GMWatch News Review archive

GMWATCH MONTHLY REVIEW No. 92

As usual, the first part of the Monthly Review covers all the latest news while the second part covers some of the most important stories from the rest of the last month's news.

Claire Robinson, Monthly Review editor
Website: http//www.gmwatch.org
Profiles: http://bit.ly/12UAI2
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GMWatch
Facebook: http://bit.ly/c6OnaX

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CONTENTS  
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LATEST NEWS:
* GM FAILURES
* REGULATORY BREAKDOWN
* GM/ROUNDUP/PESTICIDES RISKS LATEST
* LOBBYWATCH
* RESISTANCE
* GM EXPANSIONS/APPROVALS
* HUMAN GENETICS

REST OF THE MONTH'S NEW IN BRIEF:
* GM FAILURES
* GM EXPANSIONS/APPROVALS
* RESEARCH
* SUPERWEEDS
* RESISTANCE
* LOBBYWATCH
* VIDEOS OF THE MONTH

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LATEST NEWS
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GM FAILURES
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+ BENEFITS OF BT COTTON ELUDE FARMERS IN CHINA
According to a study published in the journal Environmental Management and Change, a substantial number of farmers in three-cotton producing regions in China have reported that secondary pests have increased since they adopted the use of Bt cotton which is genetically engineered to resist pests such as the bollworm. This is consistent with the scientific literature, which posits that secondary pests are likely to increase over time.                   

The study also found that the reduction of pesticides use has been lower than reported elsewhere, suggesting that more pesticides are needed to combat emerging secondary pests. Thus, the benefit of growing Bt cotton to reduce pesticides use diminishes in the longer term.

The study also debunks the myth that Bt cotton produces higher yields compared to conventional cotton. About a quarter of the farmers reported a lower productivity of Bt cotton versus conventional varieties. In addition, about 60% of the farmers surveyed found that overall production costs have not decreased due to higher prices of Bt cotton seed.
The study: http://www.springerlink.com/content/rj34j3v323423086/
Other studies and reports confirming findings of this recent one:
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13089

+ PESTICIDE USE IN BRAZIL CONTINUES TO GROW
Brazil maintains its ranking as the world's largest consumer of pesticides, first attained in 2008. According to data from the Union of Agrochemical Industries (Sindag), 986,500 tons of pesticides were consumed in 2008 and more than a million tons in 2009 (equivalent to 5.2 kg of agrochemical products per Brazilian per year). Because of negative publicity about the health effects of pesticide spraying, this year Sindag published no data on the volume of pesticides sold in 2010, though it said that this value represented an 9% increase over the previous year.

GM herbicide-resistant crops are the main cause of this pesticide dependence, according to civil society groups mobilizing against the issue. Things are getting worse, as firms are producing crops that tolerate more and different types of herbicide in an attempt to get around the problem of glyphosate-resistant weeds.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13072

+ GM RED APPLE PIPPED AT THE POST
Scientists working on a GM red-fleshed apple have been pipped to the post by the commercial launch of the non-GM RedLove variety of apple.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13116

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REGULATORY BREAKDOWN
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+ U.S.: USDA PLANS TO LET GM INDUSTRY POLICE ITSELF
The USDA plans to allow GM firms to conduct their own environmental assessment of GM crops or pay contractors to perform the analysis. Currently, officials at USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service are responsible for the analysis. By allowing biotech developers to conduct their own environmental assessments, the process becomes subject to conflicts of interest, said Bill Freese, science policy analyst for the Center For Food Safety. "It's like asking BP to write an assessment of an offshore drilling operation," he said.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13071
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13106
GMW comment: USDA's move makes official a practice that has been the undeclared reality of GMO regulation for years: http://bit.ly/du2NdC
If you're in the US, please take action to stop corruption being written into law (email letter is quick and easy to send):
http://ow.ly/4Lu4h

+ INDIA: BT BRINJAL PANEL RIDDLED WITH CONFLICTING INTERESTS MADHYA PRADESH SAYS NO TO GM CROPS
A meeting has taken place between India's GM regulatory body GEAC and an expert panel, to decide whether to approve Bt brinjal (eggplant/aubergine) for commercialisation. Civil society groups point out that at least five members of this expert panel are directly involved in GM crop development, with one more 'expert' associated with an institution involved in GM crop development (ICGEB) until fairly recently. The most astonishing fact is that there is one member who is from an organisation supported by Mahyco, Monsanto's partner in India, the biosafety of whose Bt brinjal is being discussed by the committee. Not surprisingly, Mahyco is reported to be "confident" that its Bt brinjal will get approval.

No decision was taken at the meeting. But the state of Madhya Pradesh has already made known its feelings. In a letter to the central government's environment minister, it announced that it would not allow field trials or releases of any GM crop until the global debate on the issue was settled and there was clear evidence of safety.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13099
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13103
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/13109

+ EUROPE: DALLI'S GM REPORT MISSES ALL MAIN POINTS
A working document prepared by EU Commissioner John Dalli on the socio-economic impacts of cultivating GM crops in Europe fails to cover many important negative impacts of GM cultivation and does not to meet Member States' demand for a full review, according to analysis by GM Freeze and Friends of the Earth Europe. The organisations are calling on Members States to reject Dalli's document.

The Commissioner's report fails to mention any negative impacts of GM crops and instead concentrates on the potential for GM insect resistant maize to increase yield. The analysis of higher yield is based on just one province in Spain (Zaragosa) where GM maize is grown, but fails to point out that in the whole Aragon region there has been a 32% net reduction in GM hectares in the last three years, suggesting that farmers were not convinced of the value of planting Bt crops.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13117

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GM/ROUNDUP/PESTICIDES RISKS LATEST
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+ GM SOY: THE INVISIBLE INGREDIENT POISONING CHILDREN IN PARAGUAY
A good article has appeared in the UK mainstream press about the appalling public health crisis caused by GM soy and pesticide spraying in Paraguay:
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/13112

+ PESTICIDES SUSPECTED IN ANIMAL MALFORMATIONS
An interesting US mainstream press article takes in the research of Prof Andres Carrasco, which found glyphosate and Roundup (used on Roundup Ready GM crops) cause birth defects at very low doses, and new research that found links between pesticides and reduced semen quality. The article considers possible links between pesticides and birth defects in wild animals and domestic livestock.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13093

+ DAMNING NEW EVIDENCE ABOUT ROUNDUP'S SAFETY BEING SILENCED?
Another good article has been published about the apparent discovery by Dr Don Huber of a pathogenic organism that appears in high concentrations in GM Roundup Ready corn and soybeans and appears to impact the health of plants, animals, and possibly humans. There's long been debate about exactly what the active substance is in Roundup that kills plants. Huber says evidence began to emerge in the 1980s that "what glyphosate does is, essentially, give a plant AIDS." Just like AIDS, which cripples a human's immune system, glyphosate makes plants unable to mount a defense against pathogens in the soil. Without its defense mechanisms functioning, the plants succumb to pathogens in the soil and die.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13101

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ U.S.: MONSANTO HELPED FUND ANTI-WHISTLEBLOWER BILL
Monsanto is helping to fund Iowa's proposed anti-whistleblower bill - a bill focused primarily on agriculture, says Sarah Damian of the Government Accountability Project. Should the bill pass, it will become illegal to produce undercover videos at various types of agricultural facilities (as well as to get a job at a facility with the express intent of producing a video). It seems Monsanto has more facilities in Iowa than in any other state in the country, with more than 25 offices. The company is heavily invested in the bill's outcome because "crop operations" are also covered, which would apply to Monsanto's seed houses, pesticide manufacturing plants and research facilities throughout Iowa.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13082

+ U.S.: MONSANTO-TIED SCIENTIST QUITS USDA RESEARCH POST
Roger Beachy, head of National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the main research arm of the USDA, has officially resigned his post, effective May 20. Beachy has hotly promoted GMOs and thundered against organic. According to the USDA's internal announcement, he quit to "spend more time with his wife, his children, and his grandchildren" in St Louis. Be that as it may, Beachy's exit coincides with news that NIFA's budget outlook has darkened considerably.
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/13107

+ GMO SAFETY, GMO COMPASS AND BIOTECH PR
You may have come across GM-related websites or social media projects that claim to be all about publicly funded science communication, without realising they were being run by Genius, a biotech PR firm with a client base that's included the likes of BASF, Bayer, DuPont and Syngenta, not to mention the American Soybean Association and the biotech industry lobby group EuropaBio. Genius is even a member of the Biotechnology Industry Organisation.
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/13110

+ AUSTRALIA: MONSANTO PROMO ON CHILDREN'S TV
The Australian Government's ABC3 TV Kids 'News' show has been feeding pro-GM propaganda to Australian children. Quote from the show: "Imagine eating CHOCOLATE that's as healthy as a banana... or a HAMBURGER without any FAT... Thanks to GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD... that might one day be possible... This is the AMERICAN city of ST LOUIS... It's famous for being a world leader in genetically modified food. It's where a company called MONSANTO... is hard at work trying to make our FOOD more nutritious."
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13091

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RESISTANCE
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+ SWEDEN WILL SOON BE GM-FREE!
News has reached us of a great victory for consumers in Sweden: From 1 May, GM grain will no longer be imported into Sweden, either for the food or feed supply chains, leaving Sweden completely GM-free bar some imported foods and some BASF (non-food) GM potatoes. Key to the victory was a consumer campaign boycotting products from GM-fed animals. Well done Sweden!
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13102

+ EU FARM CHIEF SLAMS GM FOOD
EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos says he strongly favours traditional agriculture that produces quality food, diverse diets and natural biodiversity, requirements that GM crops cannot satisfy. Ciolos stressed that his opinion was personal and recalled that within the European Commission, the person in charge of GM dossiers was his colleague John Dalli, the commissioner for health and consumer protection. The EU farm chief insisted that European agriculture cannot be based on cheap products whatever the cost, citing the risk of mounting consumer distrust.
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/13115

+ AUSTRALIA: PREMIUM FOR NON-GM CANOLA SET TO CONTINUE
The premium for non-GM canola looks set to continue at least into next season. Tom Puddy, from Western Australia's largest grain handler, CBH, says European demand for sustainable canola means the non-GM price is likely to remain $30-$40 higher than that of GM canola. "It really comes down to customer preference to have a non-GM product in the food chain," he said.
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/13114

+ FRAN MURRELL - IS GM FOOD SAFE?
An interesting interview with Fran Murrell, founder of the Australian campaign group MADGE (Mothers Are Demystifying Genetic Engineering), has been published in The Australian. Telling quote from Fran: "Our opponents can't defeat us in the world of evidence, science or argument we've done the research so they just ignore us. We've rung up scientists who support GM and ask them whether they've read the safety data and many of them haven't. But I don't want scientists to tag themselves as pro-GM or anti-GM. If scientists are worth their salt, they are looking at the evidence."
http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/13108
To find out more about the mighty MADGE or to subscribe to their brilliant newsletter: http://www.madge.org.au/

+ TANZANIA: OPPOSITION TO GMOs GROWING
Activists in Tanzania are opposing the GM package that is being aggressively promoted in the country by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and by the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor (SAGC) in southern Tanzania. Some of the largest corporate agribusinesses in the world are partners in the SAGC, including Unilever, Yara International, Dupont, Stanbic Bank, Monstanto, SAB Miller, Diageo, Syngenta and General Mills.

The activists say such companies are investing in Tanzania to profit from export of food and biofuels, whose prices have skyrocketed on the world market, and not to provide food security or employment for Tanzanians.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13111

+ NEW WEBSITE AGAINST GMOs FOR TANZANIA
The Tanzania Alliance for Biodiversity, "an alliance of civil society and private sector organizations concerned with the conservation of agricultural biodiversity for livelihood security and food sovereignty", has launched a new website - http://envaya.org/TABIO - And a Facebook page: http://j.mp/k4JB7R

+ NIGERIA BIOSAFETY BILL MAY FAIL
A four-year effort by GM advocates to get a biosafety bill enacted in Nigeria may be in vain if the country's upper house fails to pass it before its tenure ends next month. If the bill passes, GM companies could do business in Nigeria. But Environmental Rights Action (ERA), a Nigerian advocacy group, said, "Nigerians are yet to understand and adequately contribute to the bill. We suggest it is stopped in its tracks. The eagerness to get the bill passed is coming from biotech industry allies in this country."
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13105

+ CIVIL SOCIETY IN PERU REJECTS APPROVAL OF BIOSAFETY REGULATION
Different sectors of the civil society in Peru, including several of the most important groups of farmers, scientists and chefs of Peru have formed a coalition to combat the recent authorization by the Government for the entry of GM seeds into the country. The coalition was launched at the headquarters of the National Convention of Peruvian Agriculture (Conveagro), announcing the start of several actions to "ensure respect for the rights to food sovereignty and security is obtained through biodiversity, agriculture and Peruvian cuisine."

The demands of the coalition, which include a moratorium on the release of GMOs in Peru, are supported by international organizations and networks such as the Andean Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations, the GE Free Latin America network, and doctors from pesticide-sprayed villages.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13113

+ PERU'S CAPITAL CITY LIMA TO GO GM-FREE
The city of Lima plans to declare the Peruvian capital a "GMO-free zone" after a controversial government decree that critics fear will see the country flooded with GMOs. Several municipalities in addition to Lima, as well as agricultural groups, agronomists and doctors have denounced the decree, which was published earlier this month.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13104

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GM EXPANSIONS/APPROVALS
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+ "GM SEED FACTORY" OPENS IN SOUTH AFRICA
GM seed producer Monsanto has opened what is believed to be Africa's largest maize seed processing plant, in Lichtenburg, South Africa. Monsanto in SA exports about 300000 10kg bags of GM seeds, with 35000 kernels each, to Europe, the Philippines and Egypt.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13105

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HUMAN GENETICS
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+ THE FAILURE OF THE GENOME
Faulty genes rarely cause or even mildly predispose us to disease, and as a consequence the science of human genetics is in deep crisis, writes Jonathan Latham, executive director of the Bioscience Resource Project. He asks, if inherited genes are not to blame for our commonest illnesses, can we find out what is? GMW comment: The answer, naturally, is environmental factors and their interaction with the genome - a vital element that is all but ignored by policy makers because paying attention to it would require facing up to polluting corporations and getting harmful contaminants out of the food chain.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13074

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REST OF THE MONTH'S NEWS IN BRIEF
For those who do not receive GMWatch Reviews
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GM FAILURES
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+ U.S.: PLANT DISEASE RAISES QUESTIONS ON GM CROPS
A disease called sudden death syndrome has infested up to half of Iowa's fields planted with GM glyphosate-tolerant soy, according to an expert at Iowa State University. The symptoms are that the plants turn yellow and die after being sprayed with glyphosate. One suspected culprit is being investigated by Don M. Huber, an emeritus professor at Purdue University who has done research for Monsanto on chemical herbicides. Huber says he's found the link between GM crops and crop diseases and infertility in livestock. Article on this in the LA Times:
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13033

+ U.S.: GM LEAK CONTINUES TO COST
The GM industry may not have lived up to its promise to feed the world, but it's certainly feeding a lot of lawyers as a result of contamination events, writes Glen Tyler in a blog for Greenpeace. Recently, Riceland Foods was awarded US$136.8 million in damages in its case against Bayer. Bayer had contaminated the US rice supply in 2006 with an unapproved GM variety, destroying export markets.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13061

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GM EXPANSIONS/APPROVALS
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+ MONSANTO USES FOOD CRISIS TO PUSH GM CORN IN MEXICO
Monsanto has turned the drop in international corn reserves and the havoc wreaked on Mexican corn production by an unexpected cold snap into an argument for speeding up commercial planting of its GM corn in Mexico. Monsanto says its modified seeds are the only solution to scarcity and rising grain prices.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13050

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RESEARCH
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+ BT TOXIN FOUND IN BLOOD OF PREGNANT WOMEN AND FOETUSES
CryAb1 toxin, the insecticidal toxin in GM Bt crops, has been detected in pregnant women, their foetuses, and non-pregnant women in Canada, according to a new study. This is the first study to reveal the presence of circulating pesticides associated with GM foods in pregnant and non-pregnant women. CryAb1 toxin is found in the most common GM corn - Monsanto's Bt MON810. Global production of Bt corn takes place on many millions of hectares worldwide and many different types of foods contain Bt corn. Seven EU countries - Austria, Hungary, Greece, France, Luxembourg, Germany and Bulgaria - have banned MON810. Incidentally, the study also found that non-pregnant women had glyphosate and glufosinate (pesticides used with GM crops) in their blood.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13047

+ AGROCHEMICALS FOUND IN MOTHERS' MILK IN SOY-PRODUCING AREA OF BRAZIL
A study revealed that 62 samples of mothers' milk in the soy-producing state of Mato Grosso in Brazil were all contaminated with agrochemicals. Six substances were found in the samples of mothers' milk. One of these has been forbidden in Brazil for ten years. Prof Wanderlei Antonio Pignati, who is coordinating the study, says there is no legislation that establishes limits for agrochemicals in mothers' milk, only for cows' milk. The study revealed that some of the residues were above the limit allowed, even for cows' milk. In 2009, 140 ha of corn and soy were planted and 5.62 million liters of agrochemicals were used.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13039
The lead researcher, Prof Wanderlei Pignati of the Federal University of Mato Grosso, speaks in an interview about the problems caused in Brazil by GM soy. Interview in Portuguese:
http://bit.ly/ejWKzZ

+ NEW STUDY SHOWS GM CONTAMINATION OF MAIZE IN URUGUAY
A new study shows that GM maize has cross-fertilized with non-GM maize in Uruguay.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13049

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SUPERWEEDS
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+ HERBICIDE-RESISTANT WEEDS IN IOWA...
Herbicide resistant weed problems in Iowa are getting worse, says Iowa State University Extension weed scientist Mike Owen, and most notably with glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. "Anything that is suggested to be simple and convenient (herbicide, crop trait, whatever) will inevitably fail and cost you yield potential."
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13055

+ ... AND ARGENTINA
A 2009 article published in Geoforum examines glyphosate resistant johnsongrass, a weed that is affecting GM soybean fields in northern Argentina. The article describes the geographical advance of the invasion beyond the Pampas. It says that no preventive strategies are deployed against the invasion of johnsongrass. Instead, the reactive measures are based on "gene-stacking" that allows the use of still more glyphosate or new combinations of herbicides, thus combining the pesticide treadmill with a "transgenic treadmill".
http://gmwatch.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13055

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RESISTANCE
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+ EUROPE STEPS CLOSER TO REAL POWERS TO BAN GM CROPS
A weak proposal to give European countries the right to ban the cultivation of GM crops has been strengthened by the leading European Parliament committee. The European Commission previously said it was willing to give countries the right to ban GM crops only if these bans are based on a limited number of reasons. These include cultural and moral arguments, which EU lawyers argue are too weak to be legally robust. Now the environment committee has voted to include grounds related to potential environmental impacts of GM crops. Greenpeace argues that these grounds are crucial if national bans are to be legally robust.
http://www.gmwatch.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13054

+ CYPRUS: SEPARATE SHELVES FOR GM FOODS NOW LAW
In a success for Cypriot democracy, a bill has been passed making it compulsory to display GM foods on separate shelves in shops and supermarkets.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13044
http://gmwatch.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13060

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ U.S. EMBASSIES USED ROMANIA AS TROJAN HORSE TO FORCE GMOs INTO EUROPE - WIKILEAKS
New WikiLeaks cables show that the US tried to use Romania as a wedge to relax European policies regarding GM crops. Romanian politicians played a duplicitous role. A "GMO trust-inducing program" was even set up to encourage the media to put out "positive messages" on GMOs. A cable sent in 2005, signed by Thomas Delare, deputy of ambassador Jack Dyer Crouch, stated: "A unique case in the region, Romania is a pioneer in biotechnology, it cultivates and promotes genetically modified soy, prohibited in the EU. The objective of the embassy is to help Romania enter the EU with a well-developed biotechnology sector and an educated population which understands the merits of biotechnology. Intensifying its efforts in Romania, the US will have a strong European ally, with common interests and beliefs in fighting against the anti-GMO position of the EU."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13040

+ DEAD PEOPLE ASTROTURFING FOR MONSANTO
An article in the New York Times describes how the US's Tea Party movement is being manipulated to support big business issues by the likes of Andrew Langer, head of the Institute for Liberty - a conservative astroturf (fake grassroots) group that has cosied up to tea party supporters to advance causes for corporate interests. Langer freely admits to the NYT that various undisclosed interest groups have given him money to push Tea Party activists on certain issues. The NYT also discovered the Institute had used the names of dead people on a "grassroots" petition it sent to the US Dept of Agriculture supporting Monsanto's efforts to relax restrictions on its herbicide-resistant GM alfalfa. This astroturfing for Monsanto was undertaken in conjunction with the Competitive Enterprise Institute. CEI, where Langer used to work, has long been an aggressive lobbyist for GM and has had Monsanto among its backers. Read on:
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13042

+ CONFLICTS OF INTEREST RIFE WITH EUROPE'S REGULATORS - REPORT
Some of Europe's pesticide and food safety regulators have serious conflicts of interest and are too close to the industry they are supposed to police, according to a new report. In March it emerged that Angelo Moretto had resigned from the European Food Safety Authority's PPR Panel, which assesses the safety of pesticides, following revelations of a conflict of interest. Moretto allegedly failed to declare an interest in a consultancy company, Melete Srl., founded to support companies needing to comply with the EU's REACH regulation on chemical safety.

The new report, "Europe's pesticide and food safety regulators "Who do they work for?" reveals that Moretto's conflict of interest regarding Melete is only the tip of the iceberg. Moretto is just one of several EFSA scientific experts with close links to the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), a US-based organization funded by multinational pesticide, chemical, GM seed, and food companies. ILSI backers include ADM, BASF, Bayer, Cargill, DuPont, Kraft, Mars, Monsanto, Syngenta, and Unilever.
http://www.gmwatch.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13043
Download report: http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/File:Eu_pesticidefoodsafety.pdf

+ FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR DISASTER BROUGHT TO YOU BY SENSE ABOUT SCIENCE FUNDER'S PARENT COMPANY
The corporate crimes of GE Healthcare and its parent company, GE Electric, are the subject of a recently published article by Dr Martin Donohoe and GMWatch's Claire Robinson. General Electric supplied reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan that are involved in the current nuclear catastrophe. Even after one reactor exploded, GE defended the reactors it supplied to Japan, saying the containment system was safe and reliable. GE's subsidiary, GE Healthcare, has funded the UK pro-nuclear and pro-GM lobby group, Sense About Science. SAS has produced information leaflets and articles that downplay the risks of radiation from nuclear power plants and of chemical pollutants. There is considerable overlap between SAS's messages and its funder GE's role in supplying nuclear power plants, petrochemicals, agrochemicals, and industrial gases.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13028

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VIDEOS OF THE MONTH
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+ BAD SEED: THE DANGEROUS TRUTH ABOUT OUR FOOD
A selection of intellectual greats - Fritjof Capra, Paul Hawken, and Vandana Shiva - explain the biotech companies' agenda of controlling the food supply and why it's a recipe for worldwide famine.
http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-videosb/24-corporate-takeover/13057

+ FIGHTING GM CONTAMINATION IN MEXICO
Silvia Ribeiro (ETC Group, Mexico) talks about fighting GM contamination of Mexican maize (corn).
http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-videosb/25-contamination/11730

+ A SLICE OF LIFE: GM WHEAT
Who wants GM wheat? Only Monsanto.
http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-videosb/22-gm-and-agriculture/13080

+ FOOD INC.: WHO CONTROLS OUR FOOD?
This documentary shows Monsanto's ruthless strategy to take over global food production and how the company is protected by governments. The film asks: who controls whom? Do governments control the companies or vice versa? Or are they just good friends, working together for the good of mankind?
http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-videosb/22-gm-and-agriculture/13059