1.Stacking up the risks - What's stacked in SmartStax?
2.Modified corn seeds sow doubts
3.SmartStax gets Japanese import approval

EXTRACT: Next spring, farmers in Canada will be able to sow one of the most complicated genetically engineered plants ever designed, a futuristic type of corn containing eight foreign genes... The health agency said in response to questions from The Globe and Mail that it didn't have to do [any safety testing], because it is relying on the two companies making the seeds, agriculture giants Monsanto Co. and Dow AgroSciences LLC, to flag any safety concerns. But the companies haven't tested the seeds either, because they say they aren't required to. (item 2)
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1.Stacking up the risks - What's stacked in SmartStax?

There are 8 transgenes stacked in the new Monsanto/Dow SmartStax seeds. 6 of the transgenes generate different forms of the insect-killing toxin Bt - these are the Cry genes:

Attacking insects above-ground:
Cry1A.105 - Monsanto
Cry2Ab2 - Monsanto
Cry1F Dow
 
Attacking insects below-ground (corn rootworms)
Cry3Bb1 Monsanto
Cry34Ab1 Dow
Cry35Ab1 Dow
 
There are two further transgenes. These confer resistance to specific weedkillers.

Tolerance to herbicides:
Glyphosate - Roundup Ready Monsanto
Glufosinate LibertyLink Dow (under licence from Bayer)
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2.Modified corn seeds sow doubts
MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT
Globe and Mail, August 4 2009
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/modified-corn-seeds-sow-doubts/article1240469/

*Consumer groups worry Health Canada 'abdicated its responsibility' to test seeds' safety

Next spring, farmers in Canada will be able to sow one of the most complicated genetically engineered plants ever designed, a futuristic type of corn containing eight foreign genes.

With so much crammed into one seed, the modified corn will be able to confer multiple benefits, such as resistance to corn borers and rootworms, two caterpillar-like pests that infest the valuable grain crop, as well as withstanding applications of glyphosate, a weed killer better known by its commercial name, Roundup.

But a controversy has arisen over the new seeds, which were approved for use last month by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Health Canada hasn't assessed their safety.

The health agency said in response to questions from The Globe and Mail that it didn't have to do so, because it is relying on the two companies making the seeds, agriculture giants Monsanto Co. and Dow AgroSciences LLC, to flag any safety concerns. But the companies haven't tested the seeds either, because they say they aren't required to.

The companies have checked the safety of each of the eight genes one at a time in individual corn plants, but haven't done so when they combined the foreign matter together in one seed, says Trish Jordan, a spokesperson for Monsanto Canada Inc.

"Every single one of the traits has been tested singly, and it has gone through the complete rigorous regulatory review process," Ms. Jordan said.

When the eight traits were subsequently combined into one seed through conventional breeding techniques, there was no trigger for an additional safety assessment, she said.

But the companies', and Health Canada's, position is disputed by opponents of genetically modified foods and consumer safety advocates, who say guidelines from the UN's food standards commission, Codex Alimentarius, recommend such testing, even when the novel traits are introduced through normal plant breeding.

Michael Hansen, senior scientist at Consumers Union, a U.S. advocacy group, says he's worried that combining a large number of foreign genes could lead to the creation of allergens or other deleterious substances in food that don't occur when only one gene is involved.

The government's decision to leave the safety testing to the companies is like "putting the fox in charge of the hen house," Mr. Hansen said.

Health Canada "has entirely abdicated its responsibility" for food safety, echoed Lucy Sharratt, co-ordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, an Ottawa-based group that is critical of genetic engineering.

In its statement to The Globe, Health Canada said it approved the new corn because it didn't find anything untoward in testing conducted from 2002 to 2008 that looked at the safety of the genes two at a time.

"According to Health Canada's policy, when a company chooses to breed or cross approved genetically modified plants with other approved GM or non-GM plants, the company must inform Health Canada only if there is a change in the safety of the product," the federal agency said. "If there was a change, the company would have to provide the necessary information to Health Canada."

The issue of the safety of the new corn has wide-ranging importance because multiple foreign genes in seeds is the wave of the future in biotechnology. When genetic modification of plants began, breeders would introduce only one gene taken from a foreign source, such as a bacterium, at a time. Corn seeds now on the market have up to three foreign genes.

Ms. Jordan said the eight-gene corn, which the companies call SmartStax because numerous traits are stacked together, will be the basic platform for all Monsanto's future versions of the crop.

She said researchers are looking to add even more genes to it, including those for drought resistance, yield increases and more efficient use of nitrogen, an important plant nutrient.

The new corn isn't the sweet type eaten on the cob but is typically used for animal feed. Monsanto expects about 200,000 acres to be planted next year in Canada, mainly in Ontario, and that the crop will have enhanced yields.

Under the UN Codex guidelines, producers of genetically engineered plants, even when the producers subsequently use conventional breeding on their seeds, should provide information "to reduce the possibility that a food derived from a recombinant-DNA plant would have an unexpected, adverse effect on human health."

Health Canada says the view that further testing needs to be done on such seeds is "erroneous" because the Codex guideline doesn't explicitly mention the stacking of genetic traits as a trigger for such a review.

Mr. Hansen believes Health Canada's interpretation leaves the country open to possible trade disputes because other jurisdictions, such as Europe, could challenge the Canadian corn by citing a failure to follow the Codex guidelines.
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3.SmartStax corn gets Japanese import approval
Country Guide, 1 August 2009
http://www.country-guide.ca/east/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000336586&PC=FBC&issue=08012009
 
A new eight-trait herbicide-tolerant, insect-resistant corn developed by Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences and approved for planting next year in the U.S. and Eastern Canada will be allowed for export to Japan.

Monsanto and Dow said in a release Friday that Japan has granted full regulatory approval for imports of the companies' new SmartStax corn.

Canadian and U.S. regulators approved the new corn July 20 for production. "With these approvals, SmartStax can be produced and planted in the U.S. and Canada and grain can be imported to Australia, New Zealand and Japan," the companies said Friday.

"As the world's leading corn-importing country, Japanese approval is a significant milestone to ensure full market access to food and feed derived from SmartStax," Jerry Hjelle, Monsanto's vice-president of regulatory affairs, said Friday.

Monsanto and Dow "are working closely to obtain the few remaining import approvals ahead of the 2010 launch," Hjelle added in a release.

Monsanto and Dow plan to launch SmartStax on three million to four million acres or more in 2010, the companies said. Monsanto will bring the corn product to market as Genuity SmartStax, while Dow said it would offer SmartStax through its seed brands such as Mycogen, Dairyland, Renze, Brodbeck and Triumph.

The corn includes traits for insect control both above- and below-ground as well as Monsanto's Roundup Ready and Dow's Liberty Link genetics for herbicide tolerance.

"Abdicated"

Japan's decision comes as green groups in Canada protest the new corn's approval by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, as well as CFIA's approval for smaller required areas of refuge crops to be planted around fields of SmartStax.

The same groups, including Greenpeace Canada and the Council of Canadians, among others under the umbrella of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, also called Wednesday on the federal government to "immediately withdraw" authorization for SmartStax until Health Canada undertakes "exhaustive and independent tests."

The groups claimed Wednesday that Health Canada hasn't assessed the human health safety of SmartStax, as per the United Nations' Codex Alimentarius guidelines for food safety in multi-trait crops.

"Health Canada did not conduct or require any testing for this new eight-trait GE corn and did not even officially authorize it for release into the food system," network co-ordinator Lucy Sharratt said in a release.

"Health Canada has entirely abdicated its responsibility and just shrugged off the potential health risks of eating eight GE traits in one corn flake."

Codex Alimentarius' guidelines, developed by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (PAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that safety assessment of a modified microorganism should be performed "on a case-by-case basis depending on the nature and extent of the introduced changes."

Conventional toxicology studies, Codex says, "may not be considered necessary where the substance or a closely related substance has, taking into account its function and exposure, been consumed safely in food."

In other cases, Codex's guidelines suggest, the use of "appropriate conventional toxicology or other studies" on a new substance may be needed. Effects of a new recombinant-DNA microorganism on the “food matrix” should be considered as well, Codex recommends.