WEEKLY WATCH number 244
from Claire Robinson, Weekly Watch editor
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Dear all:
Marie-Monique Robin's powerful documentary about Monsanto aroused massive interest when it was broadcast on March 11. The English version's available on DVD from 18 March (MONSANTO MOVIE TRIUMPHS).
As Americans back away from dairy items produced with Monsanto's GM bovine growth hormone Posilac, the New York Times is dubbing Monsanto's attempt to fight back using a 'grassroots' front group as possibly Posilac's 'last stand' (THE AMERICAS).
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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CONTENTS
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MONSANTO MOVIE TRIUMPHS
GM CROP BREAKDOWN
THE AMERICAS
AFRICA
TERMINATOR
CATHOLIC CHURCH
ASIA
AUSTRALASIA
EUROPE
PRESSURE ON SCIENCE
10 YEARS OF GM WATCH
GENETIC CROSSROADS
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MONSANTO MOVIE TRIUMPHS
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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 last Tuesday (11 March), making it the biggest audience ever for an ARTE production. Still more people have seen it since via ARTE's '+7' service which allows the documentary to be viewed again up till March 18. One sign of the massive interest in the film is the response on discussion panels, blogs etc. More than 10,000 responses so far...
+ BUY THE DVD
The ARTE film 'The World According to Monsanto' is available on DVD in several languages at
http://www.arte-boutique.fr/detailProduct.action?product.id=245754
This page says, 'An easy way to order from this webstore for English speaking customers, will be on line the 18th of March.'
+ 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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GM CROP BREAKDOWN
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+ 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
+ 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 - see articles below.
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', reportss 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
+ INDIA ALSO AT RISK FROM BOLLWORM RESISTANCE
The Agri-Biz editor of The Hindu Business Line points out, 'If the bollworm pest is seen developing resistance in the US, a country where cultivation is highly organised, land is well demarcated and farming systems are automated/ mechanised, there is no reason to believe it may not happen in India.'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8868
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THE AMERICAS
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+ BRAZIL: GM EXPANSION BRINGS VIOLENCE
In a very informative article Isabella Kenfield explains how the expansion of GM crops into Brazil is leading to increasing agrarian conflicts and exacerbating historic tensions over land. This GM expansion, the article argues, 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.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8887
+ 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
+ CANADA: WHY IS RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS ESCALATING?
Canadian schoolchildren are using DIY genetic engineering kits in school science lessons, with little or no biosafety measures in place, says an excellent article for This Magazine. As well as the transgene, the children are inserting something else into their E. coli: a 'marker' gene that makes the E. coli resistant to an antibiotic called ampicillin. The high-school biotech experiments also point to a much wider problem of lax attitudes toward trillions of GM bacteria and viruses being engineered with little outside scrutiny in labs around the world.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8881
+ GM CONTAMINATION WORSENS IN U.S.
Widespread contamination of US corn, soybeans and other crops by GM varieties is threatening the purity of organic and natural food products. A range of farmers and food retailers are behind an effort to introduce 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
+ HEARING ON USDA FAILURE ON GM CONTAMINATION
Congressman Dennis Kucinich, chair of the house oversight subcommittee on domestic policy, conducted a hearing on March 13 focused on the USDA's failure to comply with legal requirements regarding the assessment of economic impacts in regulating GMOs. Harvey Howington, a rice farmer, US Rice Producers Association board member, and vice president of the Arkansas Rice Growers Association, commented on USDA mismanagement of Bayer LL601 field trials, which resulted in a major contamination event costing rice producers $1.2 billion.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8879
+ POSILAC'S LAST STAND
An intelligent 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'.
EXCERPT: The group, called American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology, or Afact, says it is a grass-roots organization that came together to defend members' right to use [rBST] ... Dairy farmers are indeed part of the organization. But Afact was organized in part by Monsanto and a Colorado consultant who lists Monsanto as a client. Afact has also received help from Osborn & Barr, a marketing firm whose founders include a former Monsanto executive. The firm received a contract in 2006 to help with the Posilac campaign.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8858
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AFRICA
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+ AFRICAN CENTRE FOR BIOSAFETY - RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Details and links to ACB's excellent briefing documents, reports and media releases.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8867
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TERMINATOR
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+ SIGNIFICANT STEP TOWARDS TERMINATOR
A paper just published in Nature appears to show a significant step towards terminator technology and controlling seed production by controlling fertility, reports Dr Jonathan Latham of the Bioscience Resource Project.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8861
+ AFRICA MUST RESIST TERMINATOR
African countries must resist pressure from powerful agro-business multinationals to introduce terminator technologies as this has serious implications on biodiversity, the environment and the livelihoods of farmers on the continent, community biodiversity development and conservation Africa region programme co-ordinator Patrick Kasasa told participants at a workshop in Lesotho. 'Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (GURTS) will have damaging effects on Africa's poor farmers. The technology is very expensive and farmers will become dependent on multinationals,' said Kasasa.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8867
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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 this week 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
Dr Sudhir Kumar Kaura - a geneticist and biotechnologist who spent 11 years in a genetic engineering and plant biotech lab funded by the Government of India and the Rockefeller Foundation, says he scientifically understands the destructive effects of genetic engineering and the harm it can do.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8880
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ASIA
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+ THAI JASMINE RICE GM-FREE - FOREIGN TRADE CHIEF
Thailand's foreign trade department director-general Apiradee Tantraporn has denied that some of the country's trademark Thai jasmine rice is produced based on GMOs. Thailand's 2007-2011 strategic rice plan stipulates clearly that Thai rice is free of GMOs. The standard test and certification of the GMO-free rice are set in the plan. In addition, Thailand and Vietnam, as major rice exporters, reached agreement that they would not grow GM rice.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8878
+ THAI JASMINE RICE GM-FREE - LEADING RICE BIOTECHNOLOGIST
Apichart Vanavichit, Associate Prof and Director of Rice Gene Discovery and Rice Science Center at Kasetsart University and National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, says he would be concerned if as reported GM research was taking place on Thai jasmine rice. In fact, he says, the breeding approaches being used involve non-GM marker-assisted selection. He says, 'We now have several versions of essentially-derived Jasmine rice for flash flooding, disease and insect resistance while salt and drought versions are coming next. We also aim to combine all of these new traits into one Super non-GM Jasmine Rice for poor farmers.'
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8878
+ FEARS OF GM CROP INVASION IN KYRGYZSTAN
Kyrgyz environmentalists are worried by the unrestricted import of GM products and are urging the government to come up with robust policies.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8874
+ INDIA: WOMEN SAY NO TO GMOs
More than 400 women from various women's organisations, farm worker and consumer organisations came together on World Womens Day at Mettupalayam, Tamil Nadu to discuss the introduction of GM crops and foods into farmlands and markets. Speakers spoke about GM crops' impact on the environment, farmers, food and public health. At the end of the meeting, the women took an oath that they will not grow, nor will they feed their children with poisons (pesticides) and GM food. They also resolved to grow and consume more organic and nutritious food grown and cooked traditionally.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8880
+ INDIA: UNIVERSITY SHOULD NOT PROMOTE BT COTTON
After Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) approved two new Bt cotton varieties, Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM), among other voluntary organizations working in the field of sustainable agriculture, strongly raised objection to the new varieties.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8880
+ PHILIPPINES: JOIN THE CALL FOR ARROYO'S RESIGNATION
The Legal Rights and Natural Resources/Friends of the Earth-Philippines are asking people to join the call for the resignation of Philippines President Gloria Arroyo now. Under Arroyo the Philippines has pursued the most extreme pro-GM policy in Asia, even subsidising farmers to grow GM crops. Anti-GM activists have been amongst those slain in the hundreds of political killings that have scarred political life under Arroyo.
Act now - sign the petition at
http://www.foei.org/en/get-involved/take-action/arroyo-out/
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AUSTRALASIA
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+ EXPERTS SEND LETTER TO PM OVER GM CANOLA
Australia's public health body has backed a petition calling on the federal government to put an urgent stop to the farming of GM crops. The petition calls for a review of the safety of GM food and emphasises Labor's election promise to only approve GM crops if safety is assured. Adelaide businessman Peter Fenwik, who organised the petition and accompanying letter, is hoping it will lead to action before GM crops are sowed.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8885
For the text of the letter
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8886
+ PUSH FOR LOCAL COUNCILS TO BE GM-FREE
Mothers Against Genetic Engineering (MAdGE) and the Gene Ethics Network have launched a campaign for local councils in Victoria to declare themselves GM food-free zones. The campaign, launched at a protest rally on the steps of the state parliament, is in response to the Premier John Brumby's decision to end Victoria's ban on GM canola.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8865
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EUROPE
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+ 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. The EU's executive body 'is violating the EU's own rules' by delaying a decision, Hans Kast, head of BASF's plant science said. BASF had previously repeatedly claimed its GM potato was about to get the green light.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8876
+ EU MUST STAND UP TO BULLYING BY BIOTECH INDUSTRY
An article for Organic Matters magazine explains how the new Irish government's decision to make Ireland a GM-free zone triggered a backlash from the biotech industry and its friends in the European Commission and the Irish government. They claimed that GM policies in Ireland and the EU are responsible for a crisis in the livestock industry caused by a global rise in the cost of animal feed. This is an attempt to weaken Irish and EU GM policies when the worldwide shortage of feed crops is really caused by poor weather conditions and the rush for agrofuels.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8870
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8872
+ UK: URGENT ACTION NEEDED ON ILLEGAL GM RICE CONTAMINATION
The absence of safety data on an illegal GM rice Bt63 from China currently in the UK food chain means that businesses and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) should work quickly to ensure that no contaminated products are left on shelves or allowed to enter the market, say GM Freeze and Friends of the Earth.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8864
+ MANDELSON LIKELY TO STAY
UK prime minister Gordon Brown has asked Peter Mandelson if he would like to continue as Britain's European Union trade commissioner when his term expires next year, according to officials in Brussels. Mandelson was former UK PM Blair's closest ally and has repeatedly used his position as an EU Commissioner to push GM crop acceptance and to challenge environmental protection measures in developing countries in the name of free trade.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8875
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PRESSURE ON SCIENCE
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+ PRESSURE ON SCIENCE - ARPAD PUSZTAI
A peer-reviewed article by Dr Arpad Pusztai in the journal PLoS Medicine summarizes a series of research studies showing that industry funding and control over science puts pressure on scientists to falsify and hide data. As a result, human health and the environment are jeopardized, science is distorted, and the reputation of science and scientists suffers in the eyes of the public.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8859
+ ESRC CRITICISED FOR 'BIASED' STUDY
Times Higher Education reports on the accusations against the UK's Economic and Social Research Council of scientific misrepresentation in collusion with the biotech industry over Open University research presented as showing that UK farmers are in favour of GM crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8877
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8863
+ BT176 SHEEP FEEDING TRIAL - ANOTHER CASE OF SCIENTIFIC FRAUD?
An Italian feeding trial, in which some sheep were fed the controversial maize line Bt176 over a period of 3 years, appears to have been specifically designed and conducted in order to confirm the 'no health risk' hypothesis, according to Dr Brian John.
***Only one generation of ewes was fed on the GM maize, and their lambs were fed no GM at all
***The quantity of GM feed fed to the test group of ewes was very small, at 5.6% of their diet, except during lactation
***The researchers found important differences in 4 out of 30 investigated blood parameters. Some items were very close to statistical significance and yet these results were effectively disregarded or dismissed.
***The histological (tissue structure) differences picked up between the control group of ewes and the test (GM) group are said to be 'preliminary'. Dr John suspects this may be because the scientists working on this part of the project were not allowed to perform a detailed or extended study on the histological samples.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8882
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10 YEARS OF GM WATCH
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+ 10 YEARS OF GM WATCH
2008 is the 10th anniversary of the founding of GM Watch, so over recent weeks we've been putting out some material from the archive to mark a decade of resistance to the imposition of GM crops.
+ THE HISTORY OF GM WATCH
Marina Littek interviews GM Watch editor, Jonathan Matthews, taking in the history of GM Watch, the industry's attacks on GM-critical scientists, Monsanto's dirty tricks campaign and the industry's assault on the South.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8717
+ GM WATCH AT THE ECOLOGIST
All the GM Watch editors past and present - Claire, Jonathan and Andy - have written pieces over the years for the Ecologist, and the name 'GM Watch' even came from a regular column we contributed to the magazine. Here are some cracking pieces Jonathan did for The Ecologist Online: Animal Farm/The great GM miracle?/Dolly's long goodbye
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8871
+ CLAIRE'S BOOK REVIEWS
We've done a load of book reviews over the years and they don't come any better than Claire on Jeffrey Smith and his corporate detractors.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8787
+ THE MARKETING OF BT COTTON
Four pieces vital to understanding the disturbing story of Bt cotton in the South.
http://www.gmwatch.org/print-archive2.asp?arcid=8746
+ LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE
Accounts of ground breaking GM juries in Africa, Asia and South America, plus GM Watch's expose of how the biotech industry tries to create a false impression of popular support in lieu of real social engagement.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8762
+ GM CROPS HAVE FAILED
The failure of GM crops to increase yields, improve agronomic performance, reduce agrochemicals, and increase farmer income.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8728
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GENETIC CROSSROADS
News and Views from the Center for Genetics and Society
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+ FEMALE SPERM AND GAY GUINEA PIGS
Marcy Darnovsky, San Francisco Chronicle While gay families and their supporters await the California Supreme Court's ruling on the constitutionality of a voter-approved law banning same-sex marriage, a few researchers and pundits are proposing that same-sex procreation with bio-engineered gametes will undermine one of the key arguments of same-sex marriage opponents.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3961
+ INDIA NURTURES BUSINESS OF SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD
Amelia Gentleman, New York Times
An enterprise known as reproductive outsourcing is a new but rapidly expanding business in India.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3960
+ HEADLINES FOR WHITE SURROGATE FOR ASIAN COUPLE
Osagie Obasogie, Biopolitical Times
When it comes to reproductive technologies, race is increasingly becoming the dividing line between journalists' views of the ordinary and the extraordinary.
http://www.biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=3959
+ WOULD YOU DEPOSIT TO 'BIOBANK'?
National Database Could Link Illnesses with Genes, Lifestyle Lisa Krieger, San Jose Mercury News Hoping to link illnesses to genetics and lifestyle, the federal government is exploring the possibility of recruiting a half-million Americans to contribute their DNA and health information to an ambitious national 'biobank.'
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3960
+ IS IT WRONG TO SELECT A DEAF EMBRYO?
Clare Murphy, BBC News
New fertility legislation will make it illegal to use embryos with a known genetic abnormality in IVF treatment when ones without the same defect are available.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3957
Rita Rubin, USA Today
Several new companies are betting consumers will be curious enough to shell out $1,000 or more to learn what diseases might lurk in their genes.
http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3956