from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

This week's big news is the WTO decision, which supported GM-exporting countries – the US, Canada and Argentina, in their allegation that the EU's GM moratorium is an unfair barrier to trade.

It looks as if this will actually change very little, however, as no matter what the WTO says, Europeans simply do not want to eat GM foods (WTO). That said, there is real concern that the US will use this decision to help it shove its unwanted products down the throats of people in the developing world (ASIA and WTO).

Don't miss a powerful article by Dr Maewan Ho on the appalling health problems apparently caused in Philippines villagers exposed to Bt maize and its pollen (ASIA).

Finally, we're delighted to report that thanks to some brilliant work by our volunteer translators, roundups of January's news from GM Watch are now available for the first time both in Dutch http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6235
and German http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6205

Please spread this news far and wide amongst all your Dutch and German speaking friends. And if you'd like to help the work of the Dutch or German teams or can help us translate our monthly reviews into any other languages, please get in touch!

With Monsanto, Bush and the WTO lined up all in a row, we need to make sure we're hitting 'em right round the globe.

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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WTO
EUROPE
ASIA
AFRICA
THE AMERICAS
AUSTRALASIA
CATHOLIC CHURCH
BIOSAFETY
LOBBYWATCH

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WTO
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+ U.S. WINS WTO BACKING IN WAR WITH EUROPE OVER GM FOOD
The World Trade Organisation has ruled that Europe had broken international trade rules by blocking the import of GM food, in a decision US trade officials hailed as a victory. The WTO found that Europe had imposed a de facto ban on GM food imports for six years from 1998 which violated trade agreements, and that Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg also had no legal grounds to impose their own unilateral import bans.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6218

+ PLEASE ACT
Email the Ministers for Trade & the Environment to ask them to stand up to the WTO and the right of European countries to ban GM food: http://www.foe.co.uk/biteback/

+ FURTHER INFORMATION
Groups publish WTO conclusions:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/groups_publish_wto_conclus_09022006.html

New opinion poll shows consumers worried over GM foods:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/aternative_needed_to_secre_08022006.html

+ WTO'S DECISION DID NOT COVER SAFETY ISSUES
In making its ruling, the WTO did not tackle the vexed issue of their safety. The (leaked) confidential WTO ruling noted that the organisation's dispute settlement panel had stuck purely to trade issues. "The panel did not examine whether biotech products in general are safe or not," said the ruling, which ran to 1,050 pages – the longest ever issued by the decade-old WTO, reflecting the complexity of the case.

Nor did it address "whether the biotech products at issue in this dispute are 'like' their conventional counterparts", even though this claim was made by Argentina, Canada and the US, which had asked for the WTO ruling.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6234

+ GREENPEACE DISMISSES WTO RULING ON GMOs
Greenpeace has dismissed the WTO ruling as irrelevant. "US agro-chemical giants will not sell a bushel more of their GM grain as a result of the WTO ruling. European consumers, farmers and a growing number of governments remain opposed to GMOs, and this will not change – in Europe or globally," said Daniel Mittler, Greenpeace International trade advisor. "The $300 million lost exports for US GM maize growers per year will continue, and remain a warning to exporting countries that GMOs are not wanted in Europe."

"This verdict only proves that the WTO puts trade interests above all others and is unqualified to deal with complex scientific and environmental issues."

Despite the ongoing WTO case, European governments voted with a clear majority in 2005 to retain existing national bans on GMOs and individual countries continue to reject GMOs. Greece last week announced an extension of its ban on seeds from a type of GM maize produced by Monsanto. Austria also recently announced its intention to ban the import of a GM oilseed rape. These bans, in addition to those imposed last year by Hungary and Poland, 172 regions in Europe which have declared themselves GMO-free zones, and a Swiss moratorium decided by public referendum, show that Europe is steadfast in rejecting GMOs.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6217

+ SOIL ASSOCIATION COMMENTS ON WTO RULING
Gundula Azeez of the UK's organic body, the Soil Association, said:

"The European Commission must refuse to pay any compensation to these countries. They have wilfully insisted on producing something for which there is no market, and are deluded if they think this ruling will change that. The public is right to continue to reject GM food. Emerging scientific evidence from recent animal feeding trials show a range of unpredicted negative impacts on health from eating GMOs.

"Currently, the only significant market for GMOs in Europe is as animal feed, as produce from GM-fed animals does not have to be labelled. The only certain way to avoid such products is to buy organic food."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6228

+ U.S.'s DESPERATE EFFORTS UNLIKELY TO SUCCEED IN FORCING GM FOOD ACCEPTANCE
GeneWatch UK has published a summary of public attitudes research from around the world, collected since the WTO GMO dispute began in 2003. It shows public hostility to GM crops not only remains widespread butseems tobe increasing and indicates that the tactics of the US and biotech industry are unlikely to succeed in opening markets for GM. The research also shows that even in the US, the great majority want mandatory labelling.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6209

+ EU SAYS WTO RULING WON'T CHANGE ANYTHING
The European Commission has said the WTO ruling will not change how it deals with GMOs in the future. "This interim report is largely of historical interest, as this panel will not alter the system or framework within which the EU takes decisions on GMOs," Commission trade spokesman Peter Power said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6222

+ QUOTES OF THE WEEK ON WTO RULING
Austrian government officials say they will continue to be as restrictive as possible on GMOs: "The protection of people and the environment have absolute priority, and the most recent scientific research vindicates our cautious approach in this matter," said Austrian health minister Maria Rauch-Kallat, responsible for national GM policy. (Reuters)
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6222

Peter Jones, of the European flour milling association, said: "The WTO can pass all the rules they want, but resistance is coming from the consumer, and consumers in Britain and Europe don't want GMO foods." (Financial Times)
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6225

"We do not want GM foods and our hope is that all of us can continue to produce non-GM foods. The decision by the WTO does nothing to change our stand in this matter." – Zambian Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana (Reuters, "Africans vow to resist any US pressure on GMOs")
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6225

"What will the political fallout be of effectively Americans saying, 'Tough, you've got to eat it'? I think the fallout would be quite nasty." – Julian Kinderlerer, a keen supporter of GMOs and assistant director of the Sheffield Institute of Biotechnological Law and Ethics (International Herald Tribune)
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6229

"Allowing the deep-pocketed companies that manufacture GMOs to control the world's agriculture and forcing countries to expand their diet to include GMOs is flat-out wrong. The WTO needs to back away from the issue and realize that some circumstances fall outside the mandates of free trade. Countries have a right to choose what they consume". – Staff editorial, The Pitt News, University of Pittsburgh
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6226

+ MONSANTO'S MEN AT WTO AND U.S. TRADE OFFICE
Before the US ever launched its WTO challenge to the EU over GMOs, the Financial Times applauded the shrewdness of the appointment of Rufus Yerxa as the US's deputy to the WTO's director general: "Yerxa has been international counsel to Monsanto... Just the man Supachai will need should the US ever bleat to the WTO about EU restrictions on genetically modified food." Previous to being Monsanto's international counsel, Yerxa was Monsanto's European general counsel.

There's also a Monsanto man (Richard Crowder) at the US Trade Office, ready to fulfill US Dept of Ag chief, Mike Johanns' mission, "We must use the WTO to force open markets for US products."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6227

+ SYNGENTA NOT SEEN AS IMPACTED BY WTO RULING – DOW JONES
Dow Jones Newswires reports that Syngenta's business is not expected to be impacted by the World Trade Organization's ruling on the EU's ban on GM crops, according to Bank Sarasin analyst Bernd Pomrehn. Even if the WTO's ruling lifts the moratorium on GM food products in the EU, the European consumer won't easily change his aversion to GM food, says Pomrehn, which is the real reason that holds back further spread of GMOs in Europe.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6215

A special media briefing on the GM trade dispute is available at http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2006/GMO_and_WTO_interim_briefing_Feb2006.pdf A fact sheet on GMOs and the WTO is available at http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2006/GMO_and_WTO_QA_Feb2006.pdf

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EUROPE
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+ HUNGARY TO EXTEND GM BAN
Hungary will extend its ban on growing GM maize, government officials said. Hungarian researchers have recently found evidence that maize types freely traded in the European Union represent environmental and health risks, said environment ministry state secretary Andras Gombos. According to the researchers, the toxic content of these types of maize in wet weather conditions can become thousands of times higher than traditional pesticides, he added.

Farm minister Jozsef Graf said it was in Hungary's economic interest to keep the country GMO-free.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6229

+ POLISH PRIME MINISTER: "WE DO NOT WANT GMO"
Polish prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said that work is underway on a draft law on GMO to adjust Polish legislation to the EU requirements. "We do not want GMO on the Polish territory," the PM declared.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6216

+ ROMANIA BANS GROWING OF GM SOY
The Romanian Government has banned the growing of GM soy from 1 January 2006, in accordance with current EU regulations.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6210

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ASIA
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+ JAPAN: CLONED CATTLE ABNORMAL AND COMING TO DINNER
MAFF (ministry of agriculture, fisheries and food) has announced the current state of cloned animals up to the end of September 2005. Of 474 somatic cell cloned cattle born, 72 were stillbirths, 80 died immediately following birth, 102 died from illness, and only 104 have survived, showing that abnormality has now become the norm. So far 700 embryonic cell cloned cattle have been born, and it has been confirmed that 295 of these have been shipped as meat for human consumption. Since 63 head are listed as "unknown" it is thought that over 300 head have ended up on dinner tables. In addition, 152 somatic cell cloned pigs have also been born.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6211

+ WTO RULING ON GM CROPS A "THREAT TO INDIA
An article by Ashok Sharma in India's Financial Express reports that civil society organisations (CSOs) and farmers' groups in India have "expressed their anguish over the ruling of the WTO dispute settlement body against the European moratorium on GM crops and food."

Dr Krishan Bir Choudhary, the executive chairman of India's largest farmers' organisation, says that after the WTO's "unfortunate verdict", the US will become more aggressive in dumping GM food onto Third World countries.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6233

+ DOZENS ILL AND FIVE DEATHS IN PHILIPPINES AFTER EXPOSURE TO BT MAIZE
In a hard-hitting report from the Philippines, Dr Maewan Ho writes that many villagers exposed to GM maize pollen in 2003 have remained ill to this day.

EXCERPTS:
... there have been five unexplained deaths in the village. In total, 96 people got sick. In addition, nine horses, four water buffalos, and 37 chickens died soon after feeding on GM maize...

As part of an investigation to determine what made the villagers ill, one of the farmers was "volunteered" to venture inside the Bt maize field in the presence of more than 10 witnesses, as he explained to me via an interpreter. "Within 5 minutes, I could not breathe and felt something extraordinary on my face," he recalled. The others could see that his face had swollen up and remarked that it was "very dangerous".

In fact, the farmer is ill to this day. Every now and again, he feels weak in his limbs and numb in his hands and feet. He held up the back of his right hand to show me the index finger. A yellowish-brown discoloration and thickening of the fingernail had developed since he was exposed to the GM pollen...

Around 20 children (aged 5-10 years) got sick during the flowering period of the Bt maize Dekalb 818YG planted near the elementary school in Magallon, M'lang, North Cotabato. They showed symptoms similar to those in other locations: cough, sneezing, asthma and difficulty in breathing... One man ate a cob and got diarrhoea; the same happened to four goats that ate the maize.

Despite the unexplained illnesses and deaths, the Philippines government has failed to even initiate a safety enquiry, or set up post-market monitoring of health impacts. Instead it authorised commercial planting of Monsanto's Roundup Ready maize in February 2005, and later, a new GM maize variety with stacked Bt-toxin and Roundup tolerance; and approved the import of 19 GM products for food, feed and processing.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6231

+ INDIAN COTTON FARMERS BETRAYED
With reports of the failure of Bt cotton widespread in India, why are many farmers are still queuing up to plant the crop? Rhea Gala of the Institute of Science in Society visited India to find out. Her eye-opening report, which reveals a mixture of aggressive hype by biotech companies and corruption on the part of seed dealers, is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6204

EXCERPT:
We spoke to farmer Ravinder Reddy and his brothers, who had a larger holding that was hosting a Monsanto trial for a new Bt hybrid, with Bt and non-Bt control hybrids for comparison. The trial crop was in a very poor state with diseased bolls and dry wilted leaves. The control Bt was better but not as good as the non-Bt hybrid, which was tall, green, bollful and lush. The farmer nevertheless praised the trial crop, explaining that it did not attract insects while the non-Bt healthy plants did. "The Bt technology is superior," he said, "it is all a question of management; the village farmers will follow my lead." This statement, in full view of contradictory evidence, later made more sense to me when one of the bystanders turned out to be a Monsanto representative.

+ MONSANTO'S PROFITS SLASHED IN INDIA
John Vidal in the UK Guardian reports that Hugh Grant, Monsanto's Scottish chief, was treated like royalty on a recent visit to India, meeting both the president and the prime minister. But within days the company's Indian subsidiary reported a 47% fall in profits.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6220

+ SEEDS OF MISERY
An article in the Hindustan Times reports on the multiple problems GM cotton has caused in India and says farmers are already abandoning the technology in favour of traditional practices:

EXCERPT:
As Bharmegowdra, a farmer from northern Karnataka said, "In agriculture, GE is not good for crops, soil, animals or humans. Its introduction leads to the loss of agro-biodiversity. It increases seed costs and use of pesticides continues. Further, the farmers don't get returns. Since farmers are not literate, they believe whatever the companies tell them. But it is clear these crops have no nutrition, only water and pesticides."

This is not the voice of a single person but of several farmers across the country. Today, the farmers in the dryland regions (which were ignored by the green revolution) are desperate and willing to take on any option. The propaganda of GE is attractive but gives only one side of the picture. Therefore, when farmers like Kumaraswamy from Andhra Pradesh fall for crops like Bt cotton, they suffer heavy losses for two years. They finally realise that the best option is to revive traditional agricultural practices, which require low external inputs, no pesticides and also allow for biodiverse farming.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6220

+ CONSUMER FORUM ORDERS COMPENSATION TO COTTON FARMERS
A report for ZeeNews says that the Guntur district consumer forum in Andhra Pradesh has directed a multinational company (MNC) to pay compensation of Rs 400,000 to farmers for supplying substandard Bt cotton seeds resulting in poor yield.

About 20 farmers from Kommuru and Jggapuram villages in the district purchased BT cotton seeds from the MNC at an exorbitant price of Rs 1600 per acre. However, the yield was one quintal less than claimed by the company. The report does not name the company.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6206

+ WHAT DOES THE INDO-U.S. PACT ON AGRICULTURE OFFER?
Gene Campaign's Suman Sahai comments on the India-US pact aimed at promoting and developing GM crop varieties for speedy adoption in India. She writes, "The US really does not have anything of relevance to offer Indian agriculture and small farmers. The technologies available in US laboratories are known and there is nothing of importance to Indian agriculture which is plagued by different problems, like lack of credit and crop insurance, spurious seeds and substandard inputs."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6207

+ WAL-MART AND MONSANTO ON INDO-U.S. FARM PACT BOARD
Wal-Mart and Monsanto are on the board of the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture Research and Education. It will set the agenda for collaborative farm research with Indian laboratories and agricultural universities. In India, the universities on their own and through Krishi Vigyan Kendras serve as extension agencies for farmers on the field and have a wide reach.

The influence of the American private sector became obvious to Indian scientists during the first meeting of the board in Washington DC in December 2005. Representatives of the Wal-Mart food chain and the Monsanto Seed Corporation were keen on using the Initiative for retailing in agriculture and on trade aspects. Transgenic research in crops, animals and fisheries would be a substantial part of the collaboration in biotechnology, requiring India to pledge huge funds.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6230

+ U.S. GOVT LIED ABOUT GMOs IN MALAYSIA
Lim Li Ching of the Third World Network, an international NGO based in Malaysia, has responded to our recent report on the India-USA "farm pact" to promote GM crops. Ching responds, in particular, to the claim of Madelyn E Spirnak, a Senior Advisor for Agricultural Biotechnology in the US Dept of State, that the pact was necessary because, when it came to GM crops, India was lagging behind the rest of the world, and in particular countries like Malaysia which have millions of farmers growing GMOs.

Ching told GM Watch that Malaysia has not approved *any* commercial growing of GM crops. There is only GM research and some field trials being conducted and no commercial growing at all as far as is known, says Ching.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6206

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AFRICA
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+ SOUTH AFRICAN GOVT PROPS UP FAILED GM COTTON PROJECT
An article for the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) makes lots of excuses for the failure of the Bt cotton project in Makhatini, South Africa, such as, "It's not the Bt cotton, it's the poor price for cotton", or "It's not the Bt cotton, it's the bad weather conditions".

But such excuses don't explain why Monsanto and its supporters have proclaimed the growing of Bt cotton in Makhatini to be a runaway success, generating massive economic benefits for the farmers and the area. Monsanto has even claimed farmers gain an extra $90 per hectare, CropGen that farmers gain $113 per hectare, and ISAAA that farmers make an extra $50 per hectare.

But the reality has been quite different. Indeed, if the South African government weren't, as the FAO article notes, now distributing "free packs of Bt cotton seed as well as fertiliser, pesticides and herbicides to farmers in the area", there would be very few farmers still growing Bt cotton in South Africa.

A study published last year showed the number of farmers planting Bt cotton had dropped by 80% since 2000 and that farmer indebtedness had been exacerbated since Bt cotton was introduced.

The government subsidy is clearly aimed at propping up what was supposed to be a showcase project – not just for South Africa but for Africa as a whole, and one with a global PR pay-off. The massive drop out of farmers growing Bt cotton has forced South Africa's pro-GM government into this face-saving operation.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6223

+ SOUTH AFRICA MAY BE CHANNEL FOR GMOs SLIPPING INTO AFRICA
A report for Reuters says while much of Africa has reservations about GMOs and few countries allow them legally, that may not prevent their spread. South Africa, which embraces GMOs and is the regional economic powerhouse, could be the portal for them entering the rest of the continent – no matter what individual nations may do.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and environmental activist Wangari Maathai of Kenya said that poor African governments could be lured to accept GMOs by the pull of cash. "It is important to appreciate that in Africa many governments are desperate for money and they can easily be persuaded by unscrupulous international organisations to embrace a technology whose impacts they cannot control or may not even fully understand, and therefore put their people in jeopardy."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6203

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THE AMERICAS
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+ FRENCH FARMER BANNED FROM 'LAND OF THE FREE'
French anti-globalization activist and GM crop-puller Jose Bove was stopped at JFK airport upon arrival in the US, denied entry by customs officials and put on a plane back to France. Bove had been set to speak in New York at an event sponsored by Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

"Evidently, the Bush administration is behind this decision," said George Naylor, president of the Washington-based National Family Farm Coalition. "No one would think of fearing Jose's presence in this country except multinational corporations with a profit motive."

GM WATCH COMMENT: This is how the news of the French farmer Jose Bove being barred from entering the US was received by CS Prakash's AgBioView: "And Now for Some Really Good News... Jose Bove Sent Packing by US".

It's interesting that the banning of people who challenge major corporations is considered "Really Good News", while the exclusion of those companies' suspect imports is considered an "Outrage!" that requires the intervention of the WTO to try and force through their entry.

"But Bove has been to prison for his actions", we can hear the likes of Prakash protest. Well, so has Prakash's fellow GM propagandist, Dr Douglas Powell, and for far worse than tearing up GM crops, yet steps were specifically taken to get around Powell's criminal convictions in order to allow him to continue to enter the US to strut his stuff. Somehow we don't remember Prakash saying that that was an "Outrage!"
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6224
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6232

+ PROTECT FARMERS, NOT MONSANTO
A letter to the Rutland Herald (Vermont) explains exactly who is protected by Vermont's watered-down Farmer Protection Act – and it isn't the farmer:

EXCERPT:
Last April, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the Farmer Protection Act by a vote of 26-1. The House removed the strict liability from the Senate version and instead passed a severely weakened version of the bill... the Farmer Protection Act ... discusses who should assume the liability for economic damage that will inevitably be caused when these genetically modified seeds contaminate neighboring fields.

Liability caused by a product most commonly rests with those who own the product. It is important to recognize in this case, that farmers who use genetically modified seed do not actually own the seed. Instead, they sign a use agreement that allows them to lease the technology, but the manufacturer retains ownership of the seed. Under current law, Vermont's family farmers are made to accept all liability for damage caused by seeds that they don't even own.

Proponents of the House version claim that farmers are already protected as consumers. In actuality, neither farmer is protected in a contamination scenario. The farmer who has been harmed has done no business with Monsanto (and is therefore not a consumer), and the farmer who leased the seed will have no recourse to the company while being sued. Without the strict liability provision present in the Senate version, the only party that can claim any protection is the seed manufacturer.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6214

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AUSTRALASIA
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+ GM CANOLA – HIGHER COST, LOWER SALE PRICES
The Network of Non-GM Farmers in Australia has produced an analysis of the impact of GM canola (oilseed rape). It says that there is clear evidence in Canada of a price penalty associated with GM or GM contaminated canola: "Canada lost their premium over Australian canola of $US32.68/tonne and are now faced with price penalties up to $US30/tonne and are experiencing large carryover stocks despite their major market being US, which is not GM sensitive."

Incidentally, Julie Newman of the Network says the WTO decision, as well as exacerbating consumer rejection, will have zero impact on policy decisions in Australia: "I am confident the moratoria in Australia are safe as the Federal government, not the States, is signatory to the WTO and Federal only has authority over health and the environment with an agreed mandate to "provide a path to market". States have authority over economics and markets and that has been what has led to the moratoria in each canola growing state."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6219

+ RESIDENTS CAN HAVE SAY IN GMOs
The Whangarei District Council in New Zealand has voted to take part in an extensive consultation process, in conjunction with other local authorities from Waitakere north, on the issue of GMOs. Councillors also voted to adopt a precautionary approach to the release of GMOs into the environment and lobby the government and all other political parties to address the regulatory gaps over the liability faced by councils over the release of GMOs in their area.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6212

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CATHOLIC CHURCH
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+ POPE HAS YET TO TAKE A STANCE ON GMOs
Benedict XVI, elected Pope in April 2005, has yet to take a definitive stance on GMOs despite all the lobbying by US interests of the new pope and his predecessor.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6201

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BIOSAFETY
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Links to useful articles and reports on GM and biosafety are at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6208

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ EXPOSED: THE SECRET CORPORATE FUNDING BEHIND HEALTH RESEARCH
In an article with the above title for the UK Guardian, George Monbiot exposes the true nature of an organization called Arise (Associates for Research into the Science of Enjoyment):

"Arise, founded in 1988, seems to have been active until 2004. It described itself as 'a worldwide association of eminent scientists who act as independent commentators'. Its purpose, these eminent scientists said, was to show how 'everyday pleasures, such as eating chocolate, smoking, drinking tea, coffee and alcohol, contribute to the quality of life'.

Arise gained an enormous amount of media coverage in mainstream outlets up until 2004. It was even given a prime spot in an uncontested interview on BBC's Today programme, when its head, Professor David Warburton, then a professor of pharmacology at Reading University in England, extolled the calming properties of cigarettes and poured scorn on public health messages. Warburton also published articles in the journal Psychopharmacology, of which he was a senior editor, which claimed that nicotine improved both attention and memory.

Monbiot found just one instance in which a journalist – Madeleine Bunting in the Guardian – questioned either Arise's science or the motivation of the scientists. In fact, Arise received over 99% of its funding from Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, RJ Reynolds and Rothmans.

Monbiot asks, "How many more undeclared recipients of corporate money have been appearing on the Today programme, providing free public relations for their sponsors? This case suggests to me that both academia and the media have failed dismally to exercise sufficient scepticism. Surely there is one obvious question with which every journal and every journalist should begin. 'Who's funding you?'"
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6213