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GMWATCH number 14
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From Claire Robinson, GMWATCH editor
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Dear all,
The Royal Society (RS) are up to their old tricks again, coming over all indignant at the Guardian's coverage of the leaked results of the UK GM crop trials showing 2 out of the 3 GM crops trialed harmed wildlife. Such "speculation" should not have been published prior to the research's publication in the RS's journal, they say. The RS's righteous consciences seemed to take a holiday when they tried to rubbish Dr Arpad Pusztai's research showing harm from GM foods prior to its publication in The Lancet.
For those who missed the slew of overwhelmingly anti-GM media reports following the UK public debate, we are including links to the many related articles. The debate revealed that just 2% of people were happy to eat GM foods and 86% were not. What's more, the more people found out about GM, the more their attitudes hardened against it. The industry's only hope seems to be to contaminate the food supply beyond repair and oppose labelling. Pro-GMers could only reply to the debate results by complaining that the wrong sort of public were involved in the public debates and that the process was hijacked by the Women's Institute!
There's an important Campaign of the Month, which encourages President Lula of Brazil to hold to his previous stance that GM planting in Brazil is illegal. In his proposal to legalise GM soy plantings for this season, Lula appears to be caving in to industry pressure and side-stepping responsibility for prosecuting those farmers in the south of the country who have illegally planted GM seed.
Our new archive is at: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive.asp
Claire Robinson <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
www.ngin.org.uk
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CONTENTS
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RESISTANCE TO GM - VATICAN NEVER ENDORSED GM/NZ/JAPAN
REPORT OF THE MONTH: ROYAL SOCIETY AND CROP TRIAL SPECIAL
THIRD WORLD
GM CONTAMI-NATION - RESISTANCE, REPORTS & EVENTS IN UK
WTO
ENVIRONMENT
PHARMING
EUROPE
FOOD SAFETY
CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF GOVERNMENT
GM ANIMALS
COMPANY NEWS
CAMPAIGN OF THE MONTH: STOP BRAZIL GIVING WAY ON GM SEED
SUBSCRIPTIONS
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RESISTANCE TO GM
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VATICAN NEVER ENDORSED GM
The Vatican never endorsed GMOs, a Philippine Catholic outfit has said. "(The) government's claims that the Pope has endorsed GMOs are unsubstantiated and premature," the National Secretariat for Social Action (Nassa), social action arm of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said in a statement issued on Oct. 1 in which they point to the strong anti-GM sentiments in Episcopal conferences across Asia, Africa and parts of Europe.
As early as last July 19, the Nassa wrote to Archbishop Renato Martino (who has long been making pro-GM statements, implying that he has the backing of the Catholic Church in doing so) informing him of Nassa's concern over the supposed endorsement of GMOs by the council.
"In reply, Archbishop Martino noted the validity of Nassa's arguments about GMOs' being anti-poor," said the CBCP-Nassa. Martino then requested the CBCP-Nassa to substantiate its arguments with evidence. In response, the CBCP-Nassa mobilized its diocesan social action centers, which have since been documenting farmers' experiences with Bt-corn seeds planted in pilot farms.
CBCP-Nassa stressed that it stands by its convictions that "GMOs subvert people's right to food" and this, it said, is "a human rights violation that arises from the patenting of GMOs as mandated by the World Trade Organization."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1552
GMWATCH wonders if, given the increasing media speculation over the Pope's health (he suffers from Parkinson's and some reports say he also has cancer), certain elements within the Catholic Church are taking advantage of the perceived absence of strong leadership.
JAPANESE WARN U.S. ITS MAIN WHEAT MARKET COULD BE DESTROYED:
The premier export market for American wheat could be destroyed if the US approved production of a GM variety of the commodity, a Japanese industry official said this week. In the year that ended March 31, Japan bought nearly 2.5 million tonnes of U.S. wheat, slightly more than half of its import needs. A Japanese government-sponsored survey conducted a few months ago, showed that almost 68% of consumers opposed GM wheat. In May, a group of South Korean wheat millers visited the US and delivered a similar message in opposition to GM wheat.
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/22173/story.htm
NEW ZEALAND: PROTEST GROWS AS END NEARS TO GM BAN ON PLANTS AND ANIMALS
As the end of a two-year ban on planting genetically engineered crops in New Zealand looms, this nation that prides itself on its pristine environment is turning into a hothouse of opposition to manipulated plants and animals. From eco-warriors threatening to tear up crops to concerned mothers stripping to their bras in Parliament, people across this nation of 4 million are boldly seeking new ways to articulate their opposition.
Read on at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1555
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REPORT OF THE MONTH: ROYAL SOCIETY AND CROP TRIAL SPECIAL
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ROYAL SOCIETY ATTACKS MEDIA SPECULATION ABOUT GM SCIENTIFIC PAPERS
The Royal Society has attacked 'The Guardian' newspaper for putting its own "commercial interests" ahead of the public good by publishing a speculative article about the contents of scientific papers due to appear in one of the Society's journals.
In response to publication of the front-page story 'GM crops fail key trials amid environment fear', Stephen Cox, Executive Secretary of the Royal Society, said: "Last week's report on the GM public debate stressed that the public wants 'confidence in the independence and integrity of information about GM - the assurance that it does not reflect the influence of any group with a special interest for or against GM'. We believe that the information in this speculative article, which The Guardian describes as 'a serious setback to the GM lobby', flies in the face of this plea from the public...
"This attempt by The Guardian to summarise in a soundbite the entire contents of the eight scientific papers has not been checked for accuracy by either the authors of the papers, who carried out the farm scale evaluations, or the journal. ... The article in The Guardian is wrong about the publication date of the scientific papers, even though that information was made public three weeks ago, and misrepresents the journal's reasons for rejecting a ninth paper about the farm scale evaluations. You can draw your own conclusions about how accurate the rest of the article is likely to be."
http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/templates/press/showPressPage.cfm?file=479.txt
It's amusing that the Royal Society, which was involved in a vicious campaign to vilify and suppress publication of Dr Arpad's Pusztai's Lancet paper, should be up in arms that a paper to be published in its journal should be discussed ahead of publication.
Below is an excerpt from the Guardian article that aroused the RS's ire:
GM CROPS FAIL KEY TRIALS AMID ENVIRONMENT FEAR
Two out of three strains 'should not be grown'
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
The Guardian, Thursday October 2, 2003
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,9061,1054002,00.html
Two of the three GM crops grown experimentally in Britain, oil seed rape and sugar beet, appear more harmful to the environment than conventional crops and should not be grown in the UK, scientists are expected to tell the government next week. The Guardian has learned that the scientists will conclude that growing these crops is damaging to plant and insect life.
The judgment will be a serious setback to the GM lobby in the UK and Europe, reopening the acrimonious debate about GM food.
The third crop, GM maize, allows the survival of more weeds and insects and might be recommended for approval, though some scientists still have reservations.
... The study will include eight peer-reviewed papers about the effect of growing GM crops and accompanying herbicides on the plants and animals living in the fields around. The papers compare the GM fields with conventional crops grown in adjacent fields.
The overwhelming public hostility in the UK to GM crops has not been shared by scientists or the government but the results of the field scale trials are expected to be a jolt to the enthusiasts. The Royal Society refused to publish a ninth paper produced by the scientific group.
The Society's explanation was that the ninth paper was not a scientific document but a summary of findings and in effect a recommendation to the advisory committee on releases to the environment - the expert quango. The scientists involved will now themselves publish this summary at the same time as the other eight papers, concluding that two of the three crops should not be grown.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1554
THREAT TO WILDLIFE ENOUGH TO BAN GM CROPS, MEP'S TOLD
A threat to British wildlife from GM crops would be sufficient grounds for the UK government to ban the growing of such crops, the European health commissioner said, after the Guardian's report on field trials of the crops.
David Byrne was asked by MEPs on the European parliament's environment committee whether a threat to biodiversity would allow Britain to ban GM crops unilaterally. He said it would but he had not seen the results of the three years of trials reported in the Guardian.
Scientists are set to recommend to the government on October 16 that GM sugar beet and oilseed rape are not grown in Britain because insects and weeds are fewer in GM fields, further damaging Britain's depleted wildlife.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,1055016,00.html
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1556
FIELD TRIALS RAISE PRESSURE ON GOVERNMENT
John Vidal of the Guardian summarises the UK government's options on GM in the light of the public debate and crop trial results:
"The government can now do one of two things. It could ignore the strength of public feeling and the growing mood of caution in the scientific establishment by pressing ahead with full commercialisation. But this would open it to accusations that it has not listened, and could affect an election. It will certainly unleash the fury of activists who are even now pledging to uproot the crops and go to the courts.
"It could also say that the case for growing the crops has not been made scientifically, environmentally or democratically, but wring its hands and blame the European commission, which is legally bound to lift its moratorium and claims that no country or region may declare GM-free zones."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1554
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THIRD WORLD
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GM CROPS IRRELEVANT FOR AFRICA
A report for ISIS http://www.i-sis.org.uk by GMWATCH editor Jonathan Matthews examines how Monsanto buys African farmers and concludes GM crops do not address the real causes of poverty and hunger. The report draws on the work of Aaron deGrassi of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK. DeGrassi shows that the benefits from GM crops are much lower than can be obtained "with either conventional breeding or agroecology-based techniques" from just a tiny fraction of the investment in research.
Read the full article at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1431
GOLDEN RICE UNNECESSARY & INEFFECTIVE
The BBC's Alex Kirby reveals that the genes which add paltry amounts of vitamin A to the GM rice are already present in rice. He quotes a scientist from the biotech company Syngenta as saying: "All the genes are present in rice. One could make a non-GM vitamin-A rice simply by studying those genes in a more focused way." Kirby adds, "Beyond that though, poorly-fed people are unlikely to be able to absorb beta-carotene [vit A precursor] even when they eat golden rice. To use it, they need a diverse diet, including green leafy vegetables."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1524
NEW REPORT SAYS GM NOT IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORLD'S POOR
The publication of an interesting new report, "Engineering nutrition: GM crops for global justice?" was rather overshadowed by news of the findings of the UK's GM public debate.
The Food Ethics Council (FEC) report shows why GM crops are bad news for the world's poor and hungry, demolishing arguments that GM foods are a moral crusade to feed the poor. It argues that contrary to US claims, the EU's caution on GM crops is unlikely to harm the world's poor and it is not 'immoral'. The new report argues that the E.U. should maintain a moratorium on GM crops until regulation is reformed to take public concerns more seriously.
Significantly, the report also rejects claims that it is in the interests of the world's poor to spend more public money on GM research. Future food security research should be driven by the needs of farmers and consumers, rather than those of international business and the scientific establishment.
This point is of critical relevance. Plant biotech institutes are increasingly running short of corporate cash and are seeking to underwrite their research direction by using developing-country-related project proposals to try and lever additional support from the public purse and charitable foundations.
The full report can be downloaded from
http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/gmnutrition.htm
Excerpts:
"We question whether a science that depends on privatising public goods to sell at premium prices can make a realistic promise to generate food security, which depends on public goods."
"... reforms to EU and US agricultural and trade policies could have a far greater effect on international food security than any foreseeable technology. The argument that GM crops will contribute to food security does not only distract from these urgently needed changes. In some instances, it has been deployed to further precisely the kinds of unfair international trading relationships that contribute to food insecurity in the first place. International food security is being used as lever to promote the business interests of rich countries, rather than being valued as an end in itself."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1549
INDIA: ANDHRA PRADESH GOVERNMENT REPORTS ON FAILURE OF BT COTTON
The official report of the Govt. of the State of Andhra Pradesh, India, on the performance of GM Bt cotton in the season 2002, "shows that in North Telengana, net income from Bt varieties was five times less than the yield from local non-Bt varieties. In Southern Telengana, the income from Monsanto's Bt crop was nearly 7 times less than what was obtained from the indigenous non-Bt cotton varieties, demonstrating the resounding failure of the Monsanto variety."
The results of the AP report are similar to those reported by Gene Campaign, said Dr Suman Sahai, Director of Gene Campaign.
*Both studies report that Monsanto's Bt cotton has consistently done worse compared to local non-Bt hybrids.
*Both studies have reported that the Monsanto cotton plant type is weaker and less vigorous compared to indigenous cotton varieties.
*The cost of cultivation reported in both studies, is higher for Bt cotton compared to indigenous non-Bt hybrids and
*The net incomes are lower in the Monsanto variety, compared to the indigenous varieties.
INDIAN FARMERS RANSACK MONSANTO FACILITY:
Angry farmers in southern India stormed a building that formerly housed the global biotech giant, Monsanto. More than 40 farmers ransacked the corporation's former Bangalore facility on Thursday, after staging noisy demonstrations. They were protesting after more than 70 farmers committed suicide in the last three months - deaths being partly blamed on Monsanto's GM crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1418
Pictures at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3099938.stm
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GM CONTAMI-NATION - RESISTANCE, REPORTS & EVENTS
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"If Tony Blair gives the green light for GM, then a nation of gardeners will put on their gardening gloves, take GM crops out of the ground and make sure that the people have the last word on protecting our future."
- The Green Gloves Pledge
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1514
* Take up the Green Gloves Pledge to decontaminate GM crops: http://www.greengloves.org or write to Green Gloves, 16B Cherwell Street, Oxford, OX4 1BG
*** Tractors and Trolleys against GM in London, October 13th. Demo against GM crops - drive a tractor or push a trolley through the streets of London. Info: 0808 800 1111 www.tractorandtrolley.com
GM PUBLIC DEBATE GIVES MASSIVE PUBLIC RASPBERRY TO GM
The GM Nation? public debate in the UK found that just 2% of participants were happy to eat GM food. What is perhaps of more interest is the finding that the better informed participants were about GM, the more sceptical they became.
"The GM Debate has given the loudest public raspberry conceivable to GM technology" was the conclusion of an article in the Independent. The article was one of many covering the overwhelmingly negative reaction to GM revealed by the results of the UK public debate. Below we reproduce an excerpt from just one of the many articles on the topic, from many sectors of the media - all overwhelmingly anti-GM in tone. More at:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1531
HOW TO READ THE REPORT
http://www.gmnation.org.uk/ut_09/ut_9_6.htm
The findings of the public debate
Read the Executive summary
Download a PDF of the full report (266KB)
View supporting documents
GM CROPS? NO THANKS
Britain delivers overwhelming verdict after unprecedented public opinion exercise
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=446787
The Independent, 25 September 2003
The title of the debate was "GM Nation?" But that is precisely what the British people do not want their country to be, according to the official report from the national consultation on genetically modified crops and food presented to the Government yesterday.
The unprecedented test of public opinion, which over six weeks this summer involved 675 public meetings and elicited more than 36,000 written responses, revealed a deep hostility to GM technology across the population.
Alongside fears that GM crops and food could be harmful to human health and the environment, the debate threw up widespread mistrust and suspicion of the motives of those taking decisions about GM - especially government and multi-national companies such as Monsanto.
On a whole series of questions GM-hostile majorities were enormous, with 85 per cent saying GM crops would benefit producers not ordinary people, 86 per cent saying they were unhappy with the idea of eating GM food, 91 per cent saying they thought GM had potential negative effects on the environment, and no fewer than 93 per cent of respondents saying they thought GM technology was driven more by the pursuit of profit than the public interest. Figures in support of GM were, by contrast, tiny.
Even special focus groups, deliberately selected from people who were uncommitted one way or another, to tease out the views of the "silent majority", and whose members were initially prepared to admit the technology might have benefits, opposed GM technology more the more they learnt about it, the report discloses.
UK GOVT POISED TO GIVE GO-AHEAD TO GM CROPS?
A report in the Sunday Times says even in the face of sky-high public opposition to GM, ministers are poised to approve the commercial growing of GM crops in Britain, according to leaked cabinet papers. Confidential letters between senior ministers disclose that the government is to back new Brussels rules banning GM-free zones and allowing the "co-existence" of GM with conventional crops. The revelation comes ahead of the publication next month of long-awaited results of GM crop trials in Britain. The studies are expected to show that the growing of some GM crops could be allowed under regulated conditions.
Trade secretary Patricia Hewitt makes clear the reasons for this act of political suicide: "I agree that our interests are best served by giving broad support to the [EU] commission guidelines. We must also bear in mind the potential impact (on) EU-US relations." Earlier this year The Sunday Times revealed that [British] ministers wanted to kill off plans by Brussels to bring in a comprehensive regime for labelling GM foods because they fear "negative fallout" from Washington.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1463
WOMEN'S INSTITUTE ACCUSED OF HIJACKING DEBATE!
In a desperate attempt to explain away the results of the public debate, the pro-GM journalist Andy Coghlan, writing in New Scientist, suggested that the public debate was "hijacked" by the Women's Institute. "Websites run by groups opposed to GM crops, such as the National Federation of Women's Institutes, had urged members to attend meetings in force, for example. And the report identifies middle-aged mothers as displaying the most 'implacable' opposition."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1518
For the WI's response, see
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1528
GM SCIENTISTS FLEE THE UK (WE WISH)
An article in the Guardian reports an exodus of GM scientists from the UK because of hostile public attitudes to GM. Read more about the brain drain (re-christened the stupidity drain by NLP Wessex's Mark Griffiths) at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1049111,00.html
BAYER PULLS OUT OF UK CROP TRIALS AFTER DAY OF ACTION
Schnews reports: A recent national day of action against Bayer saw their phones/faxes/emails blockaded and sites in Cambridge and Widnes targeted. In Widnes the protesters managed to shut down work for a bit. So worried were Bayer that an announcement went over the tannoy to employees to close and lock all doors and windows. Even the security guards locked themselves in their office, which makes one wonder what they're actually paid for... Two protesters managed to speak with the manager who told them "rest assured, you have sent a ripple through Bayer CropScience."
This ripple turned into a wave when a couple of days later Bayer announced that they were pulling out of GM crop trials in Britain - the reason given being that "They are always ripped up." More proof that direct action works. But this isn't time to get complacent and think that GM crops are dead and buried. For a start Bayer have only announced that they are pulling out of trials until conditions are "more favourable". As the biggest GM crop company in Britain they're also pushing ahead with the commercialisation of GM crops. So the anti-GM campaign is set to roll on, with much 'field work' and many more actions planned.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1551
More about Bayer's decision to stop doing crop trials in the UK (apparently due to environment secretary Margaret Beckett's insistence that site locations continue to be made public):
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1540
* For more on the campaign against Bayer see www.stopbayergm.org or phone 07092 036576
* Publicity day against Bayer - October 11th.
* Electronic Blockade of Bayer - October 13th - contact Bayer to tell them what you think of GM food, phone: 01223 870312, fax: 01223 872142 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
* Big Noise Demo. 13th November from 10am outside Bayer's Newbury office, Strawberry Hill, Newbury. Bring whistles, horns, drums, etc. For transport details contact the Stop Bayer campaign. Tickets for transport from Brighton (GBP5) from The Cowley Club, London Road. Transport from Leeds email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
* Corporate Watch have detailed briefings on the three companies involved in GM crops: Monsanto, Bayer and Syngenta -
www.corporatewatch.org.uk/genetics/genetics.htm
UK CITIZENS' JURIES CALL FOR HALT TO GM
The People's Report on GM Crops compiled by Newcastle University was published in September, based on two citizens' juries in different parts of the UK.
You can find all the details of the citizens' jury vedicts here:
http://www.gmjury.org/
You can download the press release (96KB), report summary (20KB) or the full report (487KB) as PDFs.
The verdicts of the two independent juries broadly agree, in that both juries call for:
*A halt to the sale of GM foods currently available, and to the proposed commercial growing of GM crops. This conclusion is based on the lack of evidence of benefit and the precautionary principle.
*Long-term research into the real risks of damage to the environment and the potential for harm.
*An end to blanket assertions that the GM crops are necessary to feed the starving in the Third World, given the complex social and economic factors that lie behind such hunger.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1404
DESPERATE MEASURES: PLAN TO TURN GM CROPS INTO FUEL
Biotechnology firms are pressing to be allowed to grow GM crops across more than a million acres of Britain to provide "green'' fuel for cars, as ministers become increasingly wary about licensing them for food. GM wheat, sugar beet and oilseed rape could be converted into substitutes for petrol and diesel. The plan is being pitched as an environmentally friendly move that will help the battle against global warming. But environmentalists say it will avoid few of the main hazards associated with the technology. [and you don't need GM to create biofuels - they've been available in the US years before GM was thought of and Devon recently hosted a conference on (non-GM) "biodiesel" for cars, which is made from veggie oil.]
The plan, detailed in as yet unpublished evidence to Parliament, reveals growing pessimism in the industry about the prospects of ever persuading supermarkets and consumers to accept GM food.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1539
* 'Don't Worry It Is Safe to Eat - the True Story of GM food, BSE and Foot and Mouth' talk by the author Andrew Rowell Sat 1st Nov, 11am, at the Cafe' Diplo, French Institute 17, Queensberry Place, SW7 London. Booking in advance helps the organizers GBP2 non-members/GBP1 members 0709 234 8726 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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WTO
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CANCUN FAILURE: AFRICA SHOWED THE WAY
The WTO failed at Cancun, Mexico. The underdogs of economic development - the African block - walked out of the trade talks, ending the meeting. The walkout, led by Kenya and also supported by some Caribbean nations, was over the four issues of investment, competition policy, government procurement and facilitation - which the United States, the European Union and Japan were pushing in aggressively. These issues, called "the Singapore issues", were aimed at simplifying cross-border traffic and increasing market access for multinationals. The walkout by the Africans was the second in the history of the WTO - the first was in Seattle in 1999. Read full report by Devinder Sharma
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1422
See also Alan Guebert's breakdown of Cancun:
http://www.foodroutes.org/fwissue.jsp?item=74
Also: George Monbiot's 'Time for transformation': "Feeble and corrupted, the WTO is now ineffective. It needs transformation to allow the poor of the world to overthrow the power of the rich."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/wto/article/0,2763,1036422,00.html
NGO'S BANNED FROM WTO MEETINGS AT CANCUN
Non-governmental organizations were banned from World Trade Organization press conferences at the WTO meeting in Cancun, Mexico, after protesters disrupted a press briefing on Thursday called by US officials. Several women stood up, carrying signs in English and Spanish with the message: "WTO kills farmers".
http://www.terradaily.com/2003/030912010341.ju908r56.html
This action was met with hostility and screaming at the protesters by a man wearing press credentials. The WTO secretariat then issued a statement, banning NGO entry into the press briefings. It was later discovered that the man wearing press credentials, William Dabaghi, works for Maximus International. Their website claims, "Specializing in Agribusiness and Focusing on the WTO." Prior to this, he worked as a lawyer for a business and corporate law firm for 17 years. At the end of the briefing Dabaghi shook hands with the panelists from the USTR and said, "I will handle the hecklers for you or you would have to do it."
http://www.foodfirst.org/wto/reports/2003-09-11AM2.php
BIOSAFETY PROTOCOL CAUGHT IN CROSSFIRE
From 11 September 2003, countries have a right under international law to ban imports of food containing GMOs that they think could be unsafe. Or maybe not. The UN's Biosafety Protocol - which allows bans where governments fear imported GMOs in food may have an "adverse effect" on biological diversity or human health - comes into force on Thursday. But as it does, the right to impose bans is being attacked by a US WTO suit launched in August against the European Union.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1410
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ENVIRONMENT
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BT RESISTANCE IN PESTS WILL INCREASE DUE TO 'REFUGE' NON-COMPLIANCE
New government data show that farmers' violation of rules governing the planting of GE pest-resistant corn is more widespread than previously thought. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), overplanting of Bt corn threatens the long-term effectiveness of the crop by increasing insects' resistance to the natural insecticide that Bt corn contains.
At issue is whether farmers are planting required amounts of non-GE corn alongside GE corn. Those "refuges" are planted so that [in theory] any insects that develop resistance to Bt corn are likely to mate with those insects that haven't - resulting in offspring that will continue to be susceptible. While a recent CSPI report showed that farmers in three Corn Belt states weren't planting sufficient refuges, the new data from the US Department of Agriculture show that 20 percent of farms in ten major agricultural states are not complying with the requirement.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1543
DANISH WATER CONTAMINATED BY ROUNDUP, BAN IMPOSED
Denmark has imposed a temporary ban on the autumn spraying of glyphosate (the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller, used on many GM crops) as of 15 September 2003, on sites where leaching is extensive following heavy rain. The ban follows research findings that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, has been contaminating drinking water. The chemical has been sieving down through the soil and polluting ground water at a rate of five times more than the allowed level for drinking water, according to the Denmark and Greenland Geological Research Institution (DGGRI).
"When we spray glyphosate on the fields by the rules it has been shown that it is washed down into the upper ground water with a concentration of 0.54 micrograms per litre. This is very surprising, because we had previously believed that bacteria in the soil broke down the glyphosate before it reached the ground water," says DGGRI.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1424
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PHARMING
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TOXICOLOGIST SPEAKS OUT AGAINST BIOPHARMING
A Sierra Club scientist has attacked biopharming - the genetic engineering of drugs into crops including food crops - as dangerous and the approvals process as secretive and ignorant.
Toxicologist Suzanne Wuerthele said the risks are potentially devastating for farmers, consumers and the environment. And she criticized the permit process for a pharm corn crop being grown in Colorado to produce the enzyme lipase. "It was conducted in secret and considered in a very ignorant fashion," she said. The Department of Agriculture "handpicked" friends of biotechnology to review the application and withheld critical information. "They decided the public's right to know was superseded by the company's desire for confidentiality."
Wuerthele said the male sterile corn used on the biopharms still produces up to 10 percent of the pollen typically released by fertile corn plants, and that winds easily could carry the pollen to nearby food cornfields. Furthermore, the effect on wildlife and humans who eat the pharm corn is unknown - even Meristem officials emphasize the need for segregating the crop - and the risk to farmers who inhale the lipase-laced dust during the harvest is great, Wuerthele said.
"Alveoli in the lungs are damaged by enzymes like lipase," she said. Producing pharmaceutical compounds in food crops is "a really, really bad idea. The chance of it contaminating the food supply is great," Wuerthele said. "And once that happens, it will destroy our export markets."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1534
Pharming using food crops seems particularly demented in the light of new research from Iowa:
CORN POLLEN DRIFTS FURTHER THAN THOUGHT
Results of an Iowa State University project examining the distance corn pollen travels to breed neighboring corn surprised researchers. Yellow corn planted near purple popcorn developed a large number of purple kernels, but purple kernels were found in neighboring corn as far as 1,600 feet away.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1543
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EUROPE
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COURT ALLOWS ITALY & OTHER COUNTRIES TO BAN GM FOODS:
The European Union's high court has ruled that Italy and other EU member states can place temporary bans on GM foods if they suspect the foods pose a threat to public health or the environment. The ruling stems from a dispute between the Italian government and biotech giant Monsanto.
http://www.just-food.com/news_detail.asp?art=55312
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2003/09/08/daily21.html
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FOOD SAFETY
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NEW ZEALAND SCIENTIST DOES ABOUT TURN ON GE ONIONS
A scientist who participated in early work to genetically engineer onions - but has since turned her back on the technology - has spoken against the project in Gore. Elvira Dommisse gave a talk in her hometown on GM and its implications, on the eve of a crown science company seeking approval for field trials of GE onions.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1547
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CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF GOVERNMENT
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FDA WARNS MILK MANUFACTURERS NOT TO LABEL
The US Food and Drug Administration has told four companies which produce milk and ice cream to stop labeling products as not from cows injected with Monsanto's GE hormone rBST, used to boost milk production. The FDA said there was no need for a label as GE BST "is virtually identical" to a natural hormone. "FDA will continue to take strong action to protect American consumers from products with labeling that is false or misleading," FDA Commissioner Dr. Mark McClellan said. The GE cattle drug is banned in Canada and Europe.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12207392.htm
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GM ANIMALS
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GM ANIMALS NOT WANTED
Interesting article at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1426:
Excerpt: "Despite 20 years of effort in private and public laboratories around the world and millions of dollars spent, no genetically modified farm animals have made the leap to the marketplace."
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COMPANY NEWS
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PPL GIVEN THE CHOP
Dolly-the-sheep firm PPL Therapeutics, once seen as the darling of the Scottish biotech sector, has put itself up for sale and announced the departure of most of its board after failing to find a way to move the ailing firm forward.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1426
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CAMPAIGN OF THE MONTH: STOP BRAZIL GIVING WAY ON GM SEED
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Brazil's Vice-President Jose Alencar has signed a provisional measure allowing farmers to plant GM seeds. Environmental groups are expected to challenge the decree in the courts. The Federal Judges Association also announced that it will challenge the decision in the Supreme Court, saying the measure was "juridically absurd and flagrantly unconstitutional."
The planting and sale of GM crops will only be permitted until the next season which begins in October. By the time this crop is harvested next year, the government hopes that the national congress will have passed a new law defining once and for all Brazil's policy on GM crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1529
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1537
NB: The farmers who plant transgenic soya will have to sign a waiver that they will assume the responsibility for potential harm the crop causes the environment or human health!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1538
The Campaign for a GM-Free Brazil asks for your help. Please join them in a massive e-mail campaign to show Brazil's president Lula and his ministers how serious the situation is. Sample text and e-mail addresses follow. Please adapt and personalise if you can, since emails in your own words will have a much greater impact. For example, state your interest and 'stake' in the issue: are you a concerned consumer, a fan of organic soy, or do you have a compromised immune system and are at particular risk from untested allergens and toxins?
Some of the people whose emails are listed below are anti-GM, so a polite tone is appropriate.
You may want to remind them that there is intense opposition from many sections of Brazilian society, including a number of the government's own ministers and the national association of judges.
Survey findings shows that more than 70% of Brazilians want their food GM-free while nearly as many (65%) support a total ban on growing GMOs.
As recently as June, the President's chief of staff, Jose Dirceu, promised that Brazil would not allow the planting of genetically modified crops, saying "The law will be obeyed because that is the determination of the president" he said then at a seminar in Sao Paulo.
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Rio de Janeiro, September 25, 2003
Mr. President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Mr. Vice-President José Alencar
and Ministers of State,
I request the immediate suspension of the planned sending of Provisory Measure to the National Congress for releasing GMOs in Brazil until this extremely important subject has been fully and widely discussed with all parties, just as it has been with the supporters of transgenics. This is only right in a supposedly democratic country.
I point out that there are no studies at all in any country that prove the safety of GMOs, both for the consumer health and for the environment, and that an eventual liberation would pose a serious threat to the food sovereignty of Brazilians and will damage the economy of this country, which has been achieving great success with its exportats precisely because of the fact that Brazil is widely recognized in the global market as a GM free country.
I reiterate that even the Brazilian Company of Agricultural Research (Embrapa) affirms, in a document published and widely distributed on 2nd September that: Embrapa is conscious that practically no conclusive research exists on the risks to consumers' health, as well as on the current risks of releasing GMOs into the environment, which should be studied on a case by case basis.
I wish to express my confidence that your government will not betray the commitments made during your successful election campaign when in your government´s program you assured people, on four occasions, of your commitment to deal with the issue of GMOs by making use of the precautionary principle, which provides a scientific and internationally recognised means of approaching the safe introduction of new technologies.
Sincerely,
Name:
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