GMWATCH REVIEW number 325
from Claire Robinson, REVIEW editor
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Dear all:
Calls are growing for GM regulation to be strengthened in the wake of Prof Seralini's study showing the ill effects of GM maize and Roundup on rats (GM MAIZE AND ROUNDUP STUDY UPDATE). And it seems that while the California GM labelling ballot initiative failed to pass, the publicity surrounding the initiative has raised awareness of the GM issue across America (THE AMERICAS).
Claire <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.;
Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
Profiles: http://bit.ly/12UAI2
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GMWatch
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CONTENTS
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GM MAIZE AND ROUNDUP STUDY UPDATE
GLYPHOSATE
GM FOOD SAFETY
EUROPE
THE AMERICAS
LOBBYWATCH
AUSTRALASIA
ASIA
AFRICA
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GM MAIZE AND ROUNDUP STUDY UPDATE
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In September Prof GE Seralini's team published a study that found organ damage and increased tumours and mortality in rats fed GM NK603 maize and extremely low doses of Roundup. The latest developments are summarised below.
+ SERALINI CRITICS WRITE TO JOURNAL; SERALINI RESPONDS
Seralini's critics have written letters to the journal that published Seralini's paper:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691512005637
Seralini and colleagues' response can be found here:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691512008149?v=s5
+ FIVE FORMER ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS WANT REVIEW OF GM APPROVALS
The number of former environment ministers in France who are calling for reform of market approvals for GMOs has now reached five. The former ministers are from all sides of the political spectrum. "On a subject that affects health, the party political approach is irrelevant," said Chantal Jouanno, one of the former ministers.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14448
+ MEPs DEMAND BETTER EVALUATION OF GMOs
A group of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have written to the European Commission demanding better safety assessments for GMOs.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14445
+ ATTACKS ON SERALINI "ABOUT MONEY" - RESEARCHER
The attacks on Seralini are "about money", said Swiss scientist Angelika Hilbeck in a press interview that's worth reading in full. Hilbeck said Seralini's study must be taken seriously and that the 90-day feeding trials routinely performed on GMOs for regulatory authorisation are not long enough. Hilbeck herself has in the past come under similar attack for publishing research that showed GM maize harmed beneficial ladybirds and lacewings. Her team later published further research confirming their initial results and showing that the detractors' attacks were unjustified.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14451
+ GROWING WAVE OF RESISTANCE TO ATTACKS ON SERALINI
The corporate links of Seralini's critics and the orchestrated character of the attacks on his research have been exposed by the French journalist Benjamin Sourice (see below), among others.
Now a growing wave of resistance to those attacks seems to be gathering pace. A statement opposing the attacks - "Science and Conscience" - signed by 140 French scientists was published in Le Monde.
A large number of scientists and academics from around the world have signed an open letter which supports the research of Seralini and protests the way in which the GM approval process is rigged in favour of industry and backed up by the systematic suppression of independent scientists working in the public interest. This, it says, is making "an honest, rational or scientific debate" impossible.
Seralini's research has also been supported in individual letters by 160 scientists. These letters have now been been made public by Seralini's research institute CRIIGEN.
And an article from Agence France Presse (AFP) suggests the support for Seralini may be greater than is apparent even from the growing number of public statements of support.
After noting that CRIIGEN claims to have seen expressions of support for Seralini from international scientists from 33 different countries, the AFP article goes on to say that it has been told by Pierre-Henri Gouyon, a professor at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, with regard to the statement opposing the attacks on Seralini that was published in Le Monde, "There are also people who have participated in the writing [of the statement] but have not signed for fear of the consequences for their careers. I have recommended to people who expect promotion not to sign [the statement of support for Seralini]."
Links to sources: http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14447
+ THE COVERT WAR TO DISCREDIT SERALINI
Benjamin Sourice's article exposing the corporate links of Seralini's critics and the orchestrated character of the attacks on his research.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14424
+ MONSANTO AVOIDS OFFICIAL HEARING ON ITS GM MAIZE
Monsanto has avoided attending a hearing by the French food safety agency ANSES, which is looking into the details of any long-term studies the company may have done on its GM NK603 maize and/or Roundup. One way for Monsanto to lay speculation to rest about the safety of its GM maize and Roundup is to release its own long-term safety studies on both substances showing that they're safe. Or could it be that no such studies exist? Surely not!
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14425
+ IS ANYONE IN REGULATORY AUTHORITIES WORRIED ABOUT SERALINI'S DATA?
Probably, yes, is the answer to that question - but they feel their hands are tied. They're frightened that if we ban imported GMOs we'll run out of livestock feed, and they're frightened of a trade war with the US.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14421
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GLYPHOSATE
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+ REGULATORY APPROVAL OF GLYPHOSATE BASED ON BAD SCIENCE
The EU approval of glyphosate, the main ingredient of the herbicide Roundup, is based on bad science and a "don't look, don't see" attitude on the part of regulators, according to a new peer-reviewed study.
The study, published in the Journal of Environmental and Analytical Toxicology, reveals that industry studies on glyphosate dating back as far as the 1980s, including some by Monsanto, showed that the chemical caused birth defects in lab animals.
But German government authorities tasked with reporting on the industry studies to the EU Commission and member states played down the findings, giving a false impression of glyphosate's safety. The EU approved glyphosate in 2002.
Said Claire Robinson, research director at the science policy platform Earth Open Source and a co-author of the study: "The German authorities introduced irrelevant data to 'disappear' significant findings of birth defects and even went so far as to redefine a birth defect as a 'developmental variation'.
"As a result, Germany set - and the EU authorities accepted - a 'safe' level for glyphosate exposure that may not be safe at all."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14418
The new peer reviewed paper - Teratogenic Effects of Glyphosate-Based Herbicides: Divergence of Regulatory Decisions from Scientific Evidence - is published in the Journal of Environmental and Analytical Toxicology.
http://www.omicsonline.org/2161-0525/2161-0525-S4-006.php?aid=7453
+ EU COMMISSION MAY OPEN PANDORA'S BOX OF GLYPHOSATE-TOLERANT CROPS
The European Commission will soon decide whether to approve 26 GM crops for cultivation on European soil, 19 of which are engineered to be tolerant to the herbicide glyphosate. Currently, less than 1% of European crop soil is used for GM crops. Getting herbicide tolerant GM crops approved for commercial use will give companies like Monsanto a vital and potentially devastating foothold in Europe. For a warning we can look to the devastation brought by the same herbicide tolerant crops on communities in the US and Argentina.
In October, Greenpeace commissioned agricultural economist Dr Charles Benbrook to examine the possible consequences of approving herbicide-tolerant GM crops. Benbrook based his work on extensive US studies of where these crops had been approved for commercial purposes since 1996. Since then they have assumed close to total domination. Focusing on HTGE corn, sugar beet and soy - the crops most likely to be authorised - the study predicts an increase in the use of glyphosate over a period of 14 years (2012-2025) of more than 800%.
Benbrook paints a grim picture for Europe: if EU farmers take up HTGE technology as quickly as US farmers did, glyphosate use in maize crops - the most important and widely grown crop in Europe - will increase by more than 1,000% by 2025 over current use, and total herbicide use will double.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14406
+ NEW FILM ON EUROPE'S FARMING FUTURE IF GM HERBICIDE TOLERANT CROPS ARE APPROVED
In a new Greenpeace documentary, Growing Doubt, farming communities describe how herbicide tolerant GM crops have affected their economy, environment and communities.
http://www.growingdoubt.org
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GM FOOD SAFETY
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+ CLAIMS OF LONG-TERM SAFETY FOR GM FOODS FLAWED
A review by Snell and colleagues is often cited as showing that GM foods have been proven safe in long-term studies. But the review does not show that at all, explains Doug Gurian-Sherman.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14440
+ AAAS STATEMENT NOT REPRESENTATIVE
The Council for Responsible Genetics has issued a statement saying it is in fundamental disagreement with the recent statement from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in which it offered assurances that GMOS are safe and that therefore labelling of foods containing GM ingredients is unnecessary. The statement says, "The AAAS leadership did not reach this decision, a response to Proposition 37 in California, by a vote of its membership."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14400
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EUROPE
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+ EUROPEAN PUBLIC DEVELOPMENT MONEY FOR MONSANTO?
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is considering supporting Monsanto to the tune of USD 40 million. The proposed support involves unfunded risk participation (a kind of guarantee, rather than the usual loans or share investments made by the EBRD) for cases where farming companies cannot pay for seeds and agrochemicals that they have signed contracts for with the company. The target audience for the investments are medium-large farmers and a small selection of key distributors in Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14452
+ DAYS OF ACTION AT EFSA'S 10TH ANNIVERSARY
Campaigners and farmers joined forces to organise two days of action against the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on 12-13 November, challenging industry bias and reclaiming real food safety. EFSA, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, has come under increasing criticism because of pro-industry bias which benefits the agro-industrial production system, but does not ensure nutritious and healthy food.
Further concerns have been raised by blatant conflicts of interest at different levels (from the Board to the Scientific Panels), impairing the objectivity of the Authority's decision-making.
Nina Holland from Corporate Europe Observatory said: "So far, there are too many questions and doubts about EFSA’s impartiality. The fact that industry is allowed to carry out safety tests for its own products means that the European food safety system is highly flawed."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14431
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14412
+ FIVE DEMANDS FOR CHANGE AT EFSA
Civil society organisations have published a list of five demands for reform of EFSA and the EU regulatory system:
1. Prevent conflicts of interest at EFSA
2. EU laws should be overhauled so that products are tested by independent bodies, not industry
3. A code of scientific practice should be established for EFSA
4. Improve transparency and accountability
5. Ensure wider participation.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14431
+ NEED FOR REFORM AT EFSA
Testbiotech has published a useful background paper summarising conflicts of interest at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), including the story of how the GM industry helped design the GMO risk assessment process via the industry lobby group ILSI.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14450
+ RUSSIA NEEDS TO DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST GMOs
With Russia entering the World Trade Organisation, it needs to defend itself against US attempts to force more GMOs into the country, says an interesting article in Pravda.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14455
+ POLAND'S GOVT WANTS GMOs
Find out how to support the struggle to keep GMO free.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14455
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THE AMERICAS
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+ GMO LABELLING NOT DEAD
The failure of a California ballot initiative that would have mandated labelling of GM foods is not a death knell for those seeking nationwide labelling, US labelling proponents said. President Barack Obama's re-election could be a boost, as he is seen, in general terms, as being supportive of labelling.
New state labelling initiatives are planned for Washington state and Oregon. Beyond that, the action now shifts to Washington, DC and efforts to force change at the US Food and Drug Administration, which has primary regulatory oversight for food and food additives.
A citizen's petition is pending with the agency demanding a re-examination of its policy against labelling of foods that contain GM ingredients. More than one million people signed on, the most ever for a petition to the FDA, and backers say the effort has been aided by the publicity surrounding the California initiative.
"When we first filed our petition with the FDA over a year ago, it was only a handful of Washington insiders who fully understood what we were talking about," said Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of Stonyfield Farm organic yogurt company, and chairman of the "Just Label It" campaign. "Now average folks are well educated on this issue."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14458
+ CALL FOR BOYCOTT OF ORGANIC AND "NATURAL" BRANDS THAT OPPOSED LABELLING
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has called for a boycott of the popular natural and organic brands owned by ten parent companies that donated to defeat the California Right to Know GMO labelling initiative.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14458
+ MONSANTO GOT TOBACCO FLACK TO HEAD ANTI-LABELLING CAMPAIGN
Monsanto got a former tobacco flack, Thomas Hiltachk, to head up its campaign to sink GM food labelling in California. According to an article in the New Yorker, Hiltachk and his firm have been involved in many well-financed ballot initiatives. They specialize in initiatives that are the opposite of what they sound like — the Fair Pay Workplace Flexibility Act of 2006, for example, which would have made it difficult to raise the minimum wage.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14416
+ CINCINNATI PASSES RESOLUTION REQUIRING GM LABELLING
The city of Cincinnati, Ohio has passed a resolution to require the labelling of GM foods.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14458
+ CITIZENS LABEL IT THEMSELVES
Americans have taken to do-it-yourself GM labelling.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14458
+ SAN JUAN COUNTY ENACTS GMO BAN
San Juan County in Washington State has banned the cultivation of GM crops with just over 60% of the initial ballot. That's more or less the number of voters the polls showed were in support of Prop 37 in California before Monsanto and friends' big advertising blitz. The success in San Juan County is being described as "overwhelming" and "a sweeping triumph."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14408
+ US DEPT OF JUSTICE CLOSES INVESTIGATION INTO SEED INDUSTRY, MONSANTO
An antitrust investigation was launched by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2010 to look into the effects on farmers of the consolidation of the seed market into the hands of companies like Monsanto. Although nothing of substance has changed, the investigation has now been closed down. Christine Varney, who was the head of the Justice Department's antitrust enforcement at the time, has since left for the private sector.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14449
+ SPRAY DRIFT SHOWDOWN IN GM COTTON FIELDS
An organic cotton farmer in Texas describes how spray drift from GM Roundup Ready cotton fields has destroyed his crops:
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14429
+ US COURT ORDERS ERADICATION OF UNLAWFUL GM PLANTS IN WILDLIFE REFUGES
A federal court has halted the planting of GM crops in National Wildlife Refuges in the Southeastern United States. The court also ordered steps to mitigate environmental damage from the previous illegal cultivation of GM crops. The decision marks the conclusion of a successful lawsuit brought by the public interest groups Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Center for Food Safety (CFS) and Beyond Pesticides.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14417
+ PLANS FOR GM SEEDS SPUR PROTEST IN COSTA RICA
Around 100 people gathered in front of the ministry of agriculture to protest the introduction of GM corn seeds into Costa Rican agriculture.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14422
+ SUPPORT OPPOSITION TO GM MAIZE IN MEXICO
Around 2.4 million hectares of GM maize is due to be approved in Mexico for planting this December. This is an area the size of Luxembourg. The maize is destined for human consumption in Mexico, where it is consumed as a staple, as well as for export. Mexico is the centre of origin of maize.
The Mexican peasant coalition ANAAA is asking organisations from around the world to express their opposition to the commercialisation of GM maize in Mexico. Your organisation can sign on through Miriam Boyer: miriam.boyerATyahoo.de.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14453
+ PARAGUAY PRESIDENT ADVOCATES GMOs EVEN IN THE PULPIT!
The speed with which the government of President Federico Franco - appointed following a coup that ousted President Fernando Lugo in June - approved the commercial release of five varieties of GM corn and two of cotton is causing mixed reactions in the country. Franco's staunch defence of GMOs led him even to interrupt the homily of Bishop Mario Melanio Medina during a mass in the church of Villa Florida, Misiones.
The bishop was speaking about the harmfulness of GMOs, a lack of scientific research, and a lack of consultations with citizens. Franco broke liturgical protocol, interrupting the sermon to defend the use of GM seeds, which he said "God and science allowed to be modified to benefit producers".
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14456
+ PARAGUAY PEASANTS FIGHT AGAINST GM CORN
Paraguayan peasant organizations have reported the possibility of the contamination of more than ten native corn varieties resulting from the use of Monsanto's GM seeds.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14444
+ PERU MORATORIUM ON GMOs
Peru's government has approved a new regulation that imposes a moratorium on the production and entry of GMOs into the country for the next ten years.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14444
+ BOLIVIA ENACTS LAW OF MOTHER EARTH AND GM BAN
President Evo Morales of Bolivia enacted the Law of Mother Earth and Integral Development to Live Well in a ceremony at the Palacio Quemado. The Law of Mother Earth provides for the elimination of the concentration of land ownership in the hands of landowners and companies, and prohibits the introduction, production, use, and release of GM seeds in the country.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14408
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LOBBYWATCH
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+ DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO
The elites that force GMOs onto world populations make sure that they and their families eat organic, says Craig Sams.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14427
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AUSTRALASIA
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+ SUSPENDED SENTENCES FOR WRECKING GM CROP
Two Greenpeace activists have received nine-month suspended sentences for destroying a GM wheat crop at the CSIRO research institute in Canberra. Scientists have warned of possible health risks from the wheat, which has been engineered to lower the grain's glycemic index, and also to increase fibre.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14457
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ASIA
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+ AROUND 100 INDIAN SCIENTISTS SUPPORT GM MORATORIUM
Nearly 100 Indian scientists have sent an open letter to the Supreme Court in support of the report of the Supreme Court's Technical Expert Committee (TEC) calling for a 10-year moratorium on GM field trials while regulation is put in order. The scientists include vice chancellors and heads of scientific institutions.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14411
GM crops should go back to the lab: Devinder Sharma
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14409
+ INDIAN GOVT BOWS TO INDUSTRY PRESSURE
In a Supreme Court hearing in the public interest lawsuit on GMOs, the Government of India, through its representative from the ministry of agriculture, opposed the scientifically sound recommendations of the Technical Expert Committee to make GM regulation and testing more robust and trustworthy.
The Coalition for a GM-Free India said that the government's position is a letdown for all those who expect that it fulfils its responsibility towards the interests of biosafety, public health, environment and farmers. Instead, the government seemed to bow to the pressure of the biotech lobby and object to the interim report of the committee which was constituted through mutual agreement, with five eminent highly qualified scientists trusted to provide the best judgment on this issue.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14414
+ INDIA'S AGRICULTURE MINISTRY ADDS MEMBER OF ITS CHOICE TO GM PANEL
The Supreme Court has agreed to the historically pro-GM agriculture ministry's request to add a new member to the technical expert committee (TEC) that recommended a moratorium on GM field trials.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14420
+ INDIA: SCIENTISTS, FARMERS DEMAND REMOVAL OF GM RESEARCHER
A group of scientists, activists, and farmers' associations has demanded removal of a top GM researcher caught in a false patent claim. Dr KC Bansal, head of India's gene bank, reportedly made a false claim about filing a patent on GM brinjal to grab a top award in 2009.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14419
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AFRICA
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+ KENYAN GOVT WANTS GM FOODS BANNED?
A meeting chaired by Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki reportedly directed the public health minister to ban the import of GMOs until it was known that they would have no negative impact on the health of the people. As Kenya has always been one of the biotech industry's prime targets in Africa, if the report is correct there is likely to be immense US-industry pressure on the Kenyan Government to backtrack.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14413
+ TANZANIAN GOVT NOT READY TO ADOPT GMOs
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14413