GMWatch News Review archive

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GM WATCH MONTHLY REVIEW No. 73
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From Claire Robinson, Monthly Review editor
www.gmwatch.org
http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/GM_Watch:_Portal
Follow GMWatch on Twitter: http://twitter.com/GMWatch

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MONTHLY REVIEW CONTENTS  
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CORPORATE TAKEOVER
GM FAILURES
LOBBYWATCH
ANIMAL FEED LOBBYWATCH
GREENWASH
CONTAMINATION
REST OF THE MONTH'S NEWS IN BRIEF

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CORPORATE TAKEOVER
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+ BLACKLISTED BY MONSANTO
Language interpreter Fred Burks, who has worked for Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, has found out that he has been blacklisted by Monsanto. Burks has written articles and managed a website that have criticized Monsanto.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11539:blacklisted-by-monsanto
http://bit.ly/4tbsP2

+ GM CLIMATE CRAZE SEIZES AFRICAN FOOD
The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has released a report exposing the patents and players involved in appropriating key African food crops to produce GM climate crops. According to the report, biotechnology is being used to identify "climate genes" in African crop plants which are able to withstand the stresses that are likely to become prevalent as the world's climate changes. By patenting genes that can withstand stresses like drought, heat and salinity, corporations are positioning themselves to turn a fat profit.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11547:gm-climate-craze-seizes-african-food
http://bit.ly/1fwqxl

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GM FAILURES
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+ AFRICA HEADS FOR ECOLOGICAL DISASTER
South Africa is heading for ecological and agricultural disaster because of its massive shift to GM and monoculture crops, says Mariam Mayet, director and founder of the African Centre for Biosafety. Mayet says South Africa is a poor steward of Africa's biodiversity: it has granted close to 1600 GM permits since 2003, yet its regulatory, biosafety and administrative capacities lag far behind.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11535:africa-is-heading-for-an-ecological-disaster
http://bit.ly/Kun4F

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ UK: DEBATE ON GM "VITAL"
Consumers will not welcome GM food into their diets until GM technology is proven to benefit them, according to the chairman of the UK Foods Standards Agency, Jeff Rooker. The FSA had embarked on a year-long project to encourage people to have an open debate about GM food, he said. DEFRA secretary Hilary Benn agreed it was vital to have a debate about the viability of GM production. Incidentally, a decade ago Rooker admitted there was no adequate regulatory system in place for GM food and agriculture and there have been no significant improvements in the regulatory process since!
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11545:debate-on-gm-food-vital-says-rooker
http://bit.ly/11CYL8

+ GM WHEAT LOBBY AT IT AGAIN
A group of wheat industry groups is lobbying once again for the commercialisation of GM wheat. GM wheat supporters have gives the example of resistance to the fungus UG99 as the reason for going down the GM route, when the UG99-resistant crops so far produced have been the product of the non-GM biotech approach of MAS, not GM!
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11540:gm-wheat-lobby-at-it-again
http://bit.ly/1XK8U3

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ANIMAL FEED LOBBYWATCH
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+ EU MOVE TO ALLOW TRACES OF UNAPPROVED GMOs IN ANIMAL FEED
EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel is again trying to change EU rules to allow traces of unapproved GMOs in animal feed and she and others are claiming that only allowing more GMOs will increase supplies of scarce feed and lower prices. But according to TraceConsult, the percentage of non-GM soy from the Key European supplier Brazil has actually risen! TraceConsult comments: [These statistics] put into perspective the "professional" predictions of the commodity industry fear mongers and institutionalized pessimists, primarily those from Europe, who have issued annual warnings since the year 2000 that "within one or two seasons, at the most," the availability of GM-free soybeans would come to an end. What a way to be off target: Ten seasons later this market segment is not only still alive but kicking harder than ever before!
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11537:industry-propaganda-on-gm-feed-proven-wrong
http://bit.ly/J93Ko
http://bit.ly/wxWVd

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GREENWASH
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+ CARBON CREDITS FOR GM SOY?
Soy monoculture, which has been strongly criticized due to its negative impacts on rural communities, biodiversity, and human health, will obtain new legitimacy through the Kyoto Protocol, warns the Rural Reflection Group (GRR, Grupo de Reflexion Rural) of Argentina.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11538:carbon-credits-for-gm-soy
http://bit.ly/fc5Ai

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CONTAMINATION
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+ ILLEGAL GM FLAX CREATING HAVOC IN CANADA
Contamination of Canada's flax exports to Europe with the de-registered GM Triffid variety continues to create havoc in the flax market. Flax prices have plummeted just as farmers feared they might when they lobbied to have the variety voluntarily pulled from the market. An article in the Manitoba Co-operator notes, "Alan McHughen, who developed CDC Triffid, gave away small packets of the seed early in the decade ”” a move criticized by the flax industry at the time." Canadian authorities expect to have the results of their own tests this week.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11541:illegal-gm-flax-creating-havoc-in-canada
http://bit.ly/GlAJe

+ GM CONTAMINATION IMPACTS MARKETS WORLDWIDE
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11525:gm-contamination-impacts-grain-exports
http://bit.ly/cdbNY

+ PROF JOE CUMMINS COMMENTS ON GM FLAX
Have there been secret GM trials in Canada or is the GM flax researcher talking nonsense?
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/11543-re-illegal-gm-flax-creating-havoc-in-canada
http://bit.ly/WK86c

+ TRIFFID: A HISTORY
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11507:re-illegal-gm-contaminates-flax
http://tiny.cc/QFmUc

+ ILLEGAL GM FLAX IN 16 COUNTRIES
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/11548-illegal-triffid-flax-now-in-16-countries
http://bit.ly/12r5Ny

+ UK FAILS TO RESPOND TO GM CONTAMINATION OF FLAX
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11496:illegal-gm-contaminates-flax-uk-fails-to-respond
http://tiny.cc/nBTuk

+ ILLEGAL FLAX PROBABLY SOLD IN EU FOR YEARS
A report in the German news source Sueddeutsche.de says the illegal GM flax was probably sold in the EU for years but went undetected because no test for it had been developed until now. Report in German
http://bit.ly/16tU42

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RESISTANCE
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+ INDIA: BIG ANTI-GM FARMERS PROTEST
There was a big anti-GM rally by farmers at Jabalpur, one of the largest cities in the State of Madhya Pradesh, calling for the state to go GM-free and stop GM crop trials. Farmers' leader Ishwar Tripathi told the crowd that "agriculture and seeds have become the medium to enslave Indian farmers and we should resist this at all costs".
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11550:farmers-in-big-protest-rally-in-india
http://bit.ly/bobMM
Pictures
http://twitpic.com/jttbe
http://twitpic.com/jtsf6

+ INDIA: PROTESTERS BURN EFFIGY OF GM PROMOTER
In another protest demanding an end to trials of all GM crops in the state in general and in Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in particular, a group of consumers, students and activists burned an effigy of GM foods promoter and Punjab Agricultural University vice-chancellor Dr MS Kang instead of that of the demon Ravana, as is the Hindu custom. PAU reported that at the time of the protest Dr Kang was away on an official trip to the USA (perhaps partying in Monsanto’s home town of St Louis?).
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11542:protesters-burn-effigy-of-gm-promoter
http://bit.ly/zvzlx

+ HEFTY EU FINES OVER GM EMBARGO
Cyprus risks a hefty fine from the European Union over its embargo on biofuel produced from GMOs. The Cypriot law on the promotion of biofuels and other renewable fuel, passed in 2005 to bring the island in line with EU legislation contains a clause banning the supply and sale of biofuels made from GM plants. MPs said the decision to keep the clause was conscious and unanimous in a bid to keep Cyprus GMO free.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11536:hefty-eu-fines-over-gmo-embargo
http://bit.ly/4B1axx

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REST OF THE MONTH'S NEWS IN BRIEF
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For those who do not receive our Weekly Watch.

+ SCIENTIST VILIFIED FOR PUBLISHING PAPER SHOWING BT HARMS CADDIS FLIES
Emma Rosi-Marshall, the scientist who published a paper showing that Bt maize residues washing into streams produce reduced growth rates and high mortality in caddis flies, has been subjected to a hail of abuse from the pro-GM brigade, says an article in Nature.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11463:the-intimidation-of-researchers-whose-papers-suggest-concerns-about-gm
http://tiny.cc/ejnV1

+ WHY DID MONSANTO'S SMARTSTAX GET FREE PASS INTO CANADA?
Health Canada has begun permitting GM foods onto the market without any health safety assessment, reports Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11490:why-did-smartstax-get-free-pass-into-canada
http://tiny.cc/0v15n

+ STAND UP FOR YOUR RICE!
In just a few weeks, the European Union will decide whether Bayer’s 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 it. Sign petition asking governments around the world to protect consumers and farmers, their crops and fields by rejecting 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

+ PAKISTAN: FARMERS PROTEST AGAINST MONSANTO'S GM TRIALS
This August, thousands of farmers mobilized in a series of rallies across the Sindh and Punjab provinces of southern and central Pakistan to voice their concern about the government's decision to allow Monsanto to start Bt cotton trials in the country.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11510:farmers-in-pakistan-protest-against-monsantos-gm-trials
http://tiny.cc/szWdq

+ HungerFREE CAMPAIGN
The development charity ActionAid Pakistan supported the farmers' protests in Pakistan (see above). Please support ActionAid's HungerFREE Campaign, demanding urgent action on the major causes of hunger - and offering solid solutions. ActionAid says, "GM is NOT the answer to hunger."
http://bit.ly/QKUwD
You can also join the campaign on Facebook
http://bit.ly/2ObmCz

+ BIG ANTI-GM PROTEST IN GERMANY
Thousands of protesters took to the streets against GM on September 13, in the southern German town of Ulm.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11495:big-anti-gm-protest-in-germany
http://tiny.cc/rkC83

+ GM WHISTLEBLOWER ON TRIAL IN GERMANY
A well known critic of GM in Germany and a whistleblower on the corruption and sleaze surrounding its introduction there is facing two major court cases and a possible prison sentence.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11523:gm-whistleblower-on-trial-in-germany
http://bit.ly/ayZxF

+ GERMAN BEEKEEPER RELEASED FROM PRISON
German beekeeper Michael Grolm was Germany's first 'field liberator' who went to prison for his actions. He was subsequently released on appeal. But this autumn, he might have to face prison again after he pulled up GM corn plants.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11527:german-beekeeper-released-from-prison
http://bit.ly/6CSor


+ UK: SUPERMARKETS IN SECRET TALKS TO INTRODUCE GM FOODS?
According to a report in the Daily Mail, the big supermarkets have held secret talks to pave the way for the introduction of controversial GM crops on to their shelves. "Industry sources" are quoted as saying that all the major supermarkets were involved except Waitrose.
GMWatch comment: It would be interesting to know who the "industry sources" for this story actually are as it follows on so neatly from the recent flurry of biotech industry propaganda in the UK media, and all the UK supermarkets deny they're aiming to change their non-GM policies.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11442:pefect-storm-of-media-spin
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11457:supermarkets-in-qsecret-talks-to-introduce-gm-foodsq
http://tiny.cc/DLqGl

+ BARROSO BACKS NATIONAL GM BANS
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has declared himself open to the possibility of member states ruling on their own GMO cultivation policy.
GMWatch comment: There's almost certainly a massive catch here - an attempted trade-off of allowing national bans in return for speeding up approvals within the EU, i.e. "You'll be allowed a national opt out, but only if you agree to a system that delivers rapid approvals first."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11504:barroso-backs-national-gm-bans
http://tiny.cc/FXFfj

+ "THE LEGEND PASSES ON"
With the death of Norman Borlaug, "the father of the Green Revolution", the GM lobby has gone into inevitable overdrive.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11494:qthe-legend-passes-onq
http://tiny.cc/WLHaX
Borlaug's GMWatch SpinProfile: http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Norman_Borlaug

+ BORLAUG'S FARMING METHODS THREATEN HEALTH OF PLANET
Borlaug intended his methods to be used for the benefit of people across the planet. Instead they were seized on by industrial countries with the wealth to pay for expensive seeds and fertilisers. http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11499:green-revolution-wasnt-green-enough
http://tiny.cc/imzbf

+ THE AGRICHEMICAL REVOLUTIONARY
Borlaug was innocent of politics and focused narrowly on a single aspect of crop production: yield, creating huge problems in the process, says Tom Philpott in a superb article for GRIST.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11509:the-agrichemical-revolutionary
http://tiny.cc/wFf72

+ U.S.: MORE MONSANTO MEN JOIN OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
ROGER BEACHY: A former Monsanto Vice President is to serve as the first director of a new federal agricultural research agency. Roger Beachy, founding President of the heavily Monsanto-funded Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St Louis, will head the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), a U.S. Department of Agriculture body which "will award competitive grants to fund research and technological innovations".
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11531:more-monsanto-men-joining-obama-administration
http://bit.ly/PV8UI
More on Beachy: http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/10452-more-on-gates-foundation-tie-up-with-monsanto-front
http://bit.ly/u86bE
ISLAM SIDDIQUI: Islam A. Siddiqui, a Vice President with the agchem and biotech lobby group CropLife America is a nominee for Chief Agricultural Negotiator, who works through the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to promote US crops and agricultural products abroad.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11531:more-monsanto-men-joining-obama-administration
http://bit.ly/PV8UI

+ MONSANTO PLACE-MEN AT GATES FOUNDATION
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/10452-more-on-gates-foundation-tie-up-with-monsanto-front
http://bit.ly/u86bE

+ WHEN EVERY MOUTHFUL IS A HEALTH RISK
A remarkably detailed review of Jeffrey Smith's books about the known dangers of GM foods, has been published in India's Business Standard.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11533:when-every-mouthful-is-a-health-risk
http://bit.ly/wsq1y

+ RISKS OF GLYPHOSATE
Excellent new summary of health and environmental hazards of glyphosate (pdf)
http://bit.ly/4wIfJx

+ GM TARO BAN WINS INITIAL APPROVAL
A bill prohibiting GM taro (taro is a traditional and sacred food plant) in Maui, Hawaii, has received initial approval from the Maui County Council.
http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/523846.html?nav=10

+ U.S.: JUDGE REJECTS APPROVAL OF GM SUGAR BEETS
A federal judge has ruled that the government failed to adequately assess the environmental impacts of GM sugar beets before approving the crop for cultivation in the United States. The decision could lead to a ban on the planting of the beets, which have been widely adopted by farmers.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11529:judge-rejects-approval-of-gm-sugar-beets
http://bit.ly/ORsVn

+ U.S.: ROUNDUP RESISTANT WEEDS THREATEN NO-TILL
As Roundup Ready crops are planted on more and more acreage, weeds are becoming increasingly tolerant to Roundup (glyphosate). Now, the problem has become so acute in some areas of the South that growers are warning about the loss of no-till acreage.
GMWatch comment: The biotech industry has long claimed that its Roundup Ready GM crops are environmentally friendly because they enable farmers to follow the no-till method. That means they simply douse weeds with Roundup rather than ploughing (tilling), a practice that can erode soil. These claims are made in spite of evidence from the USDA that GM herbicide-tolerant seed has not affected no-till adoption. Now it seems that even this false claim of environmental friendliness has been destroyed.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11516:roundup-resistance-threatens-no-till
http://bit.ly/4J1nb

+ SWINE FLU IN YOUR CORN, ANYONE?
Iowa State University researchers are genetically engineering flu vaccines into corn, in the hope of allowing pigs and humans to get flu vaccinations by eating corn.
http://bit.ly/20bKh4
Read about just a few of the problems with swine flu vaccines at http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Swine_Flu

+ RESEARCH VERIFIES ORGANIC NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS
A new report by the French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA) has found that organic foods are more nutritious and contain less pesticides and nitrates, which have been linked to a range of health problems including diabetes and Alzheimer's. Shane Heaton, Nutritionist for the Biological Farmers of Australia, says, "This review does the question justice by comparing not just a handful of nutrients but also dry matter content, antioxidant content, pesticide levels, and nitrate content. Organic wins out over ordinary food in every respect."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11493:new-research-points-to-organic-benefits
http://tiny.cc/CguCs
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11467:french-report-contradicts-fsa-organic-study
http://tiny.cc/F0SXp

+ FUTURE OF VEG IS NON-GM
Despite dominating global vegetable seeds, Monsanto is mostly not investing in GM varieties. http://bit.ly/4FLPTC

+ INVESTOR SITE PREDICTS SHARE PRICE TUMBLE FOR MONSANTO
http://bit.ly/ltvx9

+ DOG CLONING COMPANY QUITS
US-based biotechnology company BioArts has stopped selling dog clones. Reasons given by company CEO Lou Hawthorne include:
***Efficiency rates varied unpredictably and were generally low.
***The kennels were frequently infected by various diseases.
***One clone had greenish-yellow fur where it should have been white.
***Others had "skeletal malformations, generally not crippling though sometimes serious and always worrisome."
***One clone of a male was born female.
http://www.biopoliticaltimes.org/article.php?id=4924