1.Illegal GM potato discovered growing in Sweden
2.Genetically engineered potato? We have a bad peeling about this

NOTE: The first item is about the situation in Sweden where fields where the authorised BASF GM potato Amflora are growing, were illegally contaminated by BASF with its unauthorised experimental GM potato Amedea. The second article provides useful comment on the authroisation of Amflora.
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1.Illegal GM potato discovered growing in Sweden
Greenpeace, 4 September 2010
http://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/press-centre/press-releases2/illegal-gm-potato-discovered-g

*Swedish authorities demand investigations in Germany and the Czech Republic

[image caption: Amflora fields in Sweden illegally contaminated with the experimental potato Amedea. The Swedish authorities have ordered it cleared and investigations started in Germany and the Czech Republic.]

Brussels, International - A genetically modified (GM) potato has been grown illegally in open fields in Sweden for months. Plant Science Sweden, the daughter company of German chemical giant BASF, appears to have mixed up seed and contaminated fields of the approved GM potato Amflora with an unapproved experimental variety, Amadea, which has not be fully tested for environmental and health impacts.

The Swedish authorities have demanded that the fields, planted on 11 June, be cleared of Amadea, but are allowing the Amflora plants to remain, despite the contamination. They have ordered BASF to account for similar GM potato fields in Germany and the Czech Republic.

Greenpeace EU agriculture policy advisor Stefanie Hundsdorfer said: "This is a deplorable lapse in bio-security. Who knows what the effects of growing a largely untested GM crop for months in the open environment will be? The Swedish authorities should order all plants in the contaminated fields destroyed and BASF should test all Amflora fields and destroy all plants where contamination has occurred.

"Biotech companies have repeatedly mixed up GM with normal seed. They can't be trusted and contamination seems inevitable. European governments must put a stop to the European Commission authorising new GM crops. This is the only way to prevent contamination of our food and fields." [1]

The episode will be embarrassing to BASF, which invited German Federal Minister of Economics and Technology Rainer Brüderle to a high-profile ceremonial harvesting of Amflora on 31 August. At the same event BASF announced it was requesting permission from the European Commission to grow Amadea, a high-starch potato mainly intended for industrial use.

The Swedish contamination follows an almost identical case in which thousands of hectares of unauthorised GM maize had to be destroyed after being grown illegally across Germany this summer.

Over 750,000 Europeans have signed a petition calling for a moratorium on all new GM crops in the EU until a proper safety regime is put in place by the European Commission [2]. The petition is set to be one of the first to test how serious the Commission is about its flagship engagement policy, the Citizens' Initiative.

Notes to Editor

1. www.gmcontaminationregister.org/

2. www.greenpeace.org/gepetition
Contact information

* Jack Hunter
Media officer
Phone: 32 2 274 19 15
Telephone: Mobile: 32 476/988 584

* Marco Contiero
Greenpeace European Unit, Policy Director - GMOs
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Telephone: +32 2 274 1906/ Mobile: +32 477 77 70 34
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2.Genetically engineered potato? We have a bad peeling about this
Myrto Pispini
Greenpeace, September 2 2010
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/genetically-engineered-potato-we-have-a-bad-p/blog/26342

When the German Minister of Economics and Technology recently endorsed a Genetically Engineered (GE) potato, he said "no" to public opinion, "no" to the health and safety concerns of scientists, "no" to biodiversity, "no" to farmers' livelihoods and "no" to German food security.  

The only things he said "yes" to were the demands of the potato's owners, the chemical giant BASF.

The minister, Rainer Brüderle, participated in a media event on Monday (31st August) organised by BASF to harvest the antiobiotic-resistant potato known as Amflora.

77% of the German public is against the cultivation of the Amflora, which BASF has been trying to commercialise for 14 years.

But the company finally found two allies in the European Commission, President Barroso and Commissioner Dalli, who were willing to ignore scientific evidence and European legal requirements (along with the majority of European citizens) to give the spurious spud a green light.

The BASF potato was altered to include a gene which conveys resistance to antibiotics. And not just any antibiotics, but ones defined by the World Health Organisation as being of 'critical importance:' vital to fighting tuberculosis and other deadly diseases. Using genes that may affect human health and the environment is not supposed to be permitted under EU law. But let's not let a little thing like law stand in the way of corporate profit, shall we?

The genetically altered potato, which is intended for use as industrial starch, in animal feed and in fertilisers, will invevitably end up directly on our dinner tables through genetic contamination and leave a bad taste in everybody's mouth. The company admits that contamination is inevitable, that's the reason they requested and obtained authorisation to contaminate the food chain as well.

The good news is that the Hungarian government is challenging the European Commission's decision to authorise Amflora in the European Court of Justice.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2010:209:0046:0047:EN:PDF

Until this case is heard, we need to act. Avaaz and Greenpeace, under the Lisbon Treaty EU Citizens' Initiative, are collecting one million signatures calling for a moratorium on GE crops - we've got 700,000 signatures so far.

This year Amfora is being cultivated in 3 countries -- Germany, Sweden and the Czech Republic - to create more seeds for wider cultivation.

If we act now we can prevent the further cultivation, and let BASF know that we're saying "no" to this "Darth Tater". Sign the petition, and may the forks be with you.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/genetic-engineering/take-action/EU-Petition