1.US prepares to block influx of GM food
2.Top chefs push Obama to improve food policy and label GM food
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1.US prepares to block influx of GM food
25 January 2009
New Scientist magazine, issue 2692
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126923.300-us-prepares-to-block-influx-of-gm-food.html

AFTER a decade of exporting its genetically modified crops all over the world, the US is preparing to block foreign GM foods from entering the country - if they are deemed to threaten its agriculture, environment or citizens' health, that is.

The warning was given to the US Department of Agriculture, which polices agricultural imports, by its own auditor, the Office of Inspector General (OIG): "Unless international developments in transgenic plants and animals are closely monitored, USDA could be unaware of potential threats that particular new transgenic plants or animals might pose to the nation's food supply."

The OIG expects the number of GM crops and traits, and the number of countries producing them, to double by 2015, raising the risks of imports of GM crops unknown to the USDA.

The report urges the USDA to strengthen its links with countries where research is exploding, such as China, India and Brazil. China, for example, is ready to launch the world's first commercial GM rice, but it has yet to be approved by the USDA. Problems will arise, says the OIG, when new GM products enter the US undeclared - the USDA would be unprepared to test or even identify them.

The OIG cautions against blocks on imports that could be seen as trade barriers, however. In 2006, the World Trade Organization ruled in favour of the US, arguing that the European Union's stringent regulations on GM crops were anti-free trade.
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2.Top chefs push Obama to improve food policy and label GM food
 
Lidia Bastianich, a New York-based Italian chef who has starred in several cooking shows on public television, says the government needs to encourage regulations and incentives to small farmers to give them the opportunity to compete against the "big giants." Chef Tom Colicchio, the lead judge on the popular cable television series "Top Chef," agrees. He says foods that are genetically engineered should be labeled as such and fewer subsidies should go to corporate farms.

Extract from: Top chefs push Obama to improve food policy, Associated Press, 25 Jan 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5imR11UljGB444hg8lY8sjItvfRpQD95TDD0O0