Recently we noted the role of the former Italian health minister, Professor Veronesi, in the anti-organic pro-GM smear campaign in Italy. Veronesi was quoted as saying "in the light of studies on populations that for years have been living on GM foods, the US above all, [concern about GM food] has become an opposition that must be eliminated because it is dangerous for our country."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4608

As we noted, Professor Veronesi's claim is a total lie - not a single study on "populations that for years have been living on GM foods" has ever been conducted.

The following article also notes Veronesi's leading role in the current pro-GM campaign and his accusation that critics of GM fail to base their convictions on a sound scientific basis - unlike Veronesi!!
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Italy's Leading Oncologist Steps Into GMO Debate
Source: AgBioView Newsletter (www.agbioworld.org)
http://www.truthabouttrade.org/article.asp?id=2934

Italy's leading oncologist Umberto Veronesi said today that die-hard attempts to defend traditional Italian agriculture from the encroachment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were unscientific. The former health minister said that if given a choice he "would always opt to eat GMO maize" rather than traditionally-grown varieties which may contain potentially-risky toxins.

Activists against GMOs are taking an "ideological" and "demonising" stance without basing their convictions on sound scientific basis. Veronesi made his remarks at a news conference to present a document on behalf of the Italian Toxicology Society (SITOX) and 18 other scientific associations backing GMOs.

"GMOs may be dangerous or not, exactly like any other type of food. It's wrong to demonise them simply because they have been genetically modified. All crops grown today, like many of our livestock have been genetically altered through a long process which has been going on for 2,000 years."

Veronesi said the nearly 10,000 researchers represented by the 19 associations have decided to openly back GMOs in a document because if parliament approves a bill drawn up by Agriculture Minister Giovanni Alemanno, research in the field will grind to a halt in Italy.

"The law would not only block work on GMOs but also on genetic research and this would risk isolating Italy from the rest of the world," said Veronesi.

SITOX Chairman, Professor Giorgio Cantelli Forti, said he failed to understand how "Italian public opinion accepts the innovations which biotechnology brings to medicine but expresses strong reservations when these same innovations are introduced in the agricultural sector."

The document was hailed by Assobiotec, the Association of Italian Firms for the Development of Biotechnologies and by Federchimica, the association of chemical industries. Assobiotec Chairman Roberto Gradnik said it was proof that the country's leading research associations believe that GMO products are safe and that the caution called for by anti-GMO activists is unwarranted.

Green party Senator Loredana De Petris said she was surprised that an "authoritative physician and former health minister had said such a bunch of silly things." Alemanno's bill will be the subject of a meeting this week with Premier Silvio Berlusconi, Deputy Premier Gianfranco Fini, Production Activities Minister Antonio Marzano and Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia.

If approved, the bill will then be placed on the agenda of the next cabinet meeting. The government postponed a decision on the issue several times last month, fuelling the ire of opposition MPs, enviromentalist organizations and farmers' associations.

According to Green party leader Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, the bill - which sets guidelines on GMOs - is constantly being sidelined by the cabinet because "the pro-GMO lobby is very strong right now."

The government postponed the measure after some ministers and Premier Silvio Berlusconi objected that it was "too restrictive" and infringed on farmers' freedom of choice. Alemanno says his measures take an "extremely prudent" stance on GMOs in a bid to "defend made in Italy products and the agricultural sector."

The bill would ban the cultivation of GMOs in open fields, in a bid to prevent the contamination of traditional crops. But it will not outlaw restricted and protected testing of GMOs. "Experimentation will continue. It will not be endangered by this decree," Alemanno has said.

Enzo Ghigo, chairman of the conference of regional presidents, has said that Italy's 20 regions want the right to decide whether GMOs should be allowed on a local level and expect the government to provide guarantees on co-existence between traditional and biotech agriculture. Hundreds of municipalities and 12 regions have already declared themselves GMO-free, showing the grass-roots support for Alemanno's bid.

Biotech agriculture has met with particular resistance in Italy where organic and 'traditional' produce are growing money-spinners. In fact, Italy has a higher turnover from organic farming than any other EU nation.