Little, of course, isn't actually billed as a Bayer employee but as the Chairman of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council (ABC). It doesn't say that the ABC is a PR front in the UK for the major biotech corporations. It's run by PR firm Lexington Communications, who also run the GM lobby group CropGen, and have very close ties to New Labour.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11442:pefect-storm-of-media-spin
http://tiny.cc/h9H9E

+ U.S.: MONSANTO'S MAN IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
An excellent article on Obama's appointment of former Monsanto man Michael Taylor (he's been referred to elsewhere as "the man for whom the term 'revolving door' was invented") to the FDA and his role in pushing GMOs in Africa is at
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11413:monsantos-man-in-the-obama-administration
http://tiny.cc/BiUxs

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ANIMAL FEED
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+ UK GOVERNMENT AND FSA SCAREMONGER OVER GM POLICY
The UK government's department of the environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) and the Food Standards Agency have brought out a report that claims Europe’s rejection of GM crops will make the price of livestock feed skyrocket. The report claims that farmers in South America are growing more and more GM crops and that non-GM will be harder to source. However, both Argentina and Brazil have made clear that they will not approve GMOs not authorised in Europe as it's one of their key markets. They have also said that they will grow whatever Europe wants.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11416:gm-crops-could-send-food-prices-rocketing
http://tiny.cc/el4qj
Dr Brian John of GM Free Cymru comments on the report:
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11424:uk-governments-latest-propaganda-moves
http://tiny.cc/L5ICe

+ U.S. SHIPS WITH SOYBEAN MEAL HALTED
European Union buyers have voluntarily stopped imports of US soybean meal, after traces of GM maize were found in shipments. The US Grain and Feed Trade Association estimates that 200,000 tonnes of US soy had been denied entry to the EU, by mid-July. Given the uncertainty, international traders have ceased all further shipments.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11430:us-ships-with-soybean-meal-halted
http://tiny.cc/erKgc

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FEEDING THE WORLD
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+KOWTOWING TO MONSANTO LEAVES NASTY AFTERTASTE
A useful critique from a columnist in The Observer of Monsanto's claims that GM crops will feed the world and of UK environment minister Hilary Benn's absurd support for such claims is at
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11417:kowtowing-to-monsanto-still-leaves-a-nasty-aftertaste
http://tiny.cc/tHksL

+ VANDANA SHIVA REPLIES TO HENRY MILLER
In a recent article, "Fight drought with Science", Henry Miller, the author of "The Frankenfood Myth", stated, "the first [GM] drought resistant crop, maize, is expected to be commercialized by 2010. If field testing goes well, India could be a potential market for this variety." Scientist, activist, and farmer Vandana Shiva replies: "What Mr. Miller fails to mention is that India has hundreds of thousands of drought resistant crops, some of which are conserved in and distributed from Navdanya's community seed banks. These are the seeds farmers are using in this drought year. "While cultivation of rice has gone down from 25.673 million ha to 19.13 million ha, the area under water prudent drought resistant nutritious crops, unfortunately called 'coarse grains', has gone up from 15.325 to 15.956 million ha. The biotechnology industry is clearly a laggard in breeding for drought resistance compared to centuries of breeding by India's farmers. Miller also fails to mention that the genetically engineered drought resistant maize seed performs badly in normal years."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11418:vandana-shiva-replies-to-henry-miller
http://tiny.cc/YJcEX

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CORPORATE CRIMES
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+ MAKING MEIN KAMPF COME TRUE: BAYER
In his memoir "Night", Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel recounts his experience of life as a slave labourer in the Auschwitz work camp of IG Farben – the massive industrial conglomerate formed in the inter-war years by Germany's main chemical corporations: BASF, Bayer and Hoechst. Author Primo Levi also ended up as a slave labourer in the same work camp. Extracts about their experiences there are included in the history of Bayer on the new GMWatch website: http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-firms

GM firms present themselves as operating out of futuristic laboratories and hi-tech greenhouses in order to provide farmers with innovative crops with valuable new traits. But in reality, all the leading GM firms developed out of the chemical industry and remain the world's biggest manufacturers of agrochemicals. The leading GM corporations together control nearly 75% of the global pesticide market. And they have a record of behaviour over many decades that can be judged.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11419:making-qmein-kampf-come-trueq-bayer-a-history
http://tiny.cc/TXBR4

+ U.S.: FARMERS SUING BAYER
Nearly 1,500 rice farmers are suing Bayer Cropscience and affiliated companies after their rice crops were contaminated by Bayer’s unapproved GM rice.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11427:farmers-suing-bayer
http://tiny.cc/p6XOM

+ GM CATASTROPHE: ARGENTINA, URUGUAY, BRAZIL
Contrary to biotech industry propaganda, GM crops have not reduced the use of toxic agrochemicals. In fact, they are increasing their use, according to RAPAL-Uruguay. The organization points to Brazil as one of the major consumers of agro-toxins in the world. GM soy crops have increased its use of such products, followed by corn, sugar cane, and cotton. In 2008 the Brazilian market consumed 673,862 tons of such products; this proves contrary to industry propaganda that GM crops increase the use of agro-toxins.

Uruguay is in a similar situation, maintains RAPAL. According to data obtained by the organization from the Uruguayan government, between 2002 and 2008, imports of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides increased by 258%. In 2002, Uruguay imported 5,336 tons and in 2008, 13,770 tons of toxic agrochemicals were used on various crops, but mainly on GM soy. In Argentina, the environmental, socio-economic, and public health disaster caused by GM soy is well documented.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11422:gm-catastrophe-argentina-uruguay-brazil
http://tiny.cc/V0Vt3

+ MONSANTO CENSORED NEWS STORY, SAYS JOURNALIST
Monsanto censored a news story about the battle of Indian farmers and scientists to prevent Monsanto introducing its GM seeds, according to the author of the story, former Chicago Tribune foreign correspondent Uli Schmetzer. It seems Monsanto was sent a copy of the story before it was printed and, needless to say, after that the story was never published.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11429:monsanto-and-the-media
http://tiny.cc/aLS8i
And don't miss this excellent video on Fox News and Monsanto from "The Corporation"
http://www.videosift.com/video/FOX-News-and-Monsanto-from-The-Corporation

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GM FAILURES
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+ INDIA: FARMERS BRIBED AND THREATENED OVER BT COTTON DISASTER
In drought-hit Madhya Pradesh, Bt cotton has failed as miserably as it did in Vidarbha, reports an article in The Hindu. One farmer said, "The companies promised a 25 quintals output. I managed 3 quintals. Others had much less. It didn't even cover the production costs." By the time the farmers learnt that there were problems with Bt cotton, they were knee-deep in debt. When the Bt revolution failed and some farmers decided to question the multinational corporations that sold it, they were offered bribes and received threats, the article reports. "Officials from a major multi-national seed firm [Monsanto] came to my house and offered me a bike, and then Rs.70,000 to keep quiet," says Ranchhod Laal, a farmer from Timariya village.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11439:farmers-bribed-and-threatened-over-bt-cotton-disaster
http://tiny.cc/nXXPk

+ WHAT GM FIRMS DON'T WANT FARMERS TO KNOW
A followup article to the report Failure to Yield, which detailed the unimpressive yields of GM crops, is at
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11440:what-gm-firms-dont-want-farmers-to-know
http://tiny.cc/R8v1z

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NANOTECHNOLOGY
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+ TWO DEAD IN CHINA FROM NANOPARTICLES
Seven women working in a factory in China where nanoparticles were used in paint fell ill with serious lung disease and two died. Experts said the findings are the first clear evidence that nanoparticles can be hazardous to health. "People should take this very seriously. The international research community should be galvanised by this," said Dr Andrew Maynard, chief science advisor, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11426:two-dead-in-china-from-nanoparticles
http://tiny.cc/tUbMo

+ THE RISE OF NANOTECH
A Friends of the Earth study found 104 food products, including processed food, food packaging, and sunscreen, using nanoparticles but there is no legal requirement for products containing nanomaterial to be labeled and no real safety testing regime for the technology, says an article in the Daily Express.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11431:militarised-biotech–rise-of-nanotech
http://tiny.cc/0aWdI

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BIOWEAPONS
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+ BIOLOGISTS NAPPING WHILE WORK MILITARIZED
The Chemical Weapons Convention needs modification to ensure that biotechnology is are not used for hostile purposes, says an article in Nature.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11431:militarised-biotech–rise-of-nanotech
http://tiny.cc/rF9GT

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COMPANY NEWS
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+ U.S.: MONSANTO'S GROWTH CHOKING OUT COMPETITION?
A major yet unreported story is developing that indicates that the Obama administration will conduct workshops to investigate anti-trust monopolies in agriculture by mega agriculture conglomerates. Monsanto is the most obvious initial target of anti-trust research. A CNBC report says, "A series of competition-crushing acquisitions made this biotech disguised as an agriculture outfit the market leader in genetically modified US corn, soybean and cotton seeds. And Monsanto maintains strict agreements with its farmer clients that leave them virtually no choice but to feed at the corporate trough. Plus, the company plans to push through a 42% price increase on its new seeds, and there's nothing these farmers can do about it."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11434:monsanto-choking-out-competition
http://tiny.cc/c1Zon
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11437:monsanto-anti-trust-target-indicators-mount
http://tiny.cc/Ya5Zg

+ MONSANTO ACCUSES DUPONT IN CORPORATE BUNFIGHT
The chairman of Monsanto has demanded that his counterpart at rival company DuPont appoint a special committee to investigate what he said was a pattern of covert attacks on Monsanto's business practices by DuPont. He accused DuPont of being "dishonest, disingenuous and downright deceitful." An attorney for Monsanto said the tactics used against his company included forged letters to Congress, misinformation, attempts to improperly influence public officials and support for a special interest group which opposed Monsanto.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11421:monsanto-chief-accuses-rival-dupont-of-deceit
http://tiny.cc/J6z8N
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11425:monsanto-dupont-square-off-in-turf-war
http://tiny.cc/V6hHm

+ INTERVIEW WITH BASF CHAIRMAN
An interview with BASF's chairman in which he talks about the company's partnership with Monsanto and the refusal of the EU to approve BASF's GM Amflora potato is at
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11443:basf-chairman-nearing-the-end-of-the-road
http://tiny.cc/17mbt

+ BASF CHIEF SAYS HOSTILE TAKEOVER POSSIBLE
The head of Germany's BASF said a hostile takeover bid for his troubled company was possible.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11436:basf-chief-says-hostile-takeover-possible
http://tiny.cc/DpMcd

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ORGANICS
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+ FILIPINOS RALLY TO PRESERVE COUNTRY'S ORGANICS CAPITAL
Some 150 farmers and members of church and civic groups trooped to the Negros Occidental provincial capitol to press members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) to uphold an ordinance which bans the entry of GMOs and to secure the future of Negros as the organic farming capital of the Philippines.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11428:filipinos-rally-for-ban-on-gmos
http://tiny.cc/uPx5W

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GM TREES
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+ JIM HIGHTOWER SLAMS GM TREES
Jim Hightower is a U.S. national commentator who broadcasts daily radio commentaries carried by more than 150 commercial and public stations, as well as on the web. He was also twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner. Now he has criticized the USDA’s casual rubberstamping of AborGen’s GM eucalyptus trees, which have been planted across several states.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11432:jim-hightower-slams-gm-trees
http://tiny.cc/kiaSe
TAKE ACTION against ArborGen's plan to plant 260,000 GM trees:
http://globaljusticeecology.org/stopgetrees.php

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SCIENTIFIC FRAUD
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+ S. KOREA SEEKS JAIL FOR DISGRACE CLONING SCIENTIST
Prosecutors have demanded a four-year prison term for a South Korean scientist disgraced in a cloning scandal that shook the international scientific community and led to his trial on fraud and other charges. Hwang Woo-suk was fired from the Seoul National University after purported breakthroughs including the claim of producing a human embryo through cloning and recovering stem cells from it were deemed bogus in 2005, when a key paper was found to contain fake data. Prosecutors said they see the case as a chance to "resolve chronic research fraud in the academic field."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11441:jail-sought-for-disgraced-cloning-scientist
http://tiny.cc/i70UF

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RESISTANCE
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+ GM BARLEY SABOTAGED IN ICELAND
GM barley, which was being grown for experimental purposes in Gunnarsholt, south Iceland, by start-up company ORF Liftaekni, was damaged by a group of activists. There will be no harvest this autumn.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11433:gm-barley-sabotaged-in-iceland
http://tiny.cc/PTb0h

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Rest of the Month's News in Brief
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For those who don't subscribe to our Weekly Watch.

+ NON-GM SOYBEAN ACREAGE UP
US farmers planted one million more acres of non-GM soybeans in 2009 than 2008. The percentage of farmers growing GM soybeans decreased – the first drop in plantings of GM soybeans since 2000.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11357:non-gm -soys-million-acre-increase-in-2009-
http://tiny.cc/lMqAe

+ U.S.: "PERFECT WEED" REFUSES TO BE ROUNDED UP
In Arkansas alone, Roundup resistant pigweed, encouraged by GM Roundup Ready crops, has invaded some 750,000 acres of crops, including half the 250,000 acres of cotton. In Tennessee, nearly 500,000 acres have some degree of infestation, with the counties bordering the Mississippi River hardest hit. The infestation is cutting farmers' cotton yields by up to one-third and in some cases doubling or tripling their weed-control costs.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11391:qperfect-weedq-refuses-to-be-rounded-up
http://tiny.cc/EzaBw
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11404:rr-pigweed-hurting-farmers-financially
http://tiny.cc/1ukNx

+ MONSANTO TO CHARGE FARMERS AS MUCH AS 42% EXTRA
Monsanto, now the world's largest seed company, plans to charge as much as 42 percent more for new GM seeds next year, claiming they increase farmers' output. Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans will cost farmers an average of $74 an acre in 2010, and original Roundup Ready soybeans will cost $52 an acre, SmartStax corn seeds, developed with Dow Chemical Co., will cost $130 an acre, 17 percent more than the YieldGard triple-stack seeds they will replace. These increases follow on from prebious large price hikes for Monsanto GM seeds and for Roundup.
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/11412-monsanto-to-charge-farmers-42-extra-
http://tiny.cc/eUcz3

+ MONSANTO'S LEGAL BATTLES AGAINST FARMERS
Here’s some revealing information from Sourcewatch about Monsanto's lawsuits against farmers for "stealing" its GM genes: "The odds are clearly stacked against the farmer: Monsanto has an annual budget of $10 million dollars and a staff of 75 devoted solely to investigating and prosecuting farmers. The largest recorded judgment made thus far in favor of Monsanto as a result of a farmer lawsuit is $3,052,800.00. Total recorded judgments granted to Monsanto for lawsuits amount to $15,253,602.82. Farmers have paid a mean of $412,259.54 for cases with recorded judgments". http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11392:monsanto-vs-us-farmers
http://tiny.cc/7Olzi

+ MONSANTO NAMED IN 50 CANCER LAWSUITS
Fifty recently filed lawsuits allege Monsanto and related companies are responsible for causing cancer.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11411:monsanto-named-in-50-cancer-lawsuits
http://tiny.cc/acJnk  

+ COMPANIES/U.S. KNEW OF DANGERS OF AGENT ORANGE
A review of the documents related to the use of Agent Orange – a dioxin-laden herbicide – in Vietnam, including decades-old declassified papers, provides compelling evidence that those in charge also concealed evidence of the devastating effects it could have on people.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11397:companies-us-knew-dangers-of-agent-orange
http://tiny.cc/mCtN6

+ GM SUGARBEETS FOUND IN SOIL MIX
In May, GM sugar beet plants were found in a soil mix sold to gardeners at a landscape supply business in Corvallis, Oregon.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11353:gm-sug ar-beets-found-in-soil-mix
http://tiny.cc/T67LX

+ GM MAIZE CONFIRMED IN PERU
Peru's government is reviewing a study that shows GM corn has been detected in five key agricultural valleys. Currently, GM products in Peru cannot be planted, harvested or sold legally.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11358:latin- americas-gm-wars
http://tiny.cc/wvZ9C

+ ARGENTINA: MORE ON INTIMIDATION OF RESEARCHER
Argentinian scientist Andres Carrasco, whose research found that glyphosate could cause brain, intestinal and heart defects in foetuses, has spoken further about the industry's attempts to intimidate and discredit him. They mounted an unprecedented attack on Carrasco, ridiculing his research and even issuing personal threats. He was even accused of inventing his whole investigation.
 
Carrasco was firm in his response: "It was a violent, disproportionate, dirty reaction", he said. "I hadn't even discovered anything new, only confirmed conclusions that others had reached. One has to remember, too, that the study originated in contacts with communities that have suffered the impact of agro-chemicals. They are the undeniable proof of the impact." He is not intimidated: "If I know something, I will not shut my mouth."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11358:latin- americas-gm-wars
http://tiny.cc/EHXie

+ HILLARY AND VILSACK PROMOTE GMOs IN AFRICA
Hillary Clinton and US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack have visited the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) laboratories in Kenya, where GMOs have been field tested with US and Monsanto support. They were meeting GM proponents, one of whom works with the Uganda agency that is partnering with Monsanto to create drought tolerant corn. The trip attracted some highly intelligent criticism.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11364:hillar y-and-vilsack-to-promote-gmos-in-africa
http://tiny.cc/L3gVM
U.S. has wrong approach to African food security
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/11373-us-has-wrong-approach-t o-african-food-security
http://tiny.cc/scILZ
GM mythmaking in Africa:
More: http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11365:gm-myt h-making-in-africa-gmwatch-special
http://tiny.cc/30NlQ

+ SOUTH AFRICAN GM GRAPEVINES GO AHEAD
South African authorities have given the go-ahead for open-air field trials of grapevines genetically modified to resist fungal disease, despite the failure of GM fungal resistant grapevines in German trials several years ago.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11402:bio-secrecy-and-bio-piracy-in-africa
http://tiny.cc/nT6y1

+ SOUTH AFRICA: CHICKENS NOT DUPED BY GM FEED
Some African chickens refused to eat the mealies in the chicken feed bought from a large supplier. Test results confirmed the owner’s suspicion – the maize had been genetically engineered to produce Bt toxin and contained Roundup weedkiller.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11354:smart- chickens-not-duped-by-gm-feed
http://tiny.cc/qqQBy

+ STACKING UP THE RISKS
A major scandal is emerging over the lax treatment of the multi-GM trait maize (corn), SmartStax, by regulators. Approvals have been rushed through in Canada, the US and Japan and it's heading to Europe too with both import and field trial approvals being sought. But the Austrian Federal Department for Health is flagging up that there is no scientific base to the approvals of this multiple transgene crop.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11359:smarts tax-in-europe
http://tiny.cc/GOrW5

+ SMARTSTAX COMING TO CANADA
Next spring, farmers in Canada will be able to sow SmartStax. But a controversy has already arisen over the new seeds, which were approved for use last month by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Health Canada hasn't assessed their safety. The health agency said in response to questions from The Globe and Mail that it didn't have to do so, because it is relying on the two companies making the seeds, Monsanto and Dow, to flag any safety concerns. But the companies haven't tested the seeds either, because they say they aren't required to.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11355:smarts tax-breakdown-smartstax-sows-doubts
http://tiny.cc/I4bbj

+ CANADA: AGENCY'S DECISION ON SMARTSTAX LACKS SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11407:agencys-decision-lacks-scientific-support-allege-researchers
http://tiny.cc/4JFum

+ SMARTSTAX COMING TO EUROPE
There are indications that many regulators in Europe will try to deal with SmartStax in a similar way to their counterparts in N America. The Netherlands and the UK want to wave through the maize on the basis that they have already considered the individual traits engineered into the crop. They fail to consider that interactions between the traits can create unpredicted effects.

But the Austrian Federal Department for Health has rejected the lax regulatory approach being promoted. It states: "Insecticidal Cry proteins produced by GM plants as well as transproteins conferring tolerance to herbicides constitute a sum of new plant constituents possibly interacting within the organism. So far, there is absolutely no scientific knowledge about such new combinations and possibly resulting additive and/or synergistic effects."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11359:smarts tax-in-europe
http://tiny.cc/GOrW5

+ COMMENTARY ON SMARTSTAX
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11356:shot-a nd-stacked
http://tiny.cc/9OqLR

+ PESTS CAN OVERCOME MULTIPLE GM TOXINS
Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that pests can develop resistance to multiple toxins engineered into GM crops, such as those in Smartstax, suggesting that the pursuit of resistance-free GM crops may be impossible. So stacked genes mean the risks for the consumer and the environment stack up in return for what may well be unsustainable supposed benefits for the farmer.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11351:pests- can-overcome-multiple-gm-toxins
http://tiny.cc/Q5Abr

+ PHILIPPINES: NON-GM FLOOD-TOLERANT RICE RELEASED  
A non-GM flood-tolerant rice variety has been released in the Philippines.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/09/david-king-gm-crops
 
+ INDIA'S NON-GM DROUGHT-RESISTANT RICE
A new variety of rice being tested in the fields of India's eastern Jharkhand state is drought-tolerant and can survive even if there are no rains for 12 days.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11371:indias -non-gm-qdrought-resistant-riceq
http://tiny.cc/FaQiJ
 
+ INDIA: MEALYBUG MENACE AFFECTS BT COTTON
Large-scale mealybug infestations have damaged the Bt cotton crop in Amreli district.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11371:indias -non-gm-qdrought-resistant-riceq
http://tiny.cc/FaQiJ

+ INDIA: VIDARBHA FACES ANOTHER BT COTTON DISASTER
Vidarbha is facing the worst ever drought this year with an unprecedented shortfall in monsoon rain, a pest epidemic destroying the Bt cotton crop and a steep decline in ground water level as the four-month monsoon is the main source of water for irrigation in the country.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11403:vidarbha-risking-another-bt-cotton-disaster
http://tiny.cc/KayUx

+ PAKISTAN: STOP BT COTTON AND LAND GRABS
The government has been asked  to immediately stop all land deals being negotiated with foreign governments, investors, Monsanto and other agro-chemical companies promoting GM crops, especially Bt cotton.  Executive Director of Roots for Equity, Dr Azra Talat Syed, said the two most critical issues being faced by millions of small farmers in Pakistan are corporate land grabbing and the onslaught of Bt cotton.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11403:vidarbha-risking-another-bt-cotton-disaster
http://tiny.cc/KayUx

+ EU GM PHARMA REGS DRAWN UP BY PHARMA-PLANTA MAN
The European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) has published guidelines on the commercial development of GM plant-derived pharmaceuticals.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11390:europe-prepares-for-drugs-from-gm-plants
http://tiny.cc/tMJRP

+ WALES: "NO EVIDENCE" THAT GM CROPS WERE CIRCULATED
An inquiry has found no evidence that a farmer who claimed he grew GM crops had circulated GM seeds to others. Jonathan Harrington, who farms near Hay-on-Wye, Powys, said in January he had grown two varieties of the maize and passed the seeds onto other farmers. But Powys council said there was no evidence GM crops had been circulated to farms or fed to stock in the county, as Harrington had claimed.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11361:no-evi dence-for-harrington-claim
http://tiny.cc/K9Zwj

+ WEST AUSTRALIA: DOCTORS VOICE GM CONCERNS
A group of West Australia doctors have presented a petition to the local shire council urging them to remain GM free, citing health concerns.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11366:doctor s-join-gm-foods-protest
http://tiny.cc/xbdCi

+ BRAZIL: DOW WANTS "AGENT ORANGE" SOYA
Dow AgroSciences has issued a request to the National Technical Commission for Biosafety (CTNBio) to undertake field trials with a GM soya variety tolerant to the 2,4-D herbicide. 2,4-D was one of the two components of the infamous Agent Orange, the defoliant used in the Vietnam War responsible for thousands of cases of cancer, leukaemia and neurological pathologies, as well as the birth of countless babies with physical and mental problems. Dow's move has been described by GM Freeze as "a step back into the Dark Ages".
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11369:agent- orange-legacy-us-vietnam-brazil
http://tiny.cc/jilaI

+ UK: FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY AND ORGANICS
The Food Standards Agency, the UK government's so-called independent watchdog, has just published a report claiming that a study it commissioned found there is no nutritional benefit to be gained from eating organic produce. But in reality, the study, carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said nothing of the sort. As an editorial in The Ecologist says, "the researchers did find statistically significant differences between the nutritional content of organic and conventional food in the literature they examined. Organic food contained higher levels of phenolic compounds, magnesium, zinc, flavonoids, sugars, dry matter, and phosphorus."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11377:weekly-watch-number-274
http://tiny.cc/csLxZ
FSA statement on its study:
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2009/jul/organic
Ecologist comment:
http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/bloggers/the_editors_blog/294396/ fsa_organics_study_read_it_closely.html
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11347:a-canc erous-conspiracy-on-organic-food OR
http://tiny.cc/ckXfD
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11352:row-ov er-fsa-research-rages-on OR
http://tiny.cc/UCbSu
The Organic Center reviewed the same studies that the FSA's review considered and came to very different conclusions:
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11352:row-ov er-fsa-research-rages-on
http://tiny.cc/UCbSu
See also Doug Gurian-Sherman's commentary "Organic agriculture is the future".
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/11344-organic-agriculture-is- the-future
http://tiny.cc/WKLmY