The ABSP II project referred to in the first article, which is introducing GM crops into Bangladesh, is funded by USAID and managed by Cornell. ABSP partners have included Asgrow, Monsanto, and Pioneer Hi-Bred.

Re: item 2, it's now more urgent than ever to petition the Brazilian president for a no on GMOs
http://www.gmwatch.org/proemail1.asp?id=5

1.GM crops on cards in Bangladesh courtesy of US
2.Brazil bill to regulate GMO crops passes Senate
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1.GM crops on cards
Four types of crops selected as starter
Staff Correspondent
http://217.204.41.132/cgi/NGoto/2/72128778?435

Land-strapped Bangladesh is set to grow genetically modified (GM) crops to augment food production to meet the growing demand of a growing population.

To start with, four types of crops would be developed soon by applying biotechnology under the National Agriculture Research System (NARS). These are drought- and saline-tolerant rice, late blight resistant potato, fruit and shoot borer resistant eggplant and pod borer resistant chickpea.

Steps will soon be taken to set up 'containment facilities' -- a safety infrastructure to prevent any jumping of modified genes to nature -- at particular NARS institutes such as Bangladesh Rice Research Institute and Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute. It will take at least two years for commercialisation of the seeds developed at these institutes.

Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will support the endeavour. Cornell University of the USA is managing the project.

A donor-aided workshop on agricultural biotechnology yesterday revealed the plan under which genetic modification would be carried out to gain special disease-fighting traits in crops.

Welcoming the country's graduation from subsistence farming to technology-aided commercial farming, government representatives informed the two-day workshop that after preparation of a biosafety guideline four years back the country has now drafted a biosafety policy to remove roadblocks for pursuing biotechnology.

A handful of countries including the United States, Brazil, Argentina and China are now vigorously pursuing GM crops while Europe remains skeptic about the new technology fearing long-term side effects.

Presiding over the inaugural session of the workshop at Hotel Sonargaon, Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (Barc) Dr Nurul Alam said, "We've no choice but to pursue the new technology as ours is a country with a fast growing population and scarce arable land. What Europe can afford, we can't. It's a choice between hunger and food security."

Barc, the ABSPII and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) jointly organised the workshop titled 'Harvesting the Benefits of Agricultural Biotechnology Products in Bangladesh'.

The ABSPII, implemented by a consortium of public and private sector institutions, focuses on the safe and effective development and commercialisation of GM crops as a complement to traditional and organic agriculture in developing countries. The project will help boost food security, economic growth, nutrition and environmental quality in East and West Africa and in Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Agriculture Secretary ASM Abdul Halim, FBCCI President Abdul Awal Mintoo, academic Abdul Halim Khan, Biotechnology Advisor at the USAID, Dhaka Janet Carpenter, KV Raman of Cornell University and K Vijayaraghavan addressed the opening session of the workshop.

Agriculture secretary found it unfortunate that Bangladesh's agriculture remained at a primitive stage while many countries are commercially growing biotech crops.

Abdul Halim, who also heads the national committee on crop biotechnology, said the bio-safety law was under preparation and the country now requires trained manpower and modern research facilities to pursue biotechnology.

FBCCI chief Abdul Awal Mintoo, who also heads East-West Seed company, said the advent of agricultural biotechnology would facilitate further genetic improvements of seeds.
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2.Brazil bill to regulate GMO crops passes Senate
http://keyinvest.ibb.ubs.com/ki/ch/en/newsbody.ki?newsid=3265022

BRASILIA, Brazil, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's Senate on Wednesday passed a long-delayed biosafety bill that will regulate biotechnology, including planting and selling genetically modified (GMO) crops, as well as human stem cell research.

The modified bill will be sent back to the lower house, which voted through an earlier draft in February, for clearance before being signed
into law by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

A backlog in legislation in the lower house, however, is likely to delay the bill's approval until late October or after, well into the current soybean planting season that began in mid-September.

Brazil is one of the last major world agricultural exporter to prohibit the commercial use of GMO crops, although its soybean producers have ignored the ban for over half a decade and planted illegal black market GMO soy.

((Reporting by Natuza Nery, writing by Reese Ewing, editing by John Picinich; Reuters Messaging: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.;
+5511 5644-7721))