3 items from Reuters
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Organic cotton directory launched on the Internet
USA: March 19, 2001
NEW YORK - The Pesticide Action Network (PAN) and the Organic Trade Association (OTA) have launched a new web-based tool to help individuals and companies learn about organic cotton, a statement made available Friday said.
The directory (www.organiccottondirectory.net) provides information about the dangers of pesticides in conventionally grown cotton, production and certification of organic cotton, and contact information for more than 250 farmers, companies and organizations working around the world to expand the organic cotton market.
"This is a great networking tool for everyone interested in organic cotton, from consumers looking for organic cotton products to companies looking to source fiber, yarns and fabrics," said Margaret Reeves, staff scientist at PAN North America and coordinator of the Directory project.
The directory can be used for free.
Organic cotton in the United States is grown in the states of Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona, Missouri and Kansas. The United States is the second biggest producer of organic cotton in the world after Turkey. The two countries are followed by Africa, India and Latin America.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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US science panel says more data needed on bio-crop safety
USA: March 19, 2001
WASHINGTON - An independent science advisory panel on Thursday told the Environmental Protection Agency more studies are needed to pinpoint how long bioengineered cotton and corn residue lingers in the soil and whether it poses any environmental risk.
The panel of two dozen biologists and entomologists issued a 78-page report addressing various technical issues about Bt crops for the EPA. The EPA asked for the guidance as it considers whether to renew the registration of Bt corn, cotton and potato varieties that were approved six years ago. The registrations are all set to expire in September. Bt crops are engineered to include the bacillus thuringiensis bacterium, which occurs naturally in soil and acts as a pesticide.
The EPA will publish its proposed decision on Bt crop re-registration applications for public comment later this year. The science panel, led by Stephen Roberts of the University of Florida, said more data was needed to determine how much of the unique Cry proteins from Bt crops remain in the soil after harvest, and whether they are harmful.
"These studies are important to assess long-term environmental effects of Bt-containing crops," the report said. "It would be prudent to determine under operational field conditions in different geographical regions and soil types, the extent to which Cry proteins accumulate in soil," it added.
Some laboratory studies have shown Cry proteins can linger in soil microcosms for as long as 234 days.
But the need for such studies should not delay the EPA from acting on the Bt crop re-registration applications, the report said.
The panel of scientists also said more information was needed to evaluate if Monarch butterflies are adversely affected by Bt corn.
The panel said it was "divided" over the EPA's decision last autumn to disregard an Iowa State University laboratory study that found Monarch caterpillars were seven times more likely to die when they ate milkweed plants dusted with pollen from Bt corn. The EPA rejected the study findings, saying it did not fairly represent actual field conditions.
"While the agency's assessment that additional field studies are important, lab studies may also be important to consider," the report said. The panel's report suggested that the EPA launch studies to assess Monarch butterfly deaths at different times during the growing season and at different life cycle stages, and to identify any other kinds of butterflies that may be at risk from Bt corn pollen.
More data is also needed to assess whether farmers using Bt crops are using fewer pesticides, the scientists said.
A copy of the report was posted on the EPA's Internet site at http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap/2000/october/octoberfinal.pdf.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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Starlink bio-corn said to be in 430 mln bushels
USA: March 19, 2001
WASHINGTON - More than 430 million bushels of corn in storage nationwide contain some of the genetically engineered Starlink variety that prompted a massive recall of corn products last fall, the Washington Post reported yesterday, quoting the company that made Starlink.
The paper said John Wichtrich, general manager for Aventis Cropscience, a unit of the Franco-German pharmaceutical group Aventis SA, would make the announcement in a speech to the North American Millers Association in San Antonio, Texas on Sunday.
Wichtrich's estimate greatly increases estimates of the amount of corn that was inadvertently mixed with the engineered variety, which is not approved for human consumption.
The affected corn - more than 4 percent of the 1999 U.S. corn production - will have to be routed to animal feed and ethanol production, the Post said. Wichtrich will tell the millers that most of the commingled corn was from the 1999 crop and is in grain elevators.
The 430 million-bushel estimate dwarfs the amount of corn reported earlier from the 2000 crop as containing StarLink - about 50 million bushels grown by farmers licensed to use it and 20 million bushels from neighboring fields. Wichtrich said 99 percent of the 2000 StarLink corn has been identified and redirected.
The genetically modified protein in Starlink corn, called Cry9C, was barred by U.S. regulators for human use because of concerns it might cause allergic reactions. The discovery of the gene-altered corn in taco shells last September triggered a recall of more than 300 U.S. foods.
The engineered corn apparently was mixed with other corn by farmers inadvertently delivering StarLink to buyers without notifying them, but it also could have occurred by pollen from StarLink fields blowing onto nearby plants. In his speech, Wichtrich will offer to set up small labs in mills that produce corn meal, grits and flour to ensure that the processed corn does not contain any of the genetically engineered protein in StarLink, according to the Post.
He said that effort had been planned in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration. The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded the protein does not survive the "wet milling" process that makes corn syrup and oil, and Wichtrich said on-site testing of those mills is not required. In addition, Wichtrich will tell corn processors that the StarLink problem will not go away soon.
"I know you are wondering: Will there ever be an end to this?" the Post quoted him as saying in a copy of his speech. "Unfortunately, as of right now, the answer is 'No' - there will never be an 'end' as long as there is a zero tolerance for Cry9C in food."
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE