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GM WATCH MONTHLY REVIEW – MARCH 2005
from Claire Robinson, editor
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What a month!
CONTENTS:
+ GM CROPS TAKE ANOTHER KNOCK
+ BIOTECH FIRM REJECTS GM CROP
+ JOINT US-UK COVER-UP ALLEGED OVER ROGUE MAIZE
+ SYNGENTA HOLDING BACK INFO TO STYMIE ACTION
+ MAJORITY SUPPORT AUSTRIA OVER MONSANTO'S GM MAIZE
+ BLACKWASHING MONSANTO
+ CORE VIDEO AND CONFERENCE
+ PRO-CLONING LOBBYIST HELPS REGULATE CLONING!
+ NEW SEARCHABLE DATABASE ON REVOLVING DOOR AND GM
+ UK FIRMS DROP GM, SEEK TO BOOST REGULAR SEED
+ EU TO PUSH GMOS THROUGH DESPITE PUBLIC OPPOSITION
+ FOOD WATCHDOG PRO-GM AND 'BIASED AGAINST ORGANIC'
+ CANADA: GOVT USES TAX DOLLARS TO SHAFT FARMERS
+ GM FOODS "NOT ON THE RADAR" OF AMERICANS
+ US: NINE STATES LIMIT LOCAL GM BANS
+ WORLD'S LARGEST RICE MILLER OPPOSES GM RICE
+ US: NATIVE AMERICANS BAN GM RICE
+ BRAZIL'S LULA SIGNS UP TO MONSANTO LAW
+ CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN BRAZIL BIOSAFETY BODY
+ BRAZIL: GM SOY YIELDS DROP
+ MONSANTO "HOODLUM-LIKE" SAYS ARGENTINE GOVT
+ US: STINK BUGS EATING GM FARMERS' "LUNCH"
+ NEW REVELATIONS ABOUT BT COTTON IN INDIA
+ INDIA'S GM EXPANSION SUGGESTS CORRUPTION
+ DATA TAMPERING BY GOVERNMENT-MONSANTO NEXUS
+ GM SEEDS BURNT BY MORE THAN 3000 TRIBAL WOMEN
+ 'OUTCAST' WOMEN EXPOSE BT COTTON FAILURE
+ PATENT OFFICE REVOKES NEEM PATENT
+ ZAMBIA REAFFIRMS GM BAN, LOOKS TO ALTERNATIVES
+ CAN COUNTRIES CHOOSE TO ACCEPT OR REJECT GM?
+ NEW REPORT SAYS GM CAUSES HUNGER IN ARGENTINA
+ IRANIAN SCIENTISTS PRODUCE GM RICE
+ IRAQI GOVT URGED TO REVOKE "WICKED" PATENT LAW
+ EU "COEXISTENCE" RECOMMENDATION LEGALLY FLAWED
+ EC "CONSPIRACY" TO SUPPRESS GM HAZARDS
+ NEW RESEARCH SHOWS PROBLEMS WITH HRGM CROPS
+ NEW GOLDEN RICE PR BLITZ
+ MONSANTO PURSUES FARMERS
+ VENEMAN TO TAKE OVER UNICEF!
+ NZ GOVT POURS TAXPAYER MILLIONS INTO GM
+ AVERY "BLOOD OF STARVATION VICTIMS" CLAIMS
+ NEW ZEALAND: DEFEAT OF GM MORATORIUM BILL
+ ROUNDUP DOESN'T ONLY POISON WEEDS
+ GM LOBBY TRIES TO DISTRACT FROM DISMAL GM CROP TRIAL RESULTS AND CONTAMINATION SCANDAL
+ LORD OF UNREASON - TAVERNE'S NEW BOOK
+ NEW STUDY OVERTURNS CLAIMED WILDLIFE BENEFITS OF GM CROPS
+ GM CROPS TAKE ANOTHER KNOCK
The latest results of the UK GM crop trials show commercial use of some GM crops could alter the balance of weed species that thrive on British farmland, reports Nature. Such a shift could harm bees and butterflies. Butterfly numbers were cut by up to two-thirds and bee populations by half in fields of transgenic winter oilseed rape (canola), according to the final results of a three-year study commissioned by the UK government.
The results will be felt as a further blow to advocates of transgenic crops. In 2003, two of the three other transgenic varieties covered by the study, spring oilseed rape and beet, were shown to harm biodiversity by reducing overall levels of weeds.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5015
+ BIOTECH FIRM REJECTS GM CROP
Biotech giant Bayer no longer wants to grow the GM winter oil seed rape trialled in the GM farm scale evaluations in Europe.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5006
+ JOINT US-UK COVER-UP ALLEGED OVER ROGUE MAIZE
The whereabouts of 170,000 tonnes of contaminated GM maize and its possible import into the UK has caused an international investigation and claims of a cover-up on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) first put out a statement saying the contamination was "on a small scale" but later retracted it, instead saying the maize was unlikely to have got into food but might have been fed to cattle.
The maize is not licensed to be grown in Europe and contains a GM antibiotic-resistant marker [resistant to ampicillin, a commonly used antibiotic] of a type scientists have advised the EU to phase out. It is theoretically possible for bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics as a result of contact with the marker genes.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5053
Critics have expressed surprise that neither Syngenta nor the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the presence of the marker when they admitted that the release of Bt10 had taken place. "It is quite scandalous," says Greg Jaffe, head of the biotechnology project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5043
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5047
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5054
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5063
+ SYNGENTA HOLDING BACK INFORMATION TO STYMIE ACTION
An official from the Japanese Health Ministry told Reuters that Japanese ports would start testing samples of corn cargoes from the United States after the ministry obtained the necessary data from Syngenta to detect Bt10. But Syngenta seem to be sitting on their hands, delaying the release of full information at every turn.
"At the moment we cannot distinguish BT10 from BT11 because we do not have the detection methods", the EU’s Health and Consumer protection Spokesman Philip Tod has admitted . "We have a method to detect Bt11, but not for Bt10 because it is not an authorised product", he explained.
Campaigners are calling for a halt to all shipements and products containing Bt11 if Syngenta fail to provide the necessary information to enable detection of Bt10.
Interestingly, the GM detection firm Genetic ID say detection of Bt10 is possible immediately: "Contrary to statements by the EU Commission, as reported in some media reports over the past few days, the detection of Bt10 maize as well as the distinction from Bt11 is possible immediately."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/05/business/web.0505corn.html
http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=18785
+ MAJORITY SUPPORT AS AUSTRIA RAISES QUESTIONS OVER GM MAIZE MON810
Austria has raised strong concerns about the commercial cultivation of GM maize MON810, approved by the European Commission for planting in Europe. A majority of countries (13: Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Cyprus, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia) supported the Austrian criticism. In a note to the Council of the EU, Austria stated that in light of scientific uncertainties about possible effects of the GM maize as well as the absence of a plan to monitor these effects, MON810 should not be planted yet.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4955
+ BLACKWASHING MONSANTO
A new article from GM Watch founder, Jonathan Matthews, exposes how Bush and Monsanto are manufacturing black support for GMOs via groups like CORE (see below).
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4987
+ CORE VIDEO AND CONFERENCE
Black civil rights-turned corporate rights group CORE (corporate partner: Monsanto) is promoting its pro-GM video and conference, which feature "personal testimonials from African farmers whose lives have been improved by genetically modified (GM) crops".
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4970
+ PRO-CLONING LOBBYIST HELPS REGULATE CLONING!
Juliet Tizzard, a member of the LM network - which eulogises genetic engineering and human cloning - has become Policy Manager of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the UK government body which licenses and monitors human embryo research conducted in the UK.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4960
+ NEW SEARCHABLE DATABASE ON REVOLVING DOOR AND BIOTECH
The Edmonds Institute has announced its "New Revolving Door", a searchable database about people who have worked in/for both government and industry, with emphasis on those connected to the biotechnology industry.
http://www.edmonds-institute.org/newdoor.html
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4983
+ UK FIRMS DROP GM STUDY, SEEK TO BOOST REGULAR SEED
According to Reuters, consumer fears of GM food have dealt a "heavy blow" to Britain's biotech industry, with many scientists leaving the sector and firms refocusing on conventional research. "For most arable crops, conventional plant breeding is still, and will be, the mainstay...for the near future," said John Snape, head of the Crop Genetics department at the John Innes centre in eastern England.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4966
EU TO PUSH GM FOODS THROUGH DESPITE PUBLIC OPPOSITION
The EU executive plans to press ahead with approving more GM foods regardless of public opposition, a leaked draft document reveals. The new European Commission agreed to:
* push through new approvals of GM foods regardless of the lack of consensus over their safety by EU member states
* submit to the Environment Council proposals to get countries to lift their bans on GM products
* approve GM crops for cultivation without proper (so-called "coexistence") legislation to avoid the contamination of the countryside by GMOs.
This proposed position for the EU executive comes in the face of surveys that show 70% of European consumers oppose GMO foods, usually on health and environment grounds. Friends of the Earth said the policy marked "a bad day for consumers, democracy and the environment."
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5004
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5021
+ FOOD WATCHDOG PRO-GM AND 'BIASED AGAINST ORGANIC FOOD' SAYS ITS OWN REVIEW
Britain's official food safety watchdog must review its controversial policies on GM and organic goods, a wide-ranging official review of its performance has concluded.
The review, carried out to mark the fifth anniversary of the founding of the Food Standards Agency, makes it clear that its support for GM and its attacks on organic produce has caused a widespread loss of confidence in its judgement and independence.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=625943
+ CANADA: CANADIAN GOVT USES TAX DOLLARS TO SHAFT FARMERS
The seed industry's attempts to redesign farming in Canada has Canadian government backing. The Report of the Seed Sector Advisory Committee, published May 2004, caused alarm among farmer groups because it aims to prevent farmers from saving their own seed. Farmers could be required to pay higher insurance premiums if they don't use certified seeds and would be held liable for improperly using or selling seeds saved from a crop grown with a company's seeds.
It turns out that the Canadian government provided $600,000 in taxpayers' money to fund the report and, through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, donated staff, office space and equipment.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4950
+ GM FOODS "NOT ON THE RADAR" OF AMERICANS
A Rutgers Food Policy Institute survey shows that nearly a decade after GM foods were introduced, they are not even "on the radar" of a majority of Americans, in spite of the fact that GMOs are thought to be in 75% of processed foods.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5031
+ US: NINE STATES LIMIT LOCAL GM BANS
At least nine US states, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Dakota, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Oklahoma, Arizona, and West Virginia have either passed or introduced legislation that would preempt local cities and counties from restricting the sale of GM seeds. The bills are viewed as a nationally coordinated attempt to block GMO-free ordinances similar to those approved by citizens in Mendocino and Marin counties in California in 2004.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5050
+ WORLD'S LARGEST RICE MILLER OPPOSES GM RICE IN MISSOURI
Riceland, the world's largest rice miller and marketer, has asked the US Dept of Agriculture to deny Ventria Bioscience's request to grow about 200 acres of the GM pharma rice in Cape Girardeau, Scott and Mississippi counties in Missouri. Riceland says there is no level of acceptance among consumers, in the US or abroad, for GM rice.
The Food Products Association, a Washington-based trade association that represents the nation's major food companies, also is preparing to submit comments opposing Ventria.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5046
+ US: NATIVE AMERICANS BAN GM RICE
White Earth Indian reservation in northwest Minnesota has become the first reservation in the US to ban the introduction or growth of GM wild rice seeds.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4970
+ BRAZIL'S LULA SIGNS UP TO MONSANTO LAW
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva has signed into law Brazil's new "biosafety" bill. It's been dubbed "Monsanto Law" because of its weakness and the ease with which it can be used to approve GMOs.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5036
+ CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN BRAZILS' BIOSAFETY COMMITTEE
Now that Brazil's new "Monsanto (biosafety) Law" has been signed into law, the National Technical Biosafety Committee (CTNBio) is working to push ahead rapidly with GM releases. It seems GM cotton was approved even before the bill, which minimises the input of the Ministry of the Environment, was signed into law.
A representative of Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment who was present at the meeting to discuss approvals says it seems "the GM cotton decision had already been taken before the meeting, which had its 'to-do list' altered in order to give priority to the commercial liberation process of the Bollgard cotton".
In case anyone's in any doubt about what's going on, he spells it out, "Lets see, four of the current members are counselors of the CIB (Council for Biotechnology Information), an organization supported by biotechnology multinational companies, which are directly interested in the transgenic products liberation. Half of the scientific community members work with biotechnology and four in genetic improvement programs."
The Ministry of the Environment has objected to CTNBio’s approval of the GM cotton.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5049
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5036
+ BRAZIL: GM SOY YIELDS DROP IN DROUGHT
Yields of GM soy grown in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul dropped sharply this year due to drought, according to farmers. Conventional varieties of soy, developed by national companies and institutions and adapted to the specific characteristics of the region, performed better, with up to 25 percent higher yields.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5049
+ MONSANTO "HOODLUM-LIKE" SAYS ARGENTINE GOVT
The Argentine government was cited as slamming Monsanto for having a "hoodlum-like attitude" in its effort to ensure that local farmers pay royalties for using its GM soybean seeds.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5007
+ US: STINK BUGS EATING GM FARMERS' "LUNCH"
Since the adoption of Bollgard cotton in North Carolina, damage from bollworms has decreased while stink bug problems have increased. This finding comes from research by Jack Bacheler, North Carolina State University Extension entomologist, conducted from 1996-2003.
And an award winning cotton farmer, Bruce Bond points out that while Bt cotton has reduced control costs for heliothine pests, "now secondary pests - plant bugs and stink bugs - are eating our lunch." Bond says, "I probably have $90 an acre in insecticide costs on Bt cotton. I think that's too much, especially when I pay $32 right up front."
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4956
+ NEW REVELATIONS ABOUT BT COTTON IN INDIA
A report from Gene Campaign says that in Andhra Pradesh, India, farmers have suffered heavy losses with Mahyco-Monsanto's MECH-12 and MECH-184 varieties. The reasons for this are low yield, premature falling of the cotton bolls and wilt leading to drying up of the roots. The varieties were found to be largely ineffective against the bollworm they are designed to resist. The cotton fibre is also of poor quality and fetches a lower price in the market.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4994
+ INDIA'S GM EXPANSION RAISES QUESTIONS OF CORRUPTION
In spite of all the evidence of GM cotton failure and farmer suffering of the last 3 years, and of viable alternatives that could improve the plight of India's cotton farmers, the Indian government's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee has... extended the area of GM cotton growing in India!
GEAC didn't have the face to immediately extend approval for the GM varieties that have been shown to inflict harm over the last 3 years, so it has delayed that decision and approved 6 new varieties of Monsanto-derived Bt cottonseeds, for the northern states of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. GEAC also approved large-scale trials of another 8 new varieties of Bt cotton for the northern region.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4948
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4962
+ DATA TAMPERING BY GOVERNMENT-MONSANTO NEXUS CHEATS INDIAN FARMERS
Greenpeace and Sarvodaya Youth Organization have released the two versions of a report prepared by the Joint Director of Agriculture (JDA) of Warangal district, Andhra Pradesh. While the data in the original report reveals the comprehensive failure of Bt Cotton in Andhra Pradesh, a second, visibly tampered-with version exaggerates the yields, thereby reducing Monsanto's compensation burden by nearly Rs. 2 Crore.
The report was commissioned under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the AP government and Monsanto-Mahyco, which marketed the Bt cottonseeds. The report was expected to assess failure of Bt cotton, and secure compensation for farmers.
"The falsification of this report is clear evidence of the corporate-government nexus," says Divya Raghunandan of Greenpeace India. "The fact that data has been so clearly manipulated in this case, raises serious doubts about the authenticity of any data that GEAC would use to review Bt Cotton."
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4947
+ GM SEEDS BURNT BY MORE THAN 3000 TRIBAL WOMEN IN INDIA
Demanding Orissa be declared an Organic State, more than 3000 tribal women on 23 March made a bonfire of hybrid and GM seeds of cotton and hybrid crops. Walking through the streets of the city, the tribal women shouted slogans damning the GM seeds and the hybrid crops that had pushed them into a cycle of poverty, indebtedness and hunger.
The tribals announced that they have already declared 200 villages in the tribal belt of the State as "organic vilages" and are presently cultivating indigenous seeds in more than 17,000 acreas in Orissa.
The charter of demands that the women presented emphasised that "due to the rampant use of chemical inputs in agriculture and mechanization of agriculture, the unemployment problem has become acute, which in turn may precipitate extremism and violence in our beautiful peace-loving state of Orissa". The demand for organic foods, forest produce and herbal products is increasing at the rate of at least 20 per cent annually. So, there is a great scope for earning foreign exchange by promoting organic farming in the state and exporting the produce.
The women said that the New Seed Bill in the offing runs counter to the Plant Varieties Protection and Farmers' Right Act (PVPFA), 2001... [Farmers'] rights are now being taken away through the Seed Bill. This clearly demonstrates that the government is being run by the multinational seed companies. Orissa Nari Samaj (ONS), the tribal women's organisation with a membership of close to 200,000 demanded the scrapping of the proposed Seed Bill, and wanted to government to recognise the rights of the people in respect of indigenous seeds.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5032
+ 'OUTCAST' WOMEN FROM INDIAN VILLAGES EXPOSE BT COTTON FAILURE
Poor women farmers from outcast (Dalit) communities in and around Pastapur, India made a film, "Why Are Warangal Farmers Angry with Bt Cotton?" which exposed the unhappy experiences of farmers in Andhra Pradesh who experimented with Bt cotton. http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4962
+ PATENT OFFICE REVOKES NEEM PATENT
The European Patent Office (EPO) has revoked a patent right it had earlier granted on a fungicide derived from an Indian medicinal plant, neem. It said the patent application was an act of biopiracy. EPO had granted the patent rights to US Dept of Agriculture and agribusiness corporation, WR Grace of New York.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4967
+ ZAMBIA REAFFIRMS GM BAN, LOOKS TO ALTERNATIVES
Zambia has reaffirmed its stand against the import of GMOs, even at a time when the country is once again facing a severe drought which could force it to import food. Instead of going down the GMO route, Zambia is looking to sustainable alternatives.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5025
+ CAN COUNTRIES CHOOSE WHETHER TO ACCEPT OR REJECT GM?
A report by Erik Millstone says that despite assumptions about World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, member nations - including developing countries - have a significant degree of autonomy in choosing which GMOs to accept or reject.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4953
+ NEW REPORT ON GM SOYA IN ARGENTINA SAYS GM CAUSES HUNGER
A new case study on the impact of GE soya in Argentina argues that agriculture based on soya monocultures is unsustainable, and creates hunger and dependency.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4991
+ IRANIAN SCIENTISTS PRODUCE GM RICE
Iran's first GM rice is reported to be growing commercially for human consumption. Researchers at the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII) modified rice to resist attack by insects by inserting a bacterial gene that produces a toxin. The research was conducted in collaboration with the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4975
+ IRAQI GOVT URGED TO REVOKE "CYNICAL AND WICKED" PATENT LAW
The new Iraqi Government is being urged to revoke Order 81, a US-imposed law that will effectively bring the country's agricultural sector under the control of transnational corporations. NGOs have described Order 81 as "cynical and wicked", as the section relating to the registration and protection of plant varieties was slipped in almost as an appendage to an Order dealing with patents and industrial design.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4974
+ EUROPEAN "COEXISTENCE" RECOMMENDATION LEGALLY FLAWED
A European Commission Recommendation guiding member states on "coexistence" of GM crops with conventional and organic crops is legally and fundamentally flawed, say NGOs after taking legal advice. The Recommendation guidelines would encourage contamination and make the 'organic' label non-viable.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5011
+ EC ACCUSED OF "ONGOING CONSPIRACY" TO SUPPRESS RESEARCH ON GM HEALTH HAZARDS
The EC has been accused by community groups of an ongoing conspiracy to keep sensitive information on GM safety studies out of the public domain. It has also been accused of turning a blind eye to inconvenient scientific findings and approving potentially dangerous GM varieties to please the Americans and the WTO.
Wales-based GM Free Cymru has been trying without success to obtain sight of a secret dossier relating to Monsanto's MON863 maize, already listed for use in Europe. The dossier contains the full application submitted by Monsanto for EC approval, details of a 90-day rat feeding study commissioned by the seed owners, a critique of that study commissioned from Dr Arpad Pusztai by the German Environment Ministry, and other material sent to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) by its own GMO Scientific Panel. None of this material has been released for public perusal, in spite of many requests from NGOs.
With respect to MON863, there are now strong indications that the rat feeding study completed five years ago (and still not peer reviewed or released to the public) has thrown up physiological changes which show the crop to be unsuitable for animal or human consumption.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5012
+ NEW RESEARCH SHOWS PROBLEMS WITH HERBICIDE-RESISTANT CROPS
In a study published in Pest Management Science, Michael Owen and Ian Zelaya of Iowa State University found that there are many risks associated with the production of GM and herbicide-resistant crops including problems with grain contamination, segregation and introgression of herbicide-resistant traits, marketplace acceptance and an increased reliance on herbicides for weed control.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4985
+ NEW GOLDEN RICE PR BLITZ
Golden Rice is back - a new PR blitz is underway to acccompany publication of an article on how Syngenta scientists have managed to increase the level of precursor Vitamin A in the rice. See: 'GM golden rice boosts vitamin A'
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=X&oi=news&start=0&num=1&q=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4386933.stm
Syngenta is, of course, highly unlikley to be encouraging its scientists to study those genes that would make a non-GM vitamin-A rice possible, because that would deny Syngenta the GM poster child the industry so desperately needs, given its failure to demonstrate any benefits to consumers or the poor.
Similarly, the International Rice Research Institute is busy preparing to run trials on Golden Rice even though IRRI's own scientists already have types of rice they've been working on for longer that are naturally rich in vitamin A, iron and zinc.
Golden Rice has the money and support to be developed even though it's possible to achieve the same results without the uncertainties of GM. The renowned Indian scientist Dr Pushpa Bhargava has pointed out that in terms of meeting the requirement for vitamin A, "there are other cheaper and better sources already available".
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5041
+ MONSANTO PURSUES FARMERS
As if US farmers weren't in enough trouble, the "seed police" are after them. Monsanto is pursuing fines and jail sentences for farmers who use their seed in noncontractual ways - such as saving and sowing it the next season. The Center for Food Safety released an investigative review of Monsanto's use of US patent law to crack down on farmers. Here are some of their chilling findings:
*500: The number of U.S. farmers under investigation annually by Monsanto.
*$10 million: Monsanto's annual budget (plus 75 staff) devoted to investigating and prosecuting U.S. farmers.
*$15,253,602: The total recorded judgments granted to Monsanto for farmer lawsuits.
*$3,052,800: The largest recorded judgment in favor of Monsanto as a result of a farmer lawsuit.
*8 months: The prison sentence given to a Tennessee farmer convicted of violating an agreement with Monsanto.
*90 the lawsuits filed against U.S. farmers in 25 states, involving 147 farmers and 39 small businesses or farm companies.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4974
+ VENEMAN TO TAKE OVER UNICEF
In May 2005, after secret negotiations, Ann Veneman, Bush's former Secretary of Agriculture, will take office as executive director of UNICEF. Veneman previously worked for biotech company Calgene, which was taken over by Monsanto. She is a strong supporter of GM.
The idea that she will lead the UN agency overseeing children's health, welfare and rights is, to say the least, disturbing. To sign a letter of protest, go to
http://www.saveunicef.org/save_unicef_form.htm
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5008
+ NZ GOVT POURS TAXPAYER MILLIONS INTO GM
The New Zealand government will contribute $15-20 million of taxpayers' money to a "life sciences fund" focusing on agricultural, biotech and food sectors - in spite of massive public opposition to GM.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5010
+ AVERY CHALLENGED OVER "BLOOD OF STARVATION VICTIMS" SMEAR
We've published an interesting exchange of correspondence between AgBioView's attack dog, Alex Avery, of the Hudson Institute, USA, and Robert Vint of Genetic Food Alert over the GM food aid crisis in Zambia in 2002, at
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5030
Avery has been accusing various people who have pointed out problems with GM, including agronomist Dr Charles Benbrook, Prof Terje Traavik of the Norwegian Institute of Gene Ecology, and Robert Vint, of having "the blood of starvation victims" on their hands.
The 'crime' that these people committed was to meet a Zambian delegation of scientists and tell them their views on the state of GM safety research. The Zambian scientists reported their findings to Zambian President Mwanawasa, and he subsequently refused GM food aid from the US on safety grounds.
But alternatives were found and there is no credible evidence that anyone died in Zambia as a result of the country's refusal of the GM food. That inconvenient fact hasn't stopped Avery and others in the GM lobby from claiming that Western extremists caused mass deaths from hunger in Zambia as a result of their ideological opposition to GM!
Clement Chipokolo from Zambia dismissed Avery’s claims as not only at variance with the facts but "typical of a well funded lobbyist who would do what ever it takes to achieve his mission, in this case promotion of GMOs."
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5030
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5033
+ NEW ZEALAND: DEFEAT OF GM MORATORIUM BILL
The New Zealand Parliament has voted against reinstating the moratorium on GMOs.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4997
+ ROUNDUP DOESN’T ONLY POISON WEEDS
Recent studies on the most widely used herbicide in the world, Monsanto's Roundup and its glyphosate-based competitors, suggest it is not as inoffensive as promoters claim. In an article in Environmental Health Perspectives, biochemist Gilles-Eric Seralini and his team from the University of Caen demonstrate, in vitro, several toxic effects of this compound as well as of the additives associated with it.
In tests on human placental cell lines, very weak doses of glyphosate showed toxic effects and, at still weaker concentrations, endocrinal disturbances. This, for Seralini, could explain the high levels of premature births and miscarriages observed in studies on women farmers using glyphosate.
Seralini is joined in his conclusions by Robert Belle, from the National Center for Social Research (CNRS) biological station in Roscoff (Finistere), whose team has been studying the impact of glyphosate formulations on sea-urchin cells for several years. In 2002, the Finisterian team had shown that Roundup acted on one of the key stages of cellular division. "This deregulation can lead to cancer," warns Robert Belle.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5040
+ GM LOBBY TRIES TO DISTRACT FROM DISMAL GM CROP TRIAL RESULTS AND CONTAMINATION SCANDAL
Now here's a funny thing. On the eve of the publication of the GM farm scale trials last year, up sprang a series of media stories about vandals and extremists disrupting British science. These all traced back to Lord Taverne's biotech/pharma industry-backed lobby group Sense About Science. And now, with this week's publication of the GM winter oilseed rape farm scale trial results (not very positive for industry), up pops another wave of such stories. These have been made fresh by coming from the crop research institutes rather than direct from Taverne's lobby group.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5013
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5009
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5011
+ LORD OF UNREASON - TAVERNE'S NEW BOOK
This month saw the publication of 'The March of Unreason: Science, Democracy and the New Fundamentalism' by Lord Dick Taverne. Britain's Sunday Telegraph carried an excerpt under the headline, "A little pesticide does you good but 'organic' farming harms the world." Taverne, a close associate of Lord Sainsbury, is chairman of pro-GM lobby group Sense About Science. http://www.gmwatch.org/p2temp2.asp?aid=60&page=1&op=2
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4978
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4979
+ NEW STUDY OVERTURNS CLAIMED WILDLIFE BENEFITS OF GM CROPS
A report published March 15 undermines claims that a four year UK research project into the growing of GM crops (the BRIGHT trials) showed that they were not harmful to farmland wildlife. The report, "An analysis of the findings of the BRIGHT trials with GM herbicide tolerant crops in relation to environmental impact", conducted for GeneWatch UK, the Five Year Freeze and Friends of the Earth by the Initiative on Organic Research, reveals that the design of the BRIGHT trials meant that environmental impacts could not be properly investigated.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4988