GMWatch News Review archive

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEEKLY WATCH number 268
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear all:

There's an authoritative new report this week showing GM does not increase yield (NEW REPORT). And research from Argentina shows that Roundup causes birth defects at very low doses (RESEARCH). Germany has banned Monsanto's MON810 maize (GERMANY'S GM BAN). And France is introducing a labeling system for GM-fed meat and dairy produce (EUROPE).

Claire <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW REPORT
GERMANY'S GM BAN
EUROPE
LOBBYWATCH
RESEARCH
CORPORATE CRIMES
ASIA
THE AMERICAS
AUSTRALASIA
CORPORATE TAKEOVER

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW REPORT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ GM FAILS TO BOOST CROP YIELDS
An important new report from Dr Doug Gurian-Sherman, a former biotech specialist with the EPA who is now with the Union of Concerned Scientists, shows that "despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialization, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase US crop yields."

The report reviews the literature on yield for the primary GM food/feed crops, soybeans and corn (maize). The report also evaluates the USDA field trial record for GM traits associated with yield over the past 20 years, and discusses the challenges ahead for more complex yield genes, such as transcription factors and signal transduction genes, now being considered by the industry.

Dr Gurian-Sherman concludes, "If we are going to make headway in combating hunger due to overpopulation and climate change, we will need to increase crop yields. Traditional breeding outperforms genetic engineering hands down."

In addition to evaluating GM's record, "Failure to Yield" considers the technology's potential role in increasing food production over the next few decades. The report suggests that it makes little sense to support GM at the expense of technologies that have proven to substantially increase yields, especially in many developing countries.

In addition, recent studies have shown that organic and similar farming methods that minimize the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers can more than double crop yields at little cost to poor farmers in such developing regions as Sub-Saharan Africa.
http://tiny.cc/gNgsB

Failure to Yield - Frequently Asked Questions: http://tiny.cc/IcVzQ

Download the new report:
Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically Engineered Crops
http://tiny.cc/eqZST

+ OXFAM AMERICA WELCOMES "FAILURE TO YIELD" REPORT
Kimberly Pfeifer, Head of Research at Oxfam America, commented on the report (EXCERPTS):

"With this review in hand UCS [Union of Concerned Scientists] rightly questions why GE technology receives such privileged attention over other approaches.”¦ R&D and adoption of GE crops is very expensive and considering that over the past 2 decades investment in agriculture has actually been in decline, it would be a challenge or considerably risky for most developing countries to invest in a tool that has not proven significant yield improvements.”¦ Other approaches - such as low external input technologies, organic, integrated pest management - offer more affordable methods and hence more economically sustainable methods with the added benefits of being more environmentally sustainable."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GERMANY'S GM BAN
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ GERMANY BANS GM CORN
Germany has thrown its weight behind a growing European mutiny over GM crops by banning the planting of a widely grown pest-resistant corn variety.

Agriculture minister Ilse Aigner said there was enough evidence to support arguments that MON 810, which is the only GM crop widely grown in Europe, posed a danger.

"I have come to the conclusion that genetically modified corn from the MON 810 strain constitutes a danger to the environment," Aigner said.

Germany's move, which has immediate effect, goes against the European Commission's decision to support the lifting of bans on planting MON 810 which have been imposed by governments in France, Austria, Hungary, Greece and Luxembourg.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/14/germany-gm-crops
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLE16356920090414

EXTRACTS FROM THE GERMAN PRESS:

The ban has been widely welcomed by most media commentators in Germany - see THE WORLD FROM BERLIN -- Spiegel Online
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,619166,00.html

"The damage that genetically modified crops can cause to the animal and plant worlds - from mutation to reduced biodiversity - is not foreseeable. If nature were a business like Monsanto, with press spokespeople and bags of money for good lawyers, then it would have won the genetic modification case long ago." - Berliner Zeitung

"A minister has no choice; one has to make a decision that is both politically acceptable and realistic... The fact that only water fleas and butterflies have so far been harmed does not refute warnings of unforeseeable consequences. Who knows how many humans will soon have to endure the same fate as those small creatures?" -- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"The first thoroughly Bavarian political reason [for the decision to ban GM]: The farmers in Bavaria oppose genetically modified corn, and so does the CSU”¦ There is a deep mistrust of genetic modification. Germans are prepared to accept every artificial flavor, every preservative or any other dubious ingredient in food - but when it's a question of genetic modification, they want nothing to do with it." - Financial Times Deutschland

"As long as there are any doubts, Germany should follow the example of other EU countries and prevent the cultivation of GM corn - or at least impose a moratorium." - Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Munich)
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4179022,00.html

AND THE VIEW OF THE INDUSTRY:
Lobbyists for the biotechnology industry in Germany described the decision as a setback for science and for the economy. They warned that it would prompt biotechnology companies to relocate to other parts of the world.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/14/germany-gm-crops

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EUROPE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ FRANCE ADOPTS GM-FREE LABELS FOR MEAT AND DAIRY
A new label bearing the words "Nourri sans OGM" (Fed without GMOs) was adoped on 3 April by the Conseil National de la Consommation (CNC), a body attached to the Ministry of consumer affairs. According to a survey by the Efficience 3 Institute, 93% of French people find it abnormal that producers who feed their livestock with GMOs are not obliged to mention this on their produce.
http://www.minefi.gouv.fr/conseilnationalconsommation/presentation.htm

+ TAKE ACTION: STAND UP FOR YOUR RICE!
Most countries have shied away from allowing risky experimentation with rice, the world’s most important staple crop and at present, no GM rice is grown commercially anywhere in the world. But Bayer has genetically manipulated rice to withstand higher doses of a toxic pesticide called glufosinate, which is considered to be so dangerous to humans and the environment that it will soon be banned from Europe.

In the coming weeks, the EU will decide whether or not this GM rice can enter EU countries, appear on supermarket shelves and end up on our dinner plates. If the EU approves the import of Bayer GM rice, farmers in the US and elsewhere may soon start planting the GM crop.

Please sign the petition asking governments to reject Bayer’s GM rice, and to stop GM rice field trials:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/genetic-engineering/hands-off- our-rice/hands-off-our-rice

+ ORGANIC PIONEER FEARS HIS FARM IS THREATENED BY GM STUNT
GM advocate Jonathon Harrington claims to have grown GM maize on his Powys farm and says he and 30 other farmers will do the same this year in defiance of Welsh Assembly Government policy. One of his neighbours, Dr Paul Benham, director of the Centre for Sustainable Food, at the Primrose Earth Awareness Trust, explains why the stunt jeopardizes his farm and his livelihood in an article for the Western Mail.
http://tiny.cc/g8oTn

+ MONTY DON SAYS GM STUNT COULD DAMAGE TRUST IN WELSH FOOD
Commenting on the threatened GM stunt by Jonathon Harrington and others, the organic farmer, TV garden presenter, and president of the Soil Association, Monty Don said, "The real damage of a secret stunt like this is that if repeated it could damage trust in Welsh food and farming more generally." He points out that Harrington breached European law designed to safeguard conventional and organic crops from contamination.
http://tiny.cc/dWhew

+ MACEDONIAN TOWN, VALANDOVO, DECLARED GM-FREE
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/6199/2/

+ UPDATE ON POLISH ANTI-GM HUNGER STRIKE
The two women farmers who went on a hunger strike to draw the government's attention to the dangers of GMOs have ended their hunger strike. Edita had not eaten for 20 days and Danuta 12 days. On the day before they broke their fast, an assistant to the President promised to review their concerns.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOBBYWATCH
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ PROFESSOR BULLSH*T APPOINTED TO COUNCIL OF BBSRC
Professor David Baulcombe has been appointed to the Council of BBSRC, the UK's major public science funding body, by science minister "Lord Smallpox" Drayson, the former head of the Bio-Industry Association. Baulcombe, who's the former head of the Sainbury Laboratory of the John Innes Centre, was the original inspiration for GMWatch's character 'Professor Bullsh*t' because of the falsity of his his claims about GM research.
http://members.tripod.com/~ngin/false.htm
http://members.tripod.com/~ngin/pb.htm
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6366

+ BBSRC/SCIENCE MEDIA CENTRE HOLD MEDIA TRAINING SESSION FOR PLANT SCIENTISTS
The BBSRC has teamed up with the Science Media Centre to hold a media training day on 11 May in London for "plant scientists" (GM scientists).

+ NHS CRITICISES "GM TOMATOES BEAT CANCER" CLAIMS
An article criticizing the hype over the purple GM tomatoes that John Innes scientists claimed can help combat cancer, along with a host of other diseases, has been published in the UK National Health Service magazine NHS Choices. Note that while NHS Choices refers to the dodgy claims made for the tomato in a Daily Express article, the claims actually originated in the John Innes Centre press release i.e. they were not made up by the press.
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2008/10October/Pages/Purpletomatoes.aspx

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
RESEARCH
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ ROUNDUP RESISTANCE COULD MEAN 100% YIELD LOSS
Bill Johnson, a Purdue University associate professor of weed science, is part of a team that surveyed farmers in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska and North Carolina about their views on the ability of GM herbicide tolerant Roundup Ready crops to help control problematic weeds. A paper on the survey was published in the most recent edition of the journal Weed Technology.

The researchers found that farmers who plant Roundup Ready crops and spray Roundup or glyphosate-based herbicides almost exclusively are finding that weeds have developed resistance.

"We have weeds that have developed resistance, including giant ragweed, which is one of the weeds that drove the adoption of Roundup," Johnson said. "It's a pretty major issue in the Eastern Corn Belt. That weed can cause up to 100 percent yield loss."
Abstract on the research in this release is available at:
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2009a/090414JohnsonSurvey.html
Purdue University press release:
http://www.physorg.com/news158944886.html
+ ROUNDUP COULD CAUSE BIRTH DEFECTS NEW STUDY
Roundup, the herbicide used on GM soy Argentina's main crop could cause brain, intestinal and heart defects in fetuses, according to the results of a scientific investigation. "The observed deformations are consistent and systematic," embryology professor Andres Carrasco, one of the study's authors, said. Although the study "used amphibian embryos," the results "are completely comparable to what would happen in the development of a human embryo,” Carrasco said.

The doses of herbicide used in the study "were much lower than the levels used in the fumigations," and so the situation "is much more serious" than the study suggests because "glyphosate does not degrade," Carrasco warned.
http://tiny.cc/CbFSd
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46516
Article in Spanish: http://www.lacapital.com.ar/contenidos/2009/04/14/noticia_0017.html

+ MORE STUDIES SHOWING DAMAGING EFFECTS OF GLYPHOSATE/ROUNDUP
Roundup residues in GM food cause cell damage and even death
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/tx800218n
http://www.gmfreecymru.org/pivotal_papers/crucial11.htm
Roundup residues interfere with multiple metabolic pathways
http://www.gmfreecymru.org/pivotal_papers/crucial5.htm
Effect of glyphosate on growth of four freshwater species of phytoplankton: a microplate bioassay
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19266135
Article: Argentina - Countryside no longer synonymous with health living
The massive use of pesticides on fields of soy is creating a "health catastrophe" in the rural sector. "Thirty years ago, living in the countryside was synonymous with healthy living, but now it is suicidal..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45974

+ ORGANIC AND DIVERSIFIED CROPPING CAN BE MORE PROFITABLE
A new study by University of Wisconsin scientists shows that organic and diversified cropping systems can be more profitable than conventional and monocropping systems.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/asoa-coc040609.php

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CORPORATE CRIMES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ "NO RATIONAL REASON" TO WARN OF PCB DANGERS MONSANTO EMPLOYEE
At a PCBs trial in Birmingham, Alabama, 30-year Monsanto employee William Papageorge said that he and other officials decided "there was no rational reason" for informing residents of Anniston (a town polluted by Monsanto with PCBs) about the PCBs or their effects. During that time, the company tested fish in local creeks and found high levels of PCBs, but opted against telling the people who routinely ate fish from the creeks.
http://www.annistonstar.com/breaking/2009/as-localupdate-0409-0-9d09m0245.htm

+ BAYER WANTS TO HIDE FACTS OF KILLER EXPLOSION
Bayer CropScience has invoked the spectre of terrorism in a bid to limit what information the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board can release at a public hearing into a chemical plant explosion in West Virginia that killed two employees, says a report in the New York Times.

Bayer is claiming that "because it has a dock for barge shipments on the adjacent Kanawha River, its entire 400-acre site qualifies under the 2002 federal Maritime Transportation Security Act”.

It has asked the Coast Guard, which has jurisdiction under the act, to review the public release of 'sensitive security information. Bayer appears to want to limit discussion of the potential hazards of methyl isocyanate, the same chemical made at Bhopal, India.
http://www.prwatch.org/node/8308

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASIA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ GM CORN SEIZED IN PHILIPPINES
The Negros Occidental government has seized P18 million worth of corn seeds found to be GM. The entry of GM plants and animals into Negros Occidental was banned in 2007.
http://tiny.cc/P6WnC

+ COTTON IN MAHARASHTRA
Incisive article by P. Sainath on the predicament of cotton farmers in Maharashtra:
http://blogs.thehindu.com/delhi/?p=18050
More on Indian farm suicides
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=91625§ionid=351020403

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE AMERICAS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ U.S.: MORE CROP PRODUCERS TO PLANT NON-GM SOY THIS YEAR
Cheaper seed and lucrative premiums for non-GM soy are driving more crop producers to plant non-GM soybeans this year, said Jim Beuerlein, an Ohio State University Extension agronomist. Another factor, said Beuerlein, is the ability of farmers to save non-GM seed for planting the next year.
http://tiny.cc/O4jNw
The same move away from GM soy is occurring in Brazil:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/behindTheScenes/idUKTRE52C5AB20090313

+ INCREASE IN AERIAL SPRAYING IN U.S.
Organic farmers say an increase in aerial spraying of pesticides is creating problems for their organic crops because of spray drift. According to one of the farmers, "In my opinion, it's ironic we're seeing such an increase in pesticide use on genetically modified crops supposed to need less pesticides. It's obvious more is being used."
http://www.pjstar.com/business/x551068694/Experts-Few-alternatives-to-aerial-spr aying
GMWatch comment: Prof. Jonathan Jones, head of the Sainsbury Lab at the John Innes Centre, used to tell audiences that GM crops had made the aerial spraying of pesticides unnecessary in the US. During the course of just one public meeting, Prof Jones repeated this claim no less than three times.
http://ngin.tripod.com/pants3.htm

+ ATTACK OF THE SUPERWEEDS
Illinois farmers are preparing for their yearly battle with Roundup-resistant superweeds, reports an article in the Journal Star. The article quotes agronomist Dr Charles Benbrook as saying, "Our research shows that for every acre of Roundup Ready seed applied, two-thirds to three-quarters of a pound more herbicide per acre is used than conventional seed. Farmers are just beginning to deal with a serious resistance problem."

Benbrook also comments on the increasing expense of putting a crop - whether corn or soybeans - in the ground. "You're probably looking at the first $300 bag (for about 50 pounds) of ([GM] corn) seed this year. Farmers that used to spend between $15 and $20 a pound on seed per acre are now spending $100."
http://www.pjstar.com/business/x90676933/Attack-of-the-Superweeds

+ MILK BILL ENDANGERS FOOD SUPPLY
A bill passed the Kansas legislature on April 3, which would restrict any national US dairy from properly labeling their milk products as free from Monsanto’s GM bovine growth hormone (rbGH or rbST). Read Jeffrey Smith’s history of rbGH:
Part 1: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/governor-sebelius-must-ve_b_183838.h tml
Part 2: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/fda-promotes-unsafe-milk_b_184886.ht ml
Part 3:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/monsanto-forced-fox-tv-to_b_186428.h tml

+ MEXICO CITY VOWS TO PROTECT HISTORIC MAIZE VARIETIES
Mexico City has announced that it will take steps to protect more than 60 maize breeds known to grow in its territory, also known as the Mexican Altiplano. The announcement came just days before the Mexican Government said that it would allow the experimental cultivation of GM maize in other parts of the country.
http://tiny.cc/qB8dW

+ SIGN AGAINST GM CORN IN MEXICO
The Network in Defense of Maize (in Mexico) is seeking signatures in support of demanding the stopping of GM maize trials in Mexico, its center of origin. Please sign by 30 April.
http://www.endefensadelmaiz.org

+ GREENPEACE FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST MEXICAN PRESIDENT
Greenpeace says it has filed a criminal complaint against the Mexican president and other Cabinet members for allowing GM corn to be planted for experimental purposes. The organization says it filed the complaint with Mexico's federal Attorney General's office, alleging the government has not set up safeguards to protect the crop's genetic diversity, as Mexican law requires.
http://tiny.cc/eDvsS

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUSTRALASIA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ GM TRIALS BLOCKED IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Moves by the Western Australian (WA) Government to allow large-scale trials of GM canola were thwarted in WA's Upper House, making planting GM canola in WA illegal. But WA Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman has now signed an exemption overturning the vote in the Upper House.
http://www.truefood.org.au/newsandevents/?news=38
http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/state/grains-and-cropping/general/redman-overtu rns-rejection-of-gm-trials/1486017.aspx

+ COMMENT ON MINISTER'S ACTIONS
"The democratic processes available to the population to have their voices heard have been well and truly exhausted in this debate. 27,000 signatures calling for the GM moratorium to continue, 8000 postcards for strict liability to protect non GM farmers, forums, rallies, two government instigated industry reports (one yet to be released), pre election policy promises to not grow GM canola (Nationals) and now a vote in the Upper House all agreeing that this is a technology that WA does not need to experiment with."
http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/state/grains-and-cropping/general/redman-overtu rns-rejection-of-gm-trials/1486017.aspx

+ FIGHTING BACK IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Australia's campaign group MADGE report that the Network of Concerned farmers (NCF) has said that GM trial farmers will receive letters outlining their liabilities should their GM crops spread into other farmers' land.
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2009/04/09/69491_latest-news.html
Julie Newman from the NCF was interviewed about the WA situation on Bush Telegraph listen to it here http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bushtelegraph/
Chittering Shire has banned GM seeds and transport for five years, and Mukinbudin shire has a three year ban. Votes are to take place in other shires soon including Minister Redman's hometown of Denmark. For more information and to become involved please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
More from the mighty MADGE
http://www.madge.org.au/digests.php

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CORPORATE TAKEOVER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

+ WWF ALLIES ITSELF WITH GM INDUSTRY AGAIN
WWF has long claimed to oppose GM technology despite having allied itself with the likes of Monsanto and Syngenta in the Round Table for Responsible Soy. But it has now formed a new alliance with a biotech company, Novozymes, that makes GM enzymes.

Novozymes is part of the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which has the largest market share for GM insulin, as well as being one of the largest GM (and non-GM) enzyme manufacturers. Novozymes’ press release announcing the alliance says it intends "to map how and where low carbon biosolutions can eliminate the first billion tonnes of CO 2 and pave the way to a green economy".

GMWatch comment: There's half a decade of experience in producing natural enzymes that will do many of the same jobs. GM is not needed. And these enzymes will end up in food if used in food production.
http://www.novozymes.com/en/MainStructure/AboutUs/March

+ CORPORATE MONOPOLY OF SCIENCE
Corporations are aiming for an absolute stranglehold on scientific research and the flow of scientific information and that's why patents on GM crops should be abolished, says Prof Peter Saunders in an article for ISIS.
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/corporateMonopolyOfScience.php