Claire Robinson, editor
Lots of great news!
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MONTHLY REVIEW CONTENTS
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TOP OF THE PODS
NEWS IN OTHER LANGUAGES
GM BANS / RESTRICTIONS
LOBBYWATCH
GM HYPE
CONTAMINATION
PROTESTS AND RESISTANCE
ENVIRONMENT
FOOD SAFETY & HEALTH
RESEARCH
SETBACKS FOR THE GM INDUSTRY
GM APPROVALS
GOVERNMENT SLEAZE
WORLD BANK
BIOTECH, FREE TRADE, AND INVESTMENT
CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF GOVERNMENT
PATENTS ON LIFE
BIOFUELS
GM MEDICINES / GENE THERAPY
CHURCHES
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TOP OF THE PODS
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+ TOP OF THE PODS
GM Watch has had a great response to our new podcasts: audiofiles with topical interviews and background reports on GM issues.
They can be easily downloaded to your computer or audio player for you to listen to when and where you want.
You can download individual podcasts, or subscribe to them via iTunes and have new podcasts download to your device automatically as they become available.
Via iTunes:
http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=80&page=1
Or listen on your computer (eg with QuickTime / having some problems with Windows Media Player) via indymedia:
http://biotech.indymedia.org/or/2006/07/5183.shtml
+ PODS TO DATE
02 July 2006 - How pro-GM lobbyists fix the media
25 June 2006 - Illegal GM crops in Brazil and China
19 June 2006 - GM pharma crops; Monsanto's GM rBGH
11 June 2006 - Feeding the world and biotech PR; Doubts about drugs
5 June 2006 - GM Cotton; Worrying new research on GM Corn
1 June 2006 - Watching GM around the world
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NEWS IN OTHER LANGUAGES
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+ GM WATCH IN DUTCH
Nieuws in het Nederlands
http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=81&page=1
+ GM WATCH IN GERMAN
http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=82&page=1
+ GM WATCH IN OTHER LANGUAGES?
After the success of the translations into Dutch and German, we're looking for volunteer translators to help get the news into Portuguese, Spanish, French etc. Please get in touch: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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GM BANS / RESTRICTIONS
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+ INDIAN STATE SAYS "NO!" TO GM SEEDS
The chief minister of the Indian state of Uttaranchal said that there would be no permission given to GM seeds in the state. Tiwari cited the need to protect the image of the state as a producer of organic food.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6655
+ MISSOURI "PRE-EMPTION" BILL PUSHED BACK BY FARMERS
A bill that would have prohibited the state of Missouri from enacting any seed regulation exceeding federal requirements has been pulled from consideration in the Missouri legislature, under pressure from farmers.
The ceding of local control over crops planted - "pre-emption language" is the term favoured by proponents - isn't just happening in Missouri. More than 10 state legislatures have passed similar bills.
Missouri's Bootheel rice farmers had their antennae up because just last year a crisis erupted when GM pharmaceutical rice was to be planted near commercial rice fields. Plans to grow the pharma rice were scuttled only after beer giant Anheuser Busch threatened to stop buying the rice.
"If (the bill) had passed, we'd have had no say about what could, or couldn't, be planted," says Sonny Martin, a Bootheel rice producer and chairman of the Missouri Rice Research and Merchandising Council.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6618
+ SANTA CRUZ OK'S BAN ON GM CROPS
Supervisors of Santa Cruz County, California have unanimously approved a moratorium on growing GM crops in the county.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6664 http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6620
+ BASF BOSS SAYS "GET OUT OF THE EU"!
Hans Kast, chairman of industry group EuropaBio and CEO of the GM corporation BASF, says European countries which want to be GM-free "should not be in the EU".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6601
+ EUROPE HAS LITTLE GM CORN
A report in a German newspaper says the area sown with GM crops in Germany is "minuscule". Half of the applications submitted to the Central Registry have been withdrawn.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6616
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LOBBYWATCH
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+ THE MYTH OF THE "INDEPENDENT EXPERTS" WHO SUPPORT GM
Here are some excellent examples of how pro-GM lobbyists manage to pass themselves off as either independent experts, when they're not, or as a large body of scientific experts, when they're a smaller self-interested clique:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6688
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6691
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6687
+ KBBE: EUROPE'S NEW BIOTECH BUBBLE ECONOMY
Dr Maewan Ho reports an attempt in Brussels to re-launch the failed biotech industry under the sustainability ticket. KBBE - Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy - is billed as Europe's answer to climate change and the energy crisis.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6589
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GM HYPE
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+ BOOSTING CASSAVA ROOTS THE NON-GM WAY
There was recently a huge amount of hype around a story that researchers at Ohio State University had genetically modified cassava to boost the size of its starch-rich roots.
The researchers produced roots that were double the normal size and this was said to be a beacon of hope for Africa where about 250 million Africans - 40 per cent of the continent's population - use cassava as their primary source of food.
But a professor of genetics at the University of Brasilia has pointed out that he and his team have produced a hybrid cassava with roots that are *ten times* the normal size without resorting to GM. What's more, he says, "The cost of our research was extremely low."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6606
+ INDIA: BT COTTON - MAIN KILLER OF FARMERS - HYPED AGAIN IN VIDARBHA
The cultivation of Monsanto's Bt cotton in Vidarbha, India last year resulted in disaster. Hundreds of farmers took their lives as a result of the failure of the Bt cotton crop and resulting debts.
One of the most disturbing aspects of what occurred is that Bt cotton was promoted to these farmers via a massive campaign of hype by Monsanto. Equally disturbingly, the campaign of hype was backed up by the government of Maharashtra.
This year, not only has Bt cotton again been heavily promoted with advertisements in Maharashtra's newspapers and TV channels, but the government of Maharashtra is once again supporting this campaign of hype.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6594
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6605
+ INDIA: NEW STUDY EXPOSES MONSANTO'S BT COTTON HYPE
A new study commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund into the growing of Bt cotton in India shows that there is no benefit to farmers in fact, the reverse. This finding is especially revealing because the study was set up with the aim of getting away from the influence of Indian NGOs, who are referred to in the report in disparaging terms, and because it takes every opportunity to be positive about Bt cotton where it can.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6598
+ BT COTTON - "NO MAJOR FALL IN PESTICIDE CONSUMPTION"
India's pesticide industry says it is relaxed about Bt cotton because it is not causing any significant drop in pesticide use. What drop there is has been offset by an increase in herbicide use with Bt cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6628
+ GM PAPAYA IN HAWAII A FAILURE
A new report by Greenpeace concludes that GM papaya introduced in Hawaii since 1998 has been a failure and the prospects for the industry are dim, thus contradicting claims of its success by the GM industry and other GM promoters.
Quoting from statistics from the US Department of Agriculture, the report says that a decade ago in 1995, the gross value of Hawaii's fresh papaya crop was over US$22 million but today, it has declined by more than half. In 1997, before ringspot virus-resistant GM papaya were sold, farmers received an average of $1.23 per kilogram. In 1998, that figure crashed to $0.89 when traditional buyers of Hawaiian papayas, such as Japan and Canada, rejected the GM fruit. As prices declined, so did production.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6686
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CONTAMINATION
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+ ACTION ALERT: STOP COMMERCIAL PLANTING OF GM PLUMS
The US Dept of Agriculture is accepting public comments before July 17, 2006 on a petition that would allow commercial growing of the first GM plum trees. If approved, this would remove all regulatory oversight of this variety, which has been engineered to be resistant to a virus. It would also open the door to GM varieties of related stone fruits, such as peaches, apricots, cherries and almonds, that are susceptible to the same virus. Ironically, the virus the plum is engineered to resist is not even found in the US today according to the USDA.
The USDA admits that this GM plum will contaminate organic and conventional non-GM plum orchards if approved.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6684
+ U.S.: FDA ADVISES VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF GM CROP TESTS
Federal food regulators have announced a step they claim will help guard against GM experiments contaminating non-GM crops. The Food and Drug Administration advised companies testing GM plants to report their work first and vouch for its safety.
Bill Freese of the Center for Food Safety criticized the action for not requiring testing and for assuming contamination would be slight. "It is designed to make it look like there is regulation when in fact it's just a green light to allow contamination of food with these untested substances," he said.
Conversely, the Biotechnology Industry Organization praised the FDA for "ensuring food safety" while recognizing that accidents with experimental proteins are "natural."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6673
+ ILLEGAL GM PROLIFERATION
Who's behind the proliferation of illegal GM seeds? Find out in GM Watch podcast no.5. The podcast looks at how GM scientists seem to be colluding with commercial interests regarding illegal Bt cotton in Brazil, and at how illegal proliferation is being used as a strategy to force GM crop approvals.
How to listen:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6681
+ NFU ALARMS ORGANIC FARMERS WITH GM CROPS COEXISTENCE POLICY
The UK's National Farmers Union (NFU) is embroiled in a row with some farmers after endorsing a position statement which backs the co-existence framework recommended by the industry body SCIMAC (Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops), to allow 0.9% "accidental" contamination of non-GM crops. The NFU's statement also calls urgently for a 0.5% threshold for seeds.
The Soil Association has publicly criticised the position statement. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6669
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6660
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PROTESTS AND RESISTANCE
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+ INDIA: PROMOTERS OF GM COTTON IN PUNJAB TURN AGAINST GM
Promoters of Bt cotton in Punjab, the Bhartiya Kisan Union, will now oppose the introduction of other Bt crops in the state.
The turnaround, according to Manjit Singh Kadian, general secretary, has come after "the Centre [central government] allowed the testing of Bt brinjal in the country. As we eat vegetables we cannot take the risk which involves our health".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6657
+ INDIAN FARMERS REJECT BT BRINJAL AND OTHER GM CROPS
At the annual convention of farmers' group Bhartiya Kissan Union in Haridwar, delegates resolved that India does not need GM crops. Thirty thousand farmers congregated from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6651
+ INDIA: "STOP SALE OF BT COTTON SEEDS"
The Karnataka state farmers' organisation, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), says it will burn Bt cotton plantations if the state and central governments do not stop sale of Monsanto's Bollgard cotton seeds and other GM seeds in the state. KRRS says the majority of farmers who committed suicide in Karnataka and Maharashtra grew Bt cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6646
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6659
+ EUROPEANS STILL DON'T WANT GM FOODS - REPORT
A clear majority of Europeans still oppose GM food, according to a Eurobarometer survey. "GM food is widely seen as not being useful, as morally unacceptable and as a risk for society," said the report.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6667
+ FRENCH ANTI-GM ACTIVISTS CONVICTED ON APPEAL
A French court of appeal convicted 49 activists for destroying a crop of GM maize, quashing an earlier court ruling which found their actions were justified.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6692
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ENVIRONMENT
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+ SOUTH AMERICA: THE SOY REPUBLIC BURNS
Mostly unseen by American and European eyes, a massive transformation of the South American landscape is taking place. A new bread-basket for the world is being constructed in what used to be the wild and native lands of the Amazon basin. Monocultures of soybeans, specifically GM varieties of this crop, are the foundation for this transformation.
The social costs of the establishment of the Soy Republic, comprising Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, are staggering, yet invisible to Northern media.
A recent report from Grupo de Reflexion Rural (GRR) details cases of murder, mass evictions, land-grabs and bloody confrontations from the advancing front of the Soy Republic.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6584
+ GM SOY ENDANGERS RIVER DANUBE AREA
Evidence has emerged that GM soy is illegally cultivated in Romania's River Danube Delta area, habitat to over 1,600 species of plants and over 3,400 species of animals. The cultivation of GM crops is due to be banned in Romania from January 2007.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6623
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FOOD SAFETY & HEALTH
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+ UPDATE ON SAFETY RESEARCH ON GM FOODS
A Soil Association briefing lists recent studies that have found a range of serious, unexplained effects from GM consumption:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6661
+ MULTIPLE BIRTHS MAY BE LINKED TO MONSANTO'S GM rBGH
Multiple births bring increased complications for both mothers and offspring. And according to a leading researcher in the field, "The continuing increase in the twinning rate into the 1990's... may also be a consequence of the introduction of growth-hormone treatment of cows to enhance their milk and beef production."
Gary Steinman, MD, PhD, an attending physician at Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center in New Hyde Park, NY, found that women who consume animal products, specifically dairy, are five times more likely to have twins than women who avoid these products. The study is published in the May 2006 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine.
Steinman suggests that women contemplating pregnancy might consider substituting meat and dairy products with other protein sources, "especially in countries that allow growth hormone administration to cattle".
Monsanto's GM cattle drug, a bovine growth hormone (rBGH, also known as BST), is widely used for milk production in the US and is known to increase production of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) in milk. The drug is banned in both the EU and Canada.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6638
+ U.S.: rBGH ON THE RUN
In the US, there are escalating problems for Monsanto's GM cattle drug rBGH. Major dairy processors and retailers, including Dean Foods, Wal-Mart and Kroger, are on a nationwide search for rBGH-free milk. In response to this and a series of actions in the past year of dairies going rBGH-free, Monsanto is now lowering the price of rBGH to try to cling to its dwindling market.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6635
+ U.S. SCIENTISTS SEE SPIKE IN KIDS' FOOD ALLERGIES
Medical personnel in the US say near-fatal allergic reactions are "skyrocketing" in children. A report in the Chicago Tribune points to soy (most of which is GM in the US) as a major culprit:
"... parents continue to discover that their child is allergic to certain foods much the way Kellee Konieczny did about five years ago. About two hours after feeding her 9-month-old son Zachary soy milk in a bottle, he went limp in his father's arms, began vomiting profusely and turned blue."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6629
+ GM CROPS MAY PRODUCE HERBICIDE INSIDE OUR INTESTINES
Pioneer Hi-Bred's GM Liberty Link corn survives doses of Liberty herbicide, which would normally kill corn. The reason, the company's website claims, is that the herbicide becomes "inactive in the corn plant." They fail to reveal, however, that after you eat the GM corn, some inactive herbicide may become reactivated inside your gut and cause a toxic reaction. This conversion has already happened in animal feeding trials and has caused toxic effects.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6587
+ U.S. CONSUMER GROUP SUES FDA OVER GM FOODS
A lawsuit filed by the Center for Food Safety against the Food and Drug Administration seeks to force the US government to conduct mandatory reviews of GM foods and require labeling of such foods once approved.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6612
+ FISH BLOOD THE KEY TO LOW-FAT ICE CREAM
Food giant Wall's is planning to market a low-fat ice cream derived via a GM process from a protein found in fish blood. Parent company Unilever believes that worries about obesity will overcome people's instinctive disgust at GM and fish goop in their ice cream.
An application to use the new technology, involving the GM process, has been lodged with the UK Food Standards Agency, which is inviting comment.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6677
+ NEW ZEALAND: GM CORN SAFETY WORRIES
There are concerns that Food Standards Australia and New Zealand may be about to allow a type of GM corn into the country. Monsanto wants to use the GM corn in New Zealand to fatten animals, but has asked for a safety clearance in case the corn turns up in human food by mistake. But scientists say once approved for that, it could be used in food without further approval.
They claim the corn has only been tested in its raw state. "The most likely types of hazards to arise from this corn will arise after cooking and processing," says Jack Heineman from the Centre for Integrated Research on Biosafety.
The corn is genetically engineered to contain higher levels of the amino acid lysine than is found in other corn varieties. While lysine itself isn't a health risk, if the LY038 variety is cooked with sugars also found in the corn, compounds called AGE's are produced which are implicated in causing Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and other health conditions.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6607
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6640
+ INDIA: ALLERGY AMONG WORKERS IN BT COTTON FIELD
During a workshop of SAGE (South Against Genetic Engineering)-Tamil Nadu, an organic farmer told how he did an informal survey around his village. He found that no women came forward for harvesting Bt cotton as they develop an allergic reaction when they enter the field.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6588
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RESEARCH
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+ GM IS OBSOLETE - NON-GM BIOTECH NOW "THE FIRST CHOICE"
The Foundation on Economic Trends (FET), founded by the economist Jeremy Rifkin, has recently completed a white paper on the next generation of biotech agriculture, called Marker Assisted Selection (MAS).
Rifkin, like many others, is convinced that MAS has eclipsed genetic engineering in its potential and that GM is a failed technology whose limitations are hotly denied by corporate-friendly scientists and the entrenched interests they represent.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6668
Rifkin dismissed by usual suspects:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6687
+ THE STAY-AT-HOME PEST IN GM FIELDS
Farmers who plant Bt corn are supposed to plant non-GM "refuges" alongside in an attempt to delay the appearance of insects resistant to the Bt toxin. But now, "This strategy might not be as optimal as thought," says Denis Bourguet of INRA-Montpellier, France.
The French researchers found that copulation frequently takes place where the butterfly was born and not in the refuge where it is supposed to disperse its genes. This behaviour increases the risks of individuals from a resistant strain multiplying.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6645
+ EFFECT OF BT CORN RESIDUE ON EARTHWORMS
A team of Danish researchers has found that Bt corn residues in soil had a statistically significant negative effect on the life history of the earthworm in terms of cocoon hatchability.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6670
+ NON-GM BIOTECH THRIVING IN AUSTRALIA
Research Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Value Added Wheat, Dr Bill Rathmell, says Australian researchers are leading the world in developing wheat-breeding technology through marker assisted breeding - without needing to use GM.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6666
+ SOME CORN ROOTWORMS CAN DETECT BT CORN AND LIVE
Research published in the Journal of Economic Entomology suggests that western corn rootworm larvae may be able to detect Bt proteins in root tissue, stop feeding, and survive to the next stage of life. Ultimately, under this scenario, there is adult emergence into producers' fields.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6622
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SETBACKS FOR THE GM INDUSTRY
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+ GERMANY: FEW JOBS IN BIOTECH
Plant genetic engineering in Germany employs less than 500 people and it is not likely to increase.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6652
+ INDIA: MONSANTO IN CONTEMPT
The Andhra Pradesh government has filed a contempt application against the Indian subsidiary of Monsanto for violating the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission's order to reduce the price of Bt cotton seeds. Monsanto has only reduced the price minimally.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6689
+ ANDHRA PRADESH DEMANDS MONSANTO INSURE FARMERS AGAINST CROP FAILURE
The Andhra Pradesh government has demanded that Monsanto insure farmers against crop failure from Bt cotton seeds.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6624
+ MONSANTO LOSES INDIAN COURT APPEAL OVER GM SEEDS PRICES
The Supreme Court has refused to repeal the order of the Andhra Pradesh government which directed Monsanto to cut the price of its GM cotton seeds.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6613
+ INDIAN SOYMEAL BOOMING BECAUSE NON-GM
India's soymeal exports are expected to nearly double to 3.7 million tonnes in the year ending September 2006. Rajesh Agrawal, chairman of the Soybean Processors' Association of India, said, "Everywhere Indian meal was better accepted this year because it is non-genetically modified and of good quality."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6674
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GM APPROVALS
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+ INDIA: BT BRINJAL TRIALS HAVE TO WAIT
The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has deferred its decision to allow large-scale field trials of four varieties of Bt brinjal (aubergine/eggplant) hybrids, developed by Mahyco, Monsanto's corporate partner in India. It has decided to post on its website details of biosafety studies conducted by the company on Bt brinjal.
The delay follows the presentation to GEAC of a report by Centre for Sustainable Agriculture detailing deaths of about 1,800 sheep grazing on Bt cotton fields in four villages near Warangal in Andhra Pradesh.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6595
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6591
+ TOP BIOTECH SCIENTIST SPEAKS OUT AGAINST GM BRINJAL TRIALS
A top biotech scientist has criticized Indian government plans to trial GM Bt brinjals. "It is an absolute scandal for us to allow further trials despite the failure of Bt cotton," said Dr Pushpa Bhargava, founder of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.
"The seed should be withdrawn immediately, just like faulty drugs are removed from the market. We are being taken for a ride by the MNC [multinational company]-government nexus. These committees don't even have specialised scientists. They exist only to promote the interests of powerful companies, not of the country..."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6663
Scientists warn of health dangers of Bt brinjals:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6690
+ STOP BT BRINJAL!
Dr Krishan Bir Chaudhary, leader of the farmers' organization, Bharat Krishak Samaj, has written a letter demanding that before releasing Bt brinjal, GEAC:
***publishes full details of safety studies
***proves it has tightened up biosafety practices since biosafety violations were exposed in existing GM trials
***investigates reported allergies among workers exposed to Bt, and deaths in sheep and goats that grazed on Bt cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6633
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6637
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6639
+ FIELD TRIALS OF BT BRINJAL YIELDED "WORST" RESULTS
A round table organised in Hyderabad by city-based Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) noted that in tests of Bt brinjal by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), "worst" results were obtained in terms of several parameters, including yields.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6695
+ "EVENT-BASED" CLEARANCE FOR GM CROPS LIKELY IN INDIA
In a move that could fast-track release of new GM crops into the market, the central government is considering "event-based" clearance against the existing system of approving each individual hybrid or variety.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6602
+ FRENCH MINISTER OK'S 17 OUTDOOR GM TRIALS
The French minister of agriculture, Dominique Bussereau, has authorized 17 new outdoor field tests with GM corn and tobacco.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6614
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6632
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GOVERNMENT SLEAZE
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+ EU'S SECRET BIOTECH INDUSTRY BIAS
Friends of the Earth has condemned a high-level meeting on Europe's future biotech strategy that took place in secret behind closed doors after environmental NGOs were barred entry.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6656
+ U.S.: PESTICIDE INDUSTRY PLOTTED BUSH HUMAN TESTING POLICY
One month before the Bush administration proposed rules authorizing experiments on humans with pesticides and other chemicals, its key operatives met with agrochemical industry lobbyists to map out its provisions, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The industry's requests for exemptions allowing chemical testing on children were incorporated into the human testing rule ultimately adopted this January.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6596
+ UK: SAINSBURY IN ROW OVER GM RESEARCH FUNDING
Lord Sainsbury, the billionaire science minister, is embroiled in a fresh controversy after it emerged that projects he set up to promote GM foods have been awarded more than GBP12m by his department.
The Sainsbury Laboratory, which researches GM crops, has received a 400% increase in government funding since Labour came to power in 1997, with grants of GBP8.7m. A further GBP4.2m has been given to Plant Bioscience in the past five years, a company set up by Sainsbury's charitable foundation, which markets spin-offs from the laboratory.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6583
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WORLD BANK
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+ GROUPS IN AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA CONDEMN WORLD BANK BIOSAFETY PROJECTS
The World Bank is set to secure funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for two projects that will undermine public debate and aggressively drive GM crops into the heart of peasant agriculture, reports the NGO, GRAIN. The two projects, one in West Africa and the other in Latin America, will hasten the spread of GM crops into farmer seed systems and even into certain centres of origin.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6683
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BIOTECH, FREE TRADE, AND INVESTMENT
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+ BIOTECH, FREE TRADE, AND INVESTMENT: NEW REPORT ONLINE
An important new report shows how bilateral free trade agreements are used by the biotech industry as a conduit for spreading GMOs around the world. These bilateral trade negotiations can easily slip beneath the radar of NGOs and popular movements that oppose the WTO.
The report, written by Aziz Choudry for the Pesticides Action Network Asia Pacific and People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty, is at
http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=4861
http://www.bilaterals.org/IMG/pdf/PANAP_PCFS.pdf
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CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF GOVERNMENT
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+ INDIA: PATENTED SEEDS DRIVE OUT LOCAL VARIETIES
India has tabled a controversial Seeds Bill (2004) in Parliament that would allow foreign companies to be directly involved with small farmers via an aggressive extension network.
"This is an absolute no-no,'' says Suman Sahai of Gene Campaign. ''It overrides the farmer's rights clauses put into the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVP) of 2001. First let this Act be implemented and then bring in the seed bill."
The PVP Act authorises farmers to buy registered seeds with the option of saving and selling them, and offers compensation for failed seed. The single biggest reason why the PVP has not been implemented, says Sahai, is corporate influence - and that is now pushing the seed bill.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6689
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PATENTS ON LIFE
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+ UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII EXPECTED TO ABANDON TARO PATENTS
The University of Hawaii is expected to announce that it is dropping its patents on three varieties of taro, a traditional food plant, after Hawaiians and taro farmers protested the concept of someone owning strains of the plants.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6665
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BIOFUELS
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+ BIG HARVEST FOR CERES
California biotech company Ceres Inc. has signed an agreement with the Ardmore, Oklahoma-based Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation to develop and commercialize GM switchgrass that can be used for ethanol production.
But not all are convinced of the potential of GM switchgrass as a crop for biofuels. Tadeusz W. Patzek, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, said that monoculture plantations of switchgrass require large amounts of chemical fertilization and are likely to decline in yield and wither after four to five years. His research found that too many fossil fuels are required to create ethanol from switchgrass and other crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6678
+ GM ETHANOL MAIZE FOR SOUTH AFRICA RISKY AND INEFFICIENT
Gaia reports that Syngenta's recent application to import GM maize to South Africa for conversion into ethanol signals the beginning of a trend that many suspect is the next step in industry's strategy for GM acceptance.
Industry hopes to cast GM as the solution to climate change, by producing crops for conversion to ethanol, which can be used as a supposedly environmentally friendly biofuel alternative to petrol.
But there are many reasons why the promotion of biofuels as an alternative fuel source may bring more harm than good. There is the likelihood that precious land in Africa will be used to produce car fuel for export instead of food.
In addition, a report from the Africa Centre for Biosafety (ACB) points out that ethanol for fuel production actually consumes more energy than it produces, due to the high energy costs of agricultural inputs, processing and transport of the fuel. Other studies in the US also demonstrate that much of the hype about ethanol being a green energy source is baseless.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6597
ACB report: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6570
+ BP JOINS BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION
Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) president and CEO Jim Greenwood has announced that global energy group BP - British Petroleum - has become the first fully integrated energy company to become a member of BIO. The move anticipates the increased production of biofuels from GM crops. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6653
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GM MEDICINES / GENE THERAPY
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+ VENTRIA EXPERIMENTS WITH GM PHARM RICE ON INFANTS IN PERU
Ventria, the controversial GM pharma rice firm that has had to abandon its field trial plans in both California and Missouri, is now at the centre of a new storm over its activities in Peru.
The Peruvian Medical Association has announced that Ventria is experimenting with breastfeeding infants to evaluate the effectiveness of their pharmaceutical rice for use in acute diarrhea.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6641
+ QUESTIONS OVER "PHARMED" DRUGS
Recently the first medicine produced in the milk of a GM animal, Atryn, was recommended for use in Europe after initially being turned down.
However, an editorial in the staunchly pro-GM journal Nature Biotechnology about the initial refusal of approval draws attention to a problem for companies aiming to produce medicines in the milk of GM animals. It is difficult to produce "nature-identical" proteins in the milk of GM cows, goats and sheep, the animals generally used for the process. The result could be unwanted immune reactions in patients treated with the end product.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6610
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CHURCHES
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+ GLOBAL ALLIANCE OF CHURCHES WON'T BUY GM FOOD AID
Action by Churches Together (ACT) International - the global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide - has developed a new policy on GMOs.
It states that ACT members will in future follow the guideline of NOT buying any GM food with the resources administered by them.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6693