The nightmare of a hazardous technology running out of control on a global scale:

*contamination of the global food chain by illegal GM rice in China

*thousands of tonnes of illegal GM maize entering the food chain over 4 years in the US

*the increasing hazard of GM pharma crops

*governments throwing in the towel in India, Mexico, and Brazil by "legalising" the illegal proliferation of GMOs

*the continuing unrestricted proliferation of illegal Bt cotton in Indiaand the government's complete failure to seek compliance with its own biosafety regulations

"When will this end! The release of untested GMOs into the environment and the food chain is unacceptable, and undermining consumer rights to safety, to a healthy and sustainable environment, and to information. People need to know what they are eating, have choice and to know that their food is safe." - Consumers International (item 2)

"Recklessly approving new Bt cotton varieties, without doing anything about the widespread violations, sends the signal that the GEAC is more concerned about obliging the seed industry than protecting the farmers and the environment." - Dr Suman Sahia (item 1)

1.GOVERNMENT NOT ANSWERABLE IN INDIA
2.International consumer body condemns illegal GM contamination of food chain
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1."GOVERNMENT NOT ANSWERABLE TO NGOS"
GEAC chairman at Bt cotton meeting
PRESS RELEASE, 13 April 2005

"The government is not answerable to NGOs," said Sri Suresh Chandra, chairman of the GEAC, to Dr. Suman Sahai of Gene Campaign.

This came in response to Dr. Sahai's question whether the GEAC would or would not take on board suggestions made by the civil society groups who had been invited to make presentations before the GEAC at its meeting to approve Bt cotton for central India on 13 April, 2005. The GEAC was not willing to commit either on whether it would conduct a review of the past performance of the Monsanto-Mahyco Bt cotton, as Gene Campaign and others have demanded, or take action against the rapid spread of illegal Bt cotton varieties.

The GEAC also refused to commit itself to taking any action against the violation of the government rules according to which farmers must plant 20% of ordinary cotton around Bt cotton and which most farmers do not do.

In the 5 minutes that were allotted to her for Gene Campaign's presentation. Dr. Sahai said that GEAC must conduct a comprehensive review of the performance of the Monsanto-Mahyco Bt cotton in these past three years, before any further approvals were granted to Bt cotton. Dr Sahai added that two other issues of concern must be dealt with before fresh approvals were granted. These were the rampant proliferation of illegal varieties of Bt cotton which continued unchecked and the fact that most farmers were not following the mandated
procedure of setting aside 20 percent of their land as an insect management refuge. Gene Campaign has repeatedly asked the GEAC to take action against these worrisome developments which will have grave environmental consequences and boomerang on the farmers, causing them losses.

Gene Campaign's point is that the GEAC must first take stock of the situation on the ground where so much was going wrong with the implementation of Bt cotton, and the government's own rules were being openly flouted. Instead of approving more and more Bt cotton varieties in every meeting, GEAC should do a mid term corrective, improve the systems and ensure compliance before proceeding.

Recklessly approving new Bt cotton varieties, without doing anything about the widespread violations, sends the signal that the GEAC is more concerned about obliging the seed industry than protecting the farmers and the environment.

Gene Campaign which had represented to the GEAC against renewing permission to the Monsanto Bt cotton, in view of its poor performance, had presented the results of three years of field studies conducted by it which showed that farmers planting Monsanto's Bt cotton had by and large incurred losses and raised procedural matters like transparency, accountability and public participation in decision making.

Dr. Sahai said it was a great pity that the government in India continues to be in the imperialist mode. All over the world, transparent and participatory governance was being adopted but this does not seem to have occurred to the bureaucracy in India. The subject of GMOs is sensitive and unless responsibly handled, it could lead to great damage. The best safeguard against this kind of risk was in fact public participation. Dr. Sahai added that the government had to be accountable to NGOs and to all other constituents.

Dr. Suman Sahai
Gene Campaign
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2.Illegal GM rice discovered in food chain
PRESS RELEASE: CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL
The global voice for consumers

Consumers International (CI) is deeply concerned at the reported discovery of unapproved genetically engineered (GM) rice being sold and grown illegally in the Chinese province of Hubei. According to Greenpeace, the international laboratory Genescan confirmed that transgenic DNA was present in samples of rice seed and rice from companies, farmers and rice millers. Greenpeace estimates that 950 to 1200 tonnes of GE rice could have entered the food chain after last year's harvest.

David Cuming, CI GM Campaign manager says:

'This is the second recent report of unapproved GMOs entering the food chain and is of significant concern to consumers. Last month it was unapproved GM Bt corn in the food chain. When will this end! The release of untested GMOs into the environment and the food chain is unacceptable, and undermining consumer rights to safety, to a healthy and sustainable environment, and to information. People need to know what they are eating, have choice and to know that their food is safe.'

Notes to editors

Rice is a staple food for much of the world. So far genetic engineering has been predominantly in soybean, maize, cotton and canola. The introduction of GM rice into the food chain could have important consequences for human health. Greenpeace says the samples of GM rice in China contain genetically modified Bt rice a strain that is a concern to human health as it contains a protoxin that is a potent immunogen, and no food safety assessment has been made for any Bt rice.

The discovery of untested GM rice in China (and the unapproved Bt corn, produced by Syngenta, in the US and abroad) raises questions about the integrity of the companies and individuals involved in GM production. It also reveals weakness in regulation systems. Strict safety guidelines and independent testing need to be implemented and we also need strict rules to prevent such contamination from occurring.

Consumers International are campaigning for labelling and traceability of GMOs, independent safety testing of GM food and establishment of GM-free areas.

Consumers International is a federation of consumer organisations dedicated to the protection and promotion of consumer's rights worldwide through empowering national consumer groups and campaigning at the national level. It currently represents over 250 organisations in 115 countries. For more information, see: www.consumersinternational.org