Dear Subscriber of the Save our Seeds Newletter,

With this update we close a quite successful year 2003: The case for pure seeds has become a major issue on the agenda of the European Unions policy on GMOs in agriculture and the EU Commissions initial attempt to set contanimation thresholds for GMOs in non-GM crops has been withdrawn and handed over to the Environment Commissioner Margot Walstroem. We expect a new proposal from her in spring next year after consultation of the Scientific Committee on GMOs. The number of signers of the SOS-Petition raises steadily and has reached now over 150.000 individuals and 330 organisations within the EU. We won support from additional member states and the issue of non-gm seeds and coexistence is vividly discussed within many other governments and the European Parliament.

We would like to thank all of you who have supported the Save-Our-Seeds case this year and wish you a merry christmas and a happy New Year 2004 in which we hope >>SOS<< will complete it's mission to guarantee gmo-free seeds for the future.

Benny Haerlin & the SOS Team

Here are the most important news of the last weeks as they can be found in more detail at http://www.saveourseeds.org International News Section.
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> European Parliament votes for gmo free seeds, eu wide coexistence and liability and calls for moratorium on GMO approvals

The EP today adopted with a large majority (327:52) a report on the co-existence of GM and non-GM agriculture, which inter alia calls for labelling of GM contamination in seeds at the detection level, eu wide coexistence and liability rules and demands that no approvals for GMO cultivation should be approved until such legislation is in place.

Report as adopted, in all languages
http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade2?PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A5-2003-0465+0+NOT+XML+V0//EN&LEVEL=2&NAV=S

eurActiv: Parliament wants strict EU-wide rules for co-existence
http://www.euractiv.com/cgi-bin/cgint.exe?204&OIDN=1506888&-tt=en
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EU GMO-Committee: NO go ahead for GM maize

Representatives of EU member states failed to agree on whether or not to approve the marketing of Syngenta\'s GM maize >>bt11<< for human consumption. The decision will now be forwarded to the Council of ministers who have 3 month to approve or reject the proposed first approval of a GMO since 1998.
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3954361&pageNumber=0
Friends of the Earth press release and backgrounder
http://www.foeeurope.org/
USDA attachee report http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200312/146085341.pdf Background, Food Navigator - GMO authorisations the state of play
http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/news.asp?id=8733
Background: EU GMO approval scheme
http://www.saveourseeds.org/downloads/eu_approval_scheme.pdf
 Greenpeace technical dossier on Bt 11
http://www.saveourseeds.org/downloads/gp_bt11_oct_2003.pdf
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> Starlink contamination found in 1% of all tested maize in the US

Three years after genetically engineered maize banned from human consumption turned up in taco shells and was pulled from the market, contaminated grain is still showing up in the nation\'s corn supply. A federal testing program found traces of the banished grain, called StarLink, in more than 1 percent of samples submitted by growers and grain handlers in the past 12 months, government records show.
Contaminated grain still showing up in corn supply
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/nation/7386628.htm?
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> European Food Safety Authority issues positive opinions on GM maize NK 603

The European Food Safety Authority\'s (EFSA) Scientific Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) has published today two opinions on genetically modified (GM) maize NK603. The Panel has concluded that the herbicide-tolerant GM maize NK 603 is as safe as conventional maize. GMO panels opinions and members http://www.efsa.eu.int/p_gmo_en.html
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UK: National Trust declares 248.000 ha GMO free

The National Trust, caring for over 248,000 hectares of beautiful countryside in Great Britain, 600 miles of coastline and 200 buildings and gardens of outstanding interest and importance has adopted a decision not to allow the growing of any GMOs on its land. The Trust will prevent any GM crops from being grown on Trust land by employees of the Trust and including a clause in all farm tenancy agreements, preventing the growing of GM crops by tenants.
National Trust AGM 2003
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/nationaltrust/agm/2003/index.html
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> EU conference on risk perception and GMOs

Senior figures from the worlds of politics, science and food will meet in Brussels on 4-5 December for an EU sponsored conference on risk perception. Keynote speakers include Spain\'s Minister for Agriculture Miguel Arias Cañete, Germany\'s Minister for Agriculture, Renate Künast and the European Commissioner for Consumer Protection, David Byrne.The event incorporates a stakeholder forum on risk perception of genetically modified food. Commission Press Room
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/0
3/1620|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display=
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UK: No agreement over co-existence

Britain's top adviser is unable to provide clear guidelines for the use of GMOs in the UK. The Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission disagreed on key questions but agreed that tough measures would be needed to prevent contamination.
Press release and Report of the AEBC
http://www.aebc.gov.uk/aebc/coexistence_liability.shtml
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3889824
BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3236266.stm
Financial Times
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c
=StoryFT&cid=1069493500304
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,1093153,00.html
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> GE Crops increase pesticide use in the US

The planting of GE corn, soybeans and cotton in the United States since 1996 has increased pesticide use by about 50 million pounds, according to a report by the Northwest Science and Environmental Policy Center. The first comprehensive study of the impacts of all major commercial GE crops on pesticide use in the US over the first eight years shows reductions between 96 and 98 and a steep increase over the last 3 years. Especially herbicide tolerant plants account for that increase.
full study (46 pages) http://www.biotech-info.net/Technical_Paper_6.pdf
short description http://www.biotech-info.net/technicalpaper6.html
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International Protest on GM Contamination of Mexican Maize

An open letter to Mexican government authorities and intergovernmental bodies was sent by 302 organizations from 56 countries, demanding actions to stop contamination of farmers\' maize with DNA from genetically modified (GM) maize, and to prevent any further contamination in the world\'s centers of crop diversity and origin.
etc group: open letter and information
http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=417
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Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety enters into force in the EU

With the publication of the EUs Regulation (EC) No 1946/2003 on transboundary movements of genetically modified organisms the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety becomes law within the EU on November 25th. The new rules lay down strict labeling and consent rules for GMOs exported from the EU. The Regulation provides that the export of GMO material from the EU is only possible for authorized GMOs and with the explicit permission of the importing country. Exporters must comply with the importing countries legislation in this area, even if it goes beyond the requirements of the Cartagena Protocol and that the precautionary principle must be respected. Regulation in Official Journal of the EU
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/archive/2003/l_28720031105en.html
Excerpts of the key provision of the regulation, USDA report
http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200311/145986790.pdf
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> Upper-Austria will appeal EU commissions verdict against GMO free zones

The government of Upper-Austria announced that it will appeal the EU Commissions decision against its law to ban GMO growing. BRYCORDIS: News service
http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:21159
posted at Wednesday, November 05, 2003 2003_11_05_archiv.html
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BEUC demands clean seeds and fair co-existence

The European Consumers Bureau, representing 36 consumer organisations within the EU and accession countries has published a position paper on the co-existence of GMO and non-GMO products and agriculture. BEUC believes that strict non-gmo production >>can only be achieved when the GM contamination of the input ? in this case the seed ? is minimal, i.e. 0.1% or the detection limit (technically \"0\").<<
BEUC position paper
http://www.zs-l.de/saveourseeds/downloads/beuc_position_31_10_03.pdf
posted at Saturday, November 01, 2003 2003_11_01_archiv.html
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EU-Commission gives in on GM Seed Directive

As the EU Commission today informed the permanent representatives of the Council, it has changed its legal assessment and now accepts that the proposed Directive on labelling GMOs in seeds can only be adopted by a qualified majority of member states within the Standing Committee responsible for deliberate releases of GMOs into the environment (Directive 2001/18). Until now the Commission intended to push through the GM Seeds Directive under a technical procedure in the Standing Committee on Seeds, where it would have been adopted unless a qualified majority of member states voted against it. The FT calls it a U-turn on modified seeds. The Save our Seeds Initiative today celebrates an important success, but the contamination thresholds proposed by the Commission still remain unchanged. Reuters - EU Rethinks Strategy on Agreeing Gene Seed Rules
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=753&e=9&u=/nm/20031023/sc_nm/environment_eu_gmo_dc
Save our Seeds press release
http://www.zs-l.de/saveourseeds/downloads/zsl_20_10_en.pdf
posted at Thursday, October 23, 2003 2003_10_23_archiv.html
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> Brasilian State of Parana stops 800 GM-soy trucks

The Brazilian state of Parana, which last week declared itself a transgenics-free territory, is holding some 800 trucks - some of them from Paraguay - carrying genetically modified soy, its government said Wednesday. Bloomberg: Brazilian state impounds cargos of transgenic soy
http://www.zawya.com/printstory.cfm?storyid=295u0812&Section=Markets&page=Commodities&l=004000031023
Reuters: Brazil battle over biotech soy threatens top export
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3697665&pageNumber=0
posted at Wednesday, October 22, 2003 2003_10_22_archiv.html
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> >>Time to choose<<?

According to >>Nature<< latest editions editorial >>for the past few years, there has been one forecast that scientific soothsayers have been able to rely on: that controversy will rage over genetically modified (GM) crops. So to say that agribiotech is now in for a volatile time might seem like an empty prediction. But there are good reasons to believe that the fight over GM crops is coming to a head.<< Nature 425, 655 (16 October 2003): Time to choose
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v425/n6959/full/425655a_fs.html
posted at Tuesday, October 21, 2003 2003_10_21_archiv.html
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> EuroCommerce calls for strict purity criteria for GM contamination of seeds

The EU Commission and the Member States are currently discussing within the Standing Committee on Seeds the proposal for a Directive regarding the adventitious presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in seeds. EuroCommerce, the European trade representation of the Retail, Wholesale and International Trade, is concerned that the proposed thresholds for seed lots will lead to growing contamination of the whole of the food and feed supply chain and therefore will considerably reduce the freedom of choice available to consumers between GM and non-GM food.
EuroCommerce press release
http://www.eurocommerce.be/index.jsp?ptp=tDetail.jsp&pci=952&pti=88&psk=01
posted at Tuesday, October 21, 2003 2003_10_21_archiv.html