1.Supply of certified GMO-free material stronger than ever
2.Exporting non-GM soy expanding business in Ohio
3.GM-fed Irish pork not up to scratch for top chefs
4.COMMENT from GM-free Ireland

NOTE: European farmers face an imminent shortage of animal feed because a handful of countries are blocking the approval of GM crops. Or so Mariann Fischer Boel, the EU's agriculture commissioner, claimed to agriculture ministers yesterday. According to the pro-GM commissioner, breaking a logjam of GMO applications would throw a lifeline to the EU's dairy and pig farmers.

Ministers from the UK and the Netherlands, the EU's strongest supporters of GMOs, immediately rallied to Fischer Boel's support while Austria, a GMO opponent, and Poland expressed scepticism.

Klaus-Dieter Schumacher, president of Coceral, the trade group that represents Europe's cereal and foodstuff makers, also waded in in support of Fischer Boel, "If we don't solve the problem of zero tolerance shortly, then we will have to stop the imports altogether."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6983a01a-9bd7-11de-b214-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=70662e7c-3027-11da-ba9f-00000e2511c8.html

The following items are all relevant to Schumacher and Fischer Boel's claims. Look out in particular for the incisive comments from GM-free Ireland – item 4.

EXTRACT: The [animal feed] cartel has close ties to the agribiotech industry and to the giant global commodity traders; they have a vested interest in trading GM feed and a virtual monopoly on imported agricultural seeds and feedstuffs. (The commodity traders Cargil, Bunge and ADM which supply most GM feed have been prosecuted for anti-trust violations by the FBI, the U.S. Department of State, and the European Commission). The cartel wants to force GM crops, animal feed and food into the EU market, against the wishes of the majority of farmers, consumers, retailers and member states.
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1.Supply of certified GMO-free material stronger than ever
TraceConsult (Switzerland), 2 September 2009
http://www.traceconsult.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=134%3Agm-policy-could-bring-price-and-supply-issues-warns-british-government&catid=47%3Anewsticker&Itemid=50〈=en

Major problems in the area of sufficient future supply of GM-free raw materials for the food and feed industries have been predicted with almost annual regularity since 1998. Eleven years later, the supply of certified GMO-free material is stronger than ever before. Contrary to what is reported in the media these days..., the recently concluded harvest campaign in Brazil has, for the first time since GM soybeans were planted in that country, shown a practical halt to the trend of increasing GM volumes. [extract only]
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2.Fayette Co. intermodal facility will help export Ohio soybeans
Natalie Kee
Farm and Dairy, 3 September 2009 [extracts]
http://www.farmanddairy.com/news/fayette-co-intermodal-facility-will-help-export-ohio-soybeans/12981.html

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ohio Bluegrass Farms started in the 1980s when the Martin family began raising identity preserved soybeans for local suppliers. Today, in addition to producing identity preserved beans, Bluegrass works exclusively with non-GMO, or non-genetically modified organism, crops. [...] each lot tested at the state certification lab to support their guarantee of 99.5 percent purity. In 2004, Bluegrass Farms began exporting food-grade soybeans, a venture that proved successful enough to warrant the building of a new processing facility, which opened in 2008. Stepping into Bluegrass's processing facility is like stepping into the future.

*Bluegrass farms processes soybeans from 35 farmers in 11 counties, accounting for about 9,000 acres of farmland.

*Bluegrass pays a $1 to $3 premium per bushel for farmers making the commitment to produce non-GMO soybeans. This means an average of $55-$65 per acre extra income for the farmers.
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3.Irish pork not up to scratch for top chefs
Anne-Marie Walsh
Irish Independent, 7 September 2009 [shortened]
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/irish-pork-not-up-to-scratch-for-top-chefs-1879871.html

The vast majority of top chefs avoid using home-produced pork because of poor standards, according to a new survey.

And an organisation that represents 200 leading chefs warned that continuing poor standards in producing pork "will ultimately lead to another scare" like the dioxin crisis last December.

Euro-Toques issued the caution yesterday as it unveiled a survey that showed most chefs said the current production system was threatening food security and felt feeding standards were below par.

According to the findings, 88pc of chefs were concerned about commercial production and said feed and use of genetically modified organisms were key concerns, followed closely by animal welfare.
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4.COMMENT from GM-free Ireland
http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php

A voluntary phase-out of GM animal feed together with Ireland's island status, geographical isolation, upwind location from transboundary GM pollen drift, freedom from GM crop trials and cultivation, unpolluted topsoil and famous green image can provide our farmers and food producers with a truly unique selling point: the most credible safe GM-free food brand in Europe's rapidly growing market for GM-free meat, poultry, fish and dairy produce. Stakeholders are invited to collaborate.

*Across Europe, dozens of leading retailers like Carrefour (the EU's largest) and hundreds of leading food brands like Friesland Campina (the EU's largest dairy coop) are phasing out or banning the use of GM animal feed in response to consumer demand for a safe GM-free food chain, quality agriculture, sustainability, fair trade, & corporate social responsibility.

*This market is supported by Government-backed GM-free labels and regulations in Austria, Germany, Italy, with France to follow suit later this year. Swiss livestock production is 100% GM-free.

*53 EU Regions have GM-free Quality Agriculture strategies that avoid the use of GM feed.

Consider France, where 20% to 25% of soy feed imports between 500,000 and 600,000 tonnes annually are certified Non-GMO. This is equivalent to all of Ireland's soy feed imports in 2007! France's leading importer, Agrifeed (based in Brest, Brittany), charges a small premium (approx €25-27 per tonne in summer, €30-32 in winter) for certified Non-GM soy feed regularly imported from Brazil via the port of Montoire, near Nantes. In France's largest pig producing region, Brittany, 40% of pork production is GM-free.

*As the EU's largest beef exporter (and one of its largest dairy exporters), Ireland imports around 1.2 million tonnes of soy and maize feed to feed the national herd of 6.9 million cows, 3.9 million sheep, and 1.5 million pigs (2007 data). 95% of these feed imports are GM. BUT our per capita consumption of GM feed per head of livestock is lower than most competing countries, giving us a head-start in phasing out GM feed (3-7% of total cattle diet, and 9-10% of total sheep diet) .

*The Irish and N.I. [Northern Irish] animal feed cartel (FEFAC, IGFA, NIGTA, R&H Hall, W&R Barnett et al) keep telling Irish farmers and food producers that GM-free feed is either unavailable or unaffordable. In reality, 99% of EU maize is GM free, and Non-GMO soy feed (reliably certified from seed to port of delivery at below 0.01% contamination) is widely available (from Brazil, India, China and even the USA) to farmers in competing EU countries. The cartel's inability or refusal to supply affordable GM-free feed violates consumer choice, reduces our GDP, and damages our reputation as Ireland the food island. Irish GM-fed animal produce is now effectively excluded from the EU's quality food market.

*The cartel has close ties to the agribiotech industry and to the giant global commodity traders; they have a vested interest in trading GM feed and a virtual monopoly on imported agricultural seeds and feedstuffs. (The commodity traders Cargil, Bunge and ADM which supply most GM feed have been prosecuted for anti-trust violations by the FBI, the U.S. Department of State, and the European Commission). The cartel wants to force GM crops, animal feed and food into the EU market, against the wishes of the majority of farmers, consumers, retailers and member states.

*The cartel's claim that Brazil can't supply GM-free soy feed is particularly outrageous. Despite the economic crisis, Brazil's production of Non-GMO soybeans has boomed from 0.4 million tonnes in 2000 to 8.85m tonnes that were audited and available for certified crushing and shipment to Europe as part of the 2009 harvest which took place from February through May. Moreover, the recent trend of increased GM soy planting has petered out, and may reverse in the 2009-2010 season as farmers find the disadvantages of planting GM soy outweigh its benefits.

This year (2009), roughly 26 million tonnes of Non-GM soy (i.e. 45 to 50% of Brazil's total soy harvest of 57.3m tonnes) was Non-GM. Although lack of demand led most of this Non-GM soy to be sold without segregation and traceability, some 10 million tonnes were produced within IP systems, certified GM-free below a detection limit of 0.01%, and were available for purchase by European buyers. Furthermore, 6.3m tonnes of this were additionally certified via the ProTerra standard as both Non-GMO and sustainable, and were sold and shipped as such (http://www.cert-id.eu/ProTerra.php).

*Don't believe the hype: The agri-biotech industry, FEFAC, IGFA, NIGTA, Teagasc, the IFA and the Irish Farmers Journal are currently using disinformation about feed shortages, "zero tolerance" and "asynchronous approvals" to scare Irish farmers and politicians in favour of GM feed and against EU food safety standards on contamination with unapproved GMOs .

*Irish stakeholders who want to retain access to or enter the EU market for GM-free pork, beef, lamb, poultry, fish and dairy produce need to act now to defend their interests:

*Participate in the creation of a national GM-free label standard (backed by industry / government / or preferably EU regulation);

*Source Non-GM soy feed directly from suppliers in Brazil via bulk order frame contracts a season ahead of time (don't buy on the spot market);

*Support the setting up of a segregated port facility and supply chain to avoid GM contamination risk;

*Replace soy with traditional fodder crops, and source locally-grown feedstuffs;

*Require the Government to implement its GM-free crop zone policy agreed in 2007; Scotland and Wales are strongly in favour of staying GM-free.

*Stand up for our human right to a safe GM-free food supply chain, as the Government and the IFA will not do it for you!

For enquiries contact:

Michael O'Callaghan, Co-ordinator, GM-free Ireland Network
tel: + 353 (0)404 43 885
mobile: + 353 (0)87 799 4761
email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.gmfreeireland.org