GM WATCH MONTHLY REVIEW No. 55
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FROM REVIEW EDITOR, CLAIRE ROBINSON
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Please tell all your non-English speaking friends about our past Monthly Reviews in Portuguese, Dutch and German.
http://www.gmwatch.org/sart.asp?paid=27
Claire This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
http://www.gmwatch.org / http://www.lobbywatch.org
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MONTHLY REVIEW CONTENTS
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QUOTES OF THE MONTH
RESISTANCE / BANS ON GM
POSILAC'S LAST STAND
RAVAGED BY ROUNDUP
CONTAMINATION
RESEARCH
GM CROP BREAKDOWN
LOBBYWATCH
SCIENTIFIC MISREPRESENTATION
CORPORATE TAKEOVER
HUNGER BY NUMBERS
CATHOLIC CHURCH
GM TOBACCO
MONSANTO MOVIE
NEW RESOURCES
GM EXPANSION
AUSTRALIA'S GM BANS
GENETIC CROSSROADS
CAMPAIGNS OF THE MONTH
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QUOTES OF THE MONTH
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+ GM SAFE? THAT'S A LIE
'Any scientist who tells you they know that GMOs are safe and not to worry about it, is either ignorant of the history of science or is deliberately lying. Nobody knows what the long-term effect will be.' - Geneticist, David Suzuki, giving the 2008 Commonwealth Lecture in London
http://www.westender.com.au/stories.php?s_id=867
+ THE TIPPING POINT
'It's reached the tipping point. Even Wal-Mart's customers are demanding milk free from genetically engineered hormones.' - Ronnie Cummins, director of the Organic Consumers Association in the US
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8915
+ IT'S WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT
'Let's be clear about one thing: The reason why processors are marketing products with absence [of Monsanto's GM hormones] claims is simply because consumers are demanding it. If you don't believe me, just ask parents who buy milk for their children if they prefer milk from cows that have not been treated with artificial hormones.' - Jerry Slominski, International Dairy Food Association executive
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8926
+ THE GREAT EXPERIMENT THAT FAILED
'As far as genetic engineering for food, that is the great experiment that has failed. They literally have the entire world market against them. All those dreams... the blind will see, the lame will walk... has turned out to be science fiction. They are basically chemical companies selling more chemicals. They've been able to spread these herbicide-promoting plants around because it is more convenient for farmers who can just mass-spray their crops. But they've given absolutely nothing to the consumer while causing more chemical pollution and contamination.' - Lawyer, Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety (USA)
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8854
+ 'MONSANTO TRIED TO DESTROY HER'
Quote about scientist Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, the book that woke up the world to the dangers of pesticides: 'Monsanto tried to destroy her. They mounted a tremendous advertising campaign to discredit her and invalidate her work. They wanted to ruin her in every possible way they could.' - John Robbins, Common Ground Interview http://www.foodrevolution.org/commonground.htm
More on Monsanto's attacks on Rachel Carson and others
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8925
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RESISTANCE / BANS ON GM
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+ ROMANIA TO BAN GM MAIZE
In announcing a ban an intended ban on GM maize MON810, Romania becomes the seventh of Europe's leading maize producers to ban the growing of the only GM variety approved for cultivation in the EU. Romania is following France, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Greece and Poland. In the past, Romania has been one of the most receptive markets in Europe for GM crops, leading to its U-turn being labelled a 'seismic change'. The Financial Times calls Romania's ban a 'fresh blow to the biotechnology industry'. Romania is the EU's top maize producer in terms of hectares. Even so, only 300 hectares of MON 810 have been cultivated in Romania since 2007, representing only 0.01 per cent of Romania's total maize production.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8933
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8928
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8936
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8939
+ WALES SET TO BAN GM CROPS
Proposals by the Welsh Assembly government will effectively ban GM crops from Wales. New regulations, if adopted, will set Wales apart from England in applying a strict 'polluter pays' principle that will put an end even to trial GM plantings.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8896
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8836
+ FRENCH FARMERS DON'T LIKE GMOs - SURVEY
A majority of farmers who responded to a survey by the leading French co-operative Terrena are hostile to the use of GMOs. Over 3,000 members responded; 66% of them said GMOs are not the answer to the growing demand for agricultural products.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8845
+ BASF DELAYS GM POTATO, BLAMES EU
BASF has postponed cultivation of the GM Amflora potato to at least next year after the European Commission failed to rule on its approval. BASF had previously made repeated claims that its GM potato was about to get the green light.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8876
+ CANARY ISLANDS DECLARED GM-FREE
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8939
+ MADEIRA DECLARED GM-FREE
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8939
+ BENIN RENEWS MORATORIUM ON GMOs
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8897
+ IS AFRICA REJECTING GM?
A recent publication by the African Centre for Biosafety says:
*African countries such as Sudan, Angola and Zambia have fiercely resisted receiving GM food aid, precipitating reforms in food aid policies internationally
*the GM push in Africa has recorded several significant setbacks and failures, with Florence Wambugu's GM sweet potato in Kenya and the Gates Foundation's GM sorghum in South Africa being the most prominent
*in South Africa in 2007 the first ever GM cassava field trials also faced the thumbs down from the South African regulatory authorities
*while the GM lobby has waged a heavily resourced battle for acceptance of GMOs, public reaction has in many instances been hostile. The media has been extremely critical of GMOs in countries such as Kenya, Zambia and South Africa.
http://agricbiotech.blogspot.com/2008/03/is-africa-rejecting-genetic-engineering.html
+ THAI JASMINE RICE GM-FREE - FOREIGN TRADE CHIEF
Thailand's foreign trade department director-general Apiradee Tantraporn has denied that any of the work on improving country's trademark Thai jasmine rice involves GM. Thailand's 2007-2011 strategic rice plan stipulates clearly that Thai rice should stay completely free of GMOs. In addition, Thailand and Vietnam, as major rice exporters, reached agreement that they would neither grow nor try growing GMO rice.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8878
+ BRAZILIAN PROTESTERS DESTROY GM CROPS
Hundreds of Brazilian women raided a Monsanto research unit and destroyed a plant nursery and crops containing GM corn. Meanwhile in Brasilia, a protest by another 400 women from Via Campesina (the Rural Way), was held in front of the Swiss embassy against Syngenta, calling attention to the October 2007 incident in which guards working for the company killed a protester taking part in an occupation of land owned by Syngenta.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8853
+ SCHMEISER PLEASED WITH VICTORY OVER MONSANTO
Monsanto has agreed to pay all the clean-up costs of the Roundup Ready canola that contaminated Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser's fields and not to bind him with the usual gagging-clause they impose on farmers who seek reimbursement of costs for contamination of their fields with unwanted Roundup Ready canola or other GM plants.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8906
INTERVIEW WITH PERCY SCHMEISER
Download/open: http://media.libsyn.com/media/deconstructingdinner/DD032008.mp3
Stream: http://cjly.net/deconstructingdinner/audio/DD032008.m3uwww.cjly.net/deconstructingdinner/032008.htm
+ HAWAII TARO LATEST
Residents opposed to GM taro hoisted the culturally important plant and flaunted 'protect your roots' shirts behind farmers who testified before the Kaua'i County Council. The council has proposed resolutions supporting three bills pending at the state Legislature that would impose a 10-year moratorium on developing or growing GM taro.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8937
+ GM SUGAR BEET SPURS INVESTOR REVOLT
A group of socially concerned US investors has launched a public campaign calling on food companies not to use Monsanto's GM sugar beet that is to be planted for the first time this spring. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) has launched a website, http://www.dontplantGMObeets.org, that calls on consumers to send letters to the management of companies including Heinz, Campbell's Soup, General Mills and Kraft.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8842
+ NEW ZEALAND: HIGH COURT CHALLENGE
GE Free NZ (in food and environment) is to bring a High Court challenge in Wellington on March 31st over approvals for field trials of GM brassica.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4457438a11.html
+ GLOBAL RESISTANCE TO GMOs - INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION
PAN AP and its network partners in 13 countries in Asia will be celebrating the Week of Rice Action 2008 from 2-8 April 2008. A grand regional culmination will be held in Indonesia on 8 ApriL, promoting it as International No GM Day. On the same day, a trial of 58 GMO Voluntary Reapers will take place in Chartres, France; a festival is planned there, that would show the international dimension of the protest. An international exhibition of resistance is planned for April 8. How to take part:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8837
MORE ON NO GMO DAY: APRIL 8
http://altercampagne.free.fr/pages/2008/Agenda-2008.html
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POSILAC'S LAST STAND
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+ POSILAC'S LAST STAND
An article in the New York Times tells how Monsanto is using a front group - 'Afact' - to stop the proliferation of milk that comes from cows that aren't treated with its GM bovine growth hormone, Posilac (aka rBST, rBGH). The article says Monsanto's move 'may be the last stand of Posilac'.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8858
+ WAL-MART GOES GM HORMONE-FREE
Canada's Globe and Mail reports that March 20 was 'the day the ground shifted'. Giant food retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced that its store brand milk in the US will now come exclusively from cows not treated with Monsanto's GM bovine growth hormone (rBGH). The move, says the Globe and Mail, sends a powerful signal to food manufacturers about what consumers want.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8915
+ KROGER BATTLES MONSANTO OVER GM HORMONE LABELS
Food retailer Kroger Co. and chemical giant Monsanto are in a state-by-state spat over how milk should be labeled in stores. Kroger wants to tell consumers through a product label that the milk produced and sold by Kroger dairy plants is free of a hormone produced by Monsanto called Posilac or rBST. Kroger has found a powerful ally in the International Dairy Food Association.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8926
+ LABELS SHOULD TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT HORMONES
Excellent commentary.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8937
+ SHORT FILMS ON YOUTUBE
Check out 'You and your milk (MONSANTO)'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67z6s3V8M4g
And the excellent 'Fox News Kills Monsanto Milk Story'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axU9ngbTxKw&NR=1
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RAVAGED BY ROUNDUP
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+ PARAGUAY: PEASANT LEADER CHARGED FOR OPPOSING CROP SPRAYING
The criminalization of social movements in Paraguay has worsened with the recent order to detain political and social leader Tomas Zayas, a municipal councilor, and three peasant farmers, charged for 'homicidal intent and criminal association'. These accusations arise from the conflict that has developed over the last three years over pesticidal spraying of GM soya. In the community of Leopoldo Perrier, for example, the community became so contaminated with toxic pesticides in August of 2007 that a three-year-old child, Jesœs Jimenez, died after intense crop spraying.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8938
+ COLOMBIANS SUFFER ROUNDUP POISONING IN US 'WAR ON DRUGS'
In Colombia, more reports are surfacing concerning human and animal sickness and environmental issues facing crop and food distribution because of herbicide spraying. Monsanto's Roundup has been used over thousands of acres of land in a bid to destroy coca plantations as part of the US-backed 'war on drugs'. Thousands of health complaints from herbicide spray victims have found their way into a US District Court in Washington, DC, and the Colombian government has taken its case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague in the Netherlands. The herbicide is sprayed by a US contractor, DynCorp International, and is manufactured by Monsanto as part of the 'Colombia Drug War Plan'.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8938
*RESEARCH SHOWS ROUNDUP DAMAGE*
People living close to the area of Roundup spraying as part of the 'war on drugs' show a much higher degree of DNA damage. DNA damage may activate genes associated to the development of cancer and may also lead to miscarriage or malformations in embryos.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7899
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CONTAMINATION
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+ ILLEGAL RICE 'UNSAFE' - FSA
Rice products imported from China contaminated with the unapproved and illegal GM trait Bt63 have been confirmed as 'unsafe' by the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA). In a letter to food regulators and the food industry sent on 26 March, the FSA states that companies must withdraw or recall products containing the rice. The EC regulations define food as 'unsafe' if it is injurious to health or unfit for human consumption.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8932
+ CONTAMINATION IN KENYA
Farmers in one of Kenya's largest grain-producing areas have been cultivating GM maize MON810 that is potentially harmful to human health without knowing it. The seeds are sourced from a South African company that is a subsidiary of Dupont. Kenya has never approved commercial cultivation of GM maize. Sale of the suspect seeds in Kenya has been suspended.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8921
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=120121
+ GM ORGANISM RECALL IN JAPAN
Japan's leading chocolate maker Meiji Seika has recalled a range of confectionery products, after it was discovered that they contained a novel sweetener made with an unapproved GM enzyme. The recall has heightened concern over labeling. Last week over 161,000 signatures were handed in to the Japanese government demanding far stricter labeling. The petition is backed by 101 groups and companies in Japan.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8927
+ CANADA: LABS DON'T HAVE TO REPORT GM FISH ESCAPES
Canada's rules for GM fish are so lax that labs don't have to report escapes into the wild, says an audit by Canada's environment commissioner.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8860
+ GM CONTAMINATION WORSENS IN U.S.
Widespread contamination of US corn, soybeans and other crops by GM varieties is threatening organic and natural food products. A range of farmers and food retailers are behind an effort to introduce new testing requirements and standards for certification aimed at keeping contamination at bay. Organic dairy farmer Albert Straus, who started testing corn fed to his 300-head dairy herd more than a year ago, and found about one-third had been contaminated, now tests every lot of grain he buys.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8873
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8937
+ GM CONTAMINATION REPORT
'GM Contamination Register Report 2007' is the third annual report from the online GM Contamination Register, which reviews reported cases of contamination and illegal plantings and releases of GMOs.
http://www.biosafety-info.net/article.php?aid=503
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RESEARCH
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+ REDUCED FITNESS OF WATER FLEAS FED GM CORN
A new published study has found that the organism Daphnia magna showed reduced fitness performance when fed with GM Bt maize. Daphnia is an 'indicator species' which is commonly used as a model organism in ecotoxicological studies. The GM-fed Daphnia had reduced survival and smaller body size (though this was not significant) than the non-GM fed group. The percentage of females reaching maturation (producing eggs) was lower in the group fed on GM-maize and the overall productive output (total number of eggs produced) was higher in the non-GM maize groups.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8929
+ ORGANIC CROPS IMPRESSIVELY PRODUCTIVE
Organic alfalfa and wheat, and to a lesser extent corn and soybeans, can be as productive as conventional counterparts, according to a new University of Wisconsin-Madison study. The researchers compared results on Wisconsin farms over 8-13 years, and said their results should apply to prairie right across the upper Midwest of the US.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8931
+ PUSH-PULL STRATEGY CONTROLS PESTS, WEEDS
Research published online recently demonstrates the benefits of using sustainable 'push-pull' approaches for controlling insect pests and weeds.
http://www.biosafety-info.net/article.php?aid=498
+ RECENT RESEARCH ON ORGANIC AG - SUMMARY
An excellent summary of the research that shows organic food is better for health and the environment is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8923
+ GM GRAIN TEST STOPPED
Western Australia's first large trial of GM canola has been abandoned. This is not the first case of GM testing having to be abandoned because of the unwillingness of biotech firms to put up their seed for trial.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8899
+ SUSTAINABLE AG'S CLIMATE MITIGATION POTENTIAL
A new report by Prof Pete Smith from the University of Aberdeen, a lead author on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, examines the impacts of agriculture on climate change. The solutions call for a shift to sustainable farming practices.
http://www.biosafety-info.net/article.php?aid=504
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GM CROP BREAKDOWN
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+ BT COTTON FACES RISING PEST PROBLEMS
Evidence from China has already shown any initial reductions in pesticide use on Bt cotton being eroded by new pest problems. The researchers warned the same pattern was likely to be repeated over time elsewhere, and this seems to be exactly what's happening.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7432
+ INDIA: MEALY BUG MENACE RISING
Mealy bug populations on Bt cotton 'have multiplied to assume perilous proportions', reports an article in the Business Standard.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8868
+ USA: INSECT PRESSURE SHIFTING
In the Southeast and Mid-South, stink bugs and plant bugs including lygus, tarnished plant bugs and cotton fleahoppers have become the primary problems on Bt cotton, which has provided an ideal environment for stink bugs and plant bugs to flourish.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8868
+ SUPER BOLLWORM COMETH
In the USA bollworms are developing resistance to Bt cotton - bollworms being the pest that Bt cotton was supposed to kill - and commercial pressures look set to weaken the refuge strategy that might have slowed down rising resistance.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8868
+ RESISTANCE DEVELOPING IN SOUTH AFRICA TOO
In South Africa the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) has published trial results that indicate stalk-borer larvae have developed resistance to Bt maize plants.
http://agribiotech.free.fr/van%20Rensburg.2007%20(first%20report%20of%20insect%20resistance%20IRM).pdf
+ SUPERWEEDS ON THE MARCH
In Arkansas, state ag officials are turning to Syngenta to solve the superweed problems caused by Monsanto. Although the current weed resistance problems triggered by Monsanto's Roundup Ready crops may be grim, expert opinion says they could be just 'the tip of the iceberg'. And, unfortunately, reports Tom Philpott of GRIST, the only solutions being proferred to farmers by 'experts' associated with the agribusiness giants involve bombarding their fields with even more agrochemicals.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8889
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LOBBYWATCH
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+ 'WORMY' CORN SCIENTIST FROZEN OUT OF GUELPH
Doug Powell was the lead researcher on the notorious 'wormy corn' paper (that claimed to show consumers prefer GM to non-GM corn), as well as co-researcher Shane Morris's boss at the time of the research. When he moved from the University of Guelph to Kansas State University in May 2006, Powell and Morris presented it as an expansion of the Food Safety Network (FSN) that he'd established at Guelph with himself as overall director. But according to Powell's blog, the University of Guelph has subsequently sought to cut all ties with Powell - eliminating all access to FSN staff and funding and even freezing Powell's Guelph e-mail account. We wonder why.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8895
+ INDIA'S CHIEF JUSTICE A CAT'S PAW?
Just over a month ago something remarkable happened in India's Supreme Court. A leading lawyer suddenly declared, 'I will not give evidence in this Court. Why don't you go ahead and give your judgement without even bothering to listen to the petition?'. Prashant Bhushan's dramatic outburst was prompted by the outrageously partisan way in which India's chief justice had handled what should have been an open and shut case of contempt of court brought against India's GM regulators over how they had allowed field trials of various GM food crops with almost total disregard for the terms of the moratorium on GM trials then in place. Now, India's weekly news magazine, Tehelka, has published an article by Aruna Rodrigues - the chief Petitioner to India's Supreme Court in the long-running Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The full article, which demolishes some of the fantasies about GM crops (including one held by the chief justice - that GM crops mean higher yields) is at:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8916
+ GM FOOD WINS BACKING OF COUNTRY LIFE
Country Life, the UK countryside and property magazine, has attracted fiece criticism after calling for the widespread introduction of GM crops to help feed the world's starving. In an editorial, the magazine argues that for the government to ignore GM crops is 'immoral' and 'criminal'.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8901
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8907
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8912
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SCIENTIFIC MISREPRESENTATION
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+ FARMERS AND GM RESEARCH
The recent study that purported to show that UK farmers were in favour of GM crops has attracted huge critisism. It is not a true representation of farmers' opinions, says farmer Peter Lundgren in a letter to the Times Higher Education Supplement: 'For Lane [the lead researcher] to claim that it was necessary to go to an organisation that promotes biotech [SCIMAC] for help in finding farmers is at best just lazy and at worst compromises the results - neither reflects well on the Open University or the ESRC, which funded Lane's study.' Peter Saunders, professor of mathematics at King's College London and the co-founder of the Institute of Science in Society, questions why the ESRC had funded the study, which he believed was, in effect, 'a piece of market research for the biotech industry'.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8911
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8930
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8925
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8935
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8877
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8863
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CORPORATE TAKEOVER
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+ EU ACCUSED OF HEAVY RELIANCE ON INDUSTRY LOBBYISTS
An alliance of environment groups, trade unions and academics has accused the European Commission of relying too heavily on business and industry lobbyists when drawing up EU legislation. The transparency group Alter-EU said the Commission, which is the EU institution with the sole power to initiate European laws, has stuffed its advisory expert groups with industry lobbyists. In a new report, Alter-EU says some of the commission's most controversial advisory groups such as those on biotechnology, clean coal and car emissions are among those controlled by industry.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8922
+ TOP SCIENTIST WARNS AGAINST RUSH TO AGROFUELS
One of the UK government's leading scientists has warned agrofuels could exacerbate climate change rather than combat it. In an outspoken attack on an EU policy which comes into force next week, and in which the biotech industry has had a guiding hand, Prof Bob Watson, the chief scientific adviser at the Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said it would be wrong to introduce compulsory quotas for the use of agrofuels in petrol and diesel before their effects had been properly assessed.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8922
+ UNDEMOCRATIC SEEDS 'CONSULTATION'
A private consultancy has been charged to carry out consultations to simplify and draft amendments of the EU rulings on the marketing of seeds. Farmers groups in more than 20 European countries have denounced the undemocratic nature of their consultation.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8922
+ PHILIPPINES FARMERS ASSAIL GOVT SUBSIDY TO BT CORN
Organic farmers in Mindanao, Philippines have protested the Dept of Agriculture's policy of providing financial support to those who plant Bt corn.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8847
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HUNGER BY NUMBERS
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+ 10 REASONS WHY ORGANIC CAN FEED THE WORLD
An excellent article in the latest issue of The Ecologist explains why organic farming can feed the world and solve the energy crisis.
http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=1184
MORE RESEARCH ON ORGANIC AG
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8923
+ 10 REASONS GM WON'T FEED THE WORLD
The arguments against GM include the industry's failure to deliver any useful GM crops.
http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=1185
+ 12 HUNGER MYTHS
An updated version of Frances Moore Lappe's must-read, 'World Hunger: Twelve Myths'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8884
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CATHOLIC CHURCH
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+ GM IS A SIN - THE VATICAN
'Genetic modification' is on a new list of seven modern deadly sins announced by one of the Pope's close allies, Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti. The other sins on the list are: polluting the environment; causing social injustice; causing poverty; becoming obscenely wealth; experimenting on humans and taking drugs. Some commentators have suggested Girotti was referring specifically to the genetic modification of human beings.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8866
Biotechnologist confesses his sin
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8880
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GM TOBACCO
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+ PHILIP MORRIS TRIES TO ENGINEER THE CANCER OUT OF TOBACCO
In a fascinating series of articles for Wired News, Alexis Madrigal reports how scientists have genetically modified tobacco plants to knock out a gene that helps turns nicotine into one of the carcinogens in cured tobacco. The Philip Morris-funded North Carolina State researchers say the work could lead to less cancer-causing chewing tobacco. Not oblivious to consumer opposition to GM crops, the researchers then created a line of tobacco plants through conventional breeding techniques that were missing the same gene. They are currently trying to introduce that mutation into commercial tobacco lines, presumably thus avoiding a GM label. According to US Dept of Agriculture records, Philip Morris has run dozens of field trials for GM tobacco.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8920
+ PHILIP MORRIS TURNAROUND ON GM
Interviewed by Wired news, Philip Morris spokesman David Sutton says the company does not use GM plants in their commercial production procedures. Referring to recent NC State GM tobacco research, Sutton said there was a wall between their R&D and commercial production processes. Wired comments that this is an about-face from Philip Morris' stance on GM tobacco back in 1998. Then, the company was an unabashed supporter of genetic engineering, at least in the US, and its public statements implied GM tobacco could have been going into its cigarettes.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8924
+ GM TOBACCO WAS MARKET FAILURE
Back in 2001, Vector Tobacco introduced OMNI cigarettes, which purported to contain lower amounts of carcinogens, and then QUEST low-nicotine cigarettes beginning in 2003. Vector spent $18.9 million dollars on R&D from 2005-2007. By the company's own admissions, that money has largely gone down the drain. Last year, they discontinued most of their research efforts.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8920
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MONSANTO MOVIE
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+ MONSANTO MOVIE TRIUMPHS
The new must-see film about Monsanto was watched by several million viewers when it was broadcast on the Franco-German TV channel ARTE on 11 March, making it the biggest audience ever for an ARTE production. One sign of the massive interest in the film is the response on discussion panels, blogs etc. There are more than 10,000 responses so far...
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8892
+ HOW TO BUY THE FILM AS AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE DVD
The only way currently to buy the film Le Monde Selon Monsanto seems to be to print off a form, which is in English. You'll need to print the form, fill it in and post it to Arte in France, it requires payment by debit/credit card and the reference no. is K8188 (English Edition) at a cost of Euros 14.99 each, plus postage as listed on the form at http://www.arteboutique.com/media/pdf/bon_commande_en.pdf
+ ARTICLES ABOUT THE FILM
'New movie damns Monsanto's deadly sins' - Greenpeace
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8869
'How to investigate Monsanto?' - Telerama
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8862
'The Monstrous Monsanto Universe' - Le Monde
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8891
+ MONSANTO FILM WEBSITES
Special website designed to accompany the film (French) http://www.combat-monsanto.org ARTE website of the film (French) http://www.arte.tv/monsanto ARTE website of the film (German) http://www.arte.tv/de/wissen-entdeckung/Monsanto-mitGiftundGenen/1912794.htm
+ BOOK OF THE FILM (French)
http://www.arte-boutique.fr/detailProduct.action?product.id=245820
http://www.amazon.fr/monde-selon-Monsanto-dioxine-multinationale/dp/2707149187
+ GM FILMS ON YOUTUBE
Look out particularly for The Genetic Conspiracy - a film made for German TV available in English.
http://nogmo.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_BlogPart=summary&_c=BlogPart
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NEW RESOURCES
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+ HANDBOOK: GM IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE
An updated version of Genetic Engineering in Indian Agriculture, an introductory handbook published by the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture is available as a pdf attachment from Kavitha Kuruganti This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8917
+ BOOK: UNCERTAIN PERIL: GENETIC ENGINEERING AND THE FUTURE OF SEEDS
Former environmental lawyer and one-time farmer Claire Hope Cummings offers a persuasive account of a lesser-known but potentially apocalyptic threat to the world's ecology and food supply - the privatization of the Earth's seed stock. A reviewer for Kirkus Reviews comments on the book, 'her description of the hit-or-miss nature of the genetic-engineering process - which studies suggest may be at the root of alleged health impacts associated with GMOs - will unnerve many. A firm but not strident attack on 'techno-elites' that raises serious questions about the way we farm.'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8918
+ BOOK: THE FUTURE CONTROL OF FOOD
This book by Geoff Tansey and Tasmin Rajotte (Earthscan, 2008) is a guide to international negotiations and rules on intellectual property, biodiversity and food security The authors show how complex global rules on intellectual property - e.g. patents, copyright and plant variety protection - are laying the foundation for a corporate future control of food and farming and undermining attempts to maintain biodiversity, ensure food security and meet the needs of developing countries.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8918
+ NEW PUBLICATION: FIGHTING FTAs
bilaterals.org, BIOTHAI and GRAIN (editors), 'Fighting FTAs: The growing resistance to bilateral free trade and investment agreements' is available online in English, French and Spanish. To request hard copies, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=11058
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GM EXPANSION
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+ BRAZIL: GM EXPANSION BRINGS VIOLENCE
The expansion of GM crops into Brazil is leading to increasing agrarian conflicts and exacerbating historic tensions over land. This GM expansion has been assisted by various forms of illegal action, including violence, in which the GM multinationals and their local supporters appear to have had a hand, according to a highly informative article by Isabella Kenfield.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8887
+ BIG FUNDING FOR GM RESEARCH IN CHINA
China is to launch a huge research programme on GM crops by the end of the year, according an announcement at a media event hosted by ISAAA, the biotech industry backed hype-machine for global GM crop uptake. If there is any truth in these claims, China should beware the economic consequences, given that the illegal rice causing so much concern for Chinese rice and rice products was only ever given permission for use in GM crop trials but has made all China's rice-related exports suspect (CONTAMINATION).
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8932
+ MEXICO TO ALLOW GM PLANTING
Mexico has taken the last step toward finalizing rules that will allow GM crops to be planted in the country. Many farmers in the birthplace of corn are worried that GM varieties could contaminate their fields. Under the rules, GM corn wouldn't technically be allowed in certain areas of Mexico considered 'centers of origin' for unique corn plants, but critics nevertheless remain concerned for crop biodiversity. Miguel Colunga, leader of the Democratic Campesino Front of Chihuahua, says, 'Transgenic crops are not safe, and we will lose our sovereignty, because the GM seeds belong to just a few transnational corporations. It's a myth that transgenic crops are more productive... We can modernise our farming with our own maize. It's safe, it doesn't harm the environment, and it doesn't make us dependent on Monsanto or other companies.'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8913
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AUSTRALIA'S GM BANS
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+ FARMERS PREPARE FOR LEGAL FIGHT OVER GM
As two Australian States (Victoria and new South Wales) lift their embargo on GM canola, the Network of Concerned Farmers has drawn up a form legal letter for farmers who want to keep GM crops out of their district. The NCF says any farmer wanting to stay GM-free can send the letter to neighbouring properties, threatening legal action if there's any contamination from GM crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8934
+ GM CANOLA OPPONENTS WERE MUZZLED
Expert advisers to the New South Wales Government have accused the State government of gagging dissent in its rush to authorise the planting of GM crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8934
+ BRUMBY UNPOPULAR OVER GM
Victorian Premier John Brumby's ending of the GM moratorium in the state of Victoria is proving divisive with the electorate, and is said to have contributed to a 10-point jump in Mr Brumby's dissatisfaction rating.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8850
+ TASMANIA COULD MARKET NON-GM CANOLA GLOBALLY
A state parliamentary inquiry has heard Tasmania could export canola seed to the world, if the state's ban on GM crops is maintained.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8939
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GENETIC CROSSROADS
News & Views from the Center for Genetics and Society
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+ ARE WE HEADED FOR A SCI-FI DYSTOPIA?
by Marcy Darnovsky, AlterNet, March 22
Those in Gen X and Gen Y who ponder the prospect of a repro-genetic dystopia think of Gattaca. Last week's release of a collector's edition of the 1997 film unavoidably prompts us to measure ourselves against its 'not-too-distant future' of genetic castes and DNA-based discrimination. Has our world become more like Gattaca than it was a decade ago?
http://geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3986
+ THE GULLIBLE GENE?
by Marcy Darnovsky, Biopolitical Times, March 26 No government agency is regulating the direct-to-consumer genetic testing industry.
http://biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=3993
+ BRAVE NEW WORLD WAR
by Jamie Metzl, Democracy, March 21
An article in the latest issue of Democracy - a fairly new progressive policy journal - frames the prospect of human genetic modification as a threat to global security.
http://geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3985
+ GENETIC TESTING GETS PERSONAL: FIRMS SELL ANSWERS ON HEALTH, EVEN LOVE
By Rick Weiss, Washington Post, March 24 This is the world of direct-to-consumer genetic testing, a peculiar mix of modern science, old-fashioned narcissism and innovative entrepreneurialism, all made possible by the government-sponsored Human Genome Project.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/24/AR2008032402750.html?hpid=topnews
+ REPORT STRUGGLES WITH SURROGACY ISSUE
by Hidekazu Tanaka
The Science Council of Japan's subcommittee on reproductive assistance medicine recently issued a report that said surrogate births should, in principle, be prohibited through legislation, except for further clinical research that would be overseen by a public organization.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/science/20080325TDY04301.htm
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CAMPAIGNS OF THE MONTH
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+ FIGHT GM SUGAR
*SEND A MESSAGE TO CORPORATE AMERICA - DON'T MESS WITH SUGAR!* http://www.dontplantGMObeets.org
+ SUPPORT ENVIRONMENT COMMISSIONER DIMAS - TAKE ACTION
Urgent request for people the world over to send postcards in support of EU Environment Commissioner Dimas. Last year more than 130,000 people joined a cyberaction supporting Dimas' proposal not to authorise the cultivation of 2 new GMOs in Europe. However, the agri-chemical industry and their lackeys in Brussels are fighting back, trying to isolate Dimas and force him to authorise their GM products. If Dimas receives picture postcards from all over Europe - and from supporters around the world - he'll know he's not alone. If you can send a postcard, please let Greenpeace know and click here:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/genetic-engineering/solidarity-send-commissioner?utm_source=gpi-cyberactivist-list&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=valentine
Mr Stavros Dimas, Commissioner for the Environment, European Commission, Rue de la Loi 200, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8904