GMWatch News Review archive

GMWatch Monthly Review No. 94  

From 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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VIDEO OF THE MONTH
LATEST NEWS:
*LOBBYWATCH
*NON-GM SUCCESSES
*GLYPHOSATE/BIRTH DEFECTS REPORT LATEST
*GM APPLICATIONS / EXPANSIONS
*RESISTANCE
*RESEARCH
REST OF THE MONTH'S NEW IN BRIEF

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VIDEO OF THE MONTH
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+ FARMER TO FARMER - US FARMERS TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT GM CROPS
British farmer Michael Hart investigates the reality of farming GM crops in the USA 10 years after their introduction. A story emerges of
*glyphosate-resistant weeds that have to be hand-weeded
*Monsanto patents on tank mixes of herbicides
*lost markets because of GM contamination
*non-availability of non-GM seed
*removal of farmers' rights to save even non-GM seed
*huge seed price hikes of conventional seed to match GM seed prices
*the impossibility of co-existence
*the lie of buffer zones
*the shutting down of non-GM research
*Monsanto threatening seed cleaners
*companies trapping farmers into glyphosate use and then hiking the price
*complete removal of choice in the seed and chemicals markets once a region's farmers have gone down the GM route.
http://vimeo.com/18994807

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LATEST NEWS
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LOBBYWATCH
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+ NEW ZEALAND: AGRESEARCH TRIES TO REFUTE "DAMAGING" REPORT
Attempts to shut down a scientific report critical of AgResearch's practices at its genetic engineering laboratories have been revealed through the company's internal documents. The report has sparked a war of words between the Canterbury University professor who wrote it, and the Crown research institute he criticises. Prof Jack Heinemann, from the university's Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety, wrote the report, which was published in a peer-reviewed journal. Heinemann said he had tried to engage with AgResearch throughout the entire process. He was not surprised to read of its attempts to find scientists to refute his research. "That's where they go for the shoot the messenger smear campaign."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13272

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NON-GM SUCCESSES
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+ NON-GM SUPERWHEAT RESISTS DEVASTATING RUST
A new non-GM superwheat has been developed that resists the rust disease that's ravaging crops in the Middle East and Africa. The new wheat is also reported to have up to 15 per cent better yields than existing varieties.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13263

+ THE COST-EFFECTIVE WAY TO FEED THE WORLD
When it comes to feeding the world and insulating against climate change, classical plant breeding beats GM, say Doug Gurian-Sherman and Margaret Mellon. Classical breeding is already extensively used in the development of GM crops and GM crops are more expensive to develop. Industry estimates of the cost of developing a single GM trait are in excess of $100 million. By contrast, a classical breeding programme for similar traits typically costs about $1 million.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13264

+ NEW NON-GM SWEET POTATO RESISTS PESTS AND DISEASES
http://www.clemson.edu/media-relations/3688

+ LOTS MORE NON-GM BREAKTHROUGHS
All the non-GM breakthroughs solving precisely the problems (drought-resistance, salt-resistance, biofortification etc.) that GM proponents claim only GM can deliver (but it has failed to!)
http://www.gmwatch.org/component/content/article/31-need-gm/12348

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GLYPHOSATE/BIRTH DEFECTS REPORT LATEST
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+ THE ECOLOGIST ON THE REPORT
Provides clear introduction.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13268

+ HUFFINGTON POST ON THE REPORT
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13274

+ MONSANTO RESPONDS TO THE REPORT
Monsanto's has issued an initial response to the Earth Open Source report, "Roundup and birth defects: Is the public being kept in the dark?" (http://www.scribd.com/doc/57277946/RoundupandBirthDefectsv5 ). The report showed industry has known that glyphosate causes birth defects since the 1980s and EU regulators have known since the 1990s. But instead of informing the public, industry and regulators have repeatedly claimed that glyphosate and Roundup do not cause birth defects. Here's Monsanto's response and EOS's reply:
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13266
More about the report:
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13228

+ QUESTION ASKED IN EU PARLIAMENT ABOUT REPORT
Greek Green MEP Michalis Tremopoulos has asked a Parliamentary question to the EU Commission as to whether it is aware of the new EOS report (see above) and if as a result it will cancel its planned delay in reviewing glyphosate.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13265

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GM APPLICATIONS / EXPANSIONS
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+ WESTMINSTER REALISING GM DOESN'T DELIVER?
The UK's coalition government's first GM policy statement falls short of a ringing endorsement of GM crops, says GM Freeze. But the government's agriculture ministry Defra announced on 20 June that Rothamsted Research at Harpenden has applied to trial GM wheat in the UK in 2012. The GM wheat is said to repel aphids and attract aphid predators to the crop using genetic constructs.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13270


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RESISTANCE
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+ PROTEST AGAINST GM POTATOES IN NORFOLK
A protest against the Sainsbury Laboratory's GM potato trial will take place place in Norfolk, UK, on 23 July. Over the last 10 years, researchers at the SL at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have spent 1.7 million pounds of public money largely failing to develop a GM potato resistant to the fungal disease blight. Public rejection of GM food means that even if the potato was successfully developed, there would be no market for the crop. Meanwhile, 3 years ago, a small Welsh charity developed a conventionally bred potato that is spectacularly resistant to blight. Six different varieties are available and being grown on a commercial scale. The head of the Sainsbury Laboratory, Prof Jonathan Jones, cofounded a company that has Monsanto as its principal client.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13271

+ INDIA: RAJASTHAN SEED INITIATIVE WILTS
Ten months after Rajasthan signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with seven GM seed companies, including Monsanto, the state government has not executed the MoUs due to protests from farmer organisations. Around 1,000 farmers gathered outside Legislative Assembly, Jaipur, demanding that the MoUs be scrapped.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13269

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RESEARCH
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+ WHY REASSURANCES ON BT TOXINS DON'T ADD UP
In May the journal Reproductive Toxicology published a paper that showed Canadian women now routinely have GM Bt pesticides in their blood streams. So, too, do 80% of their unborn babies. The finding points to extraordinary gaps in the regulation of GM crops.

Since the paper's publication, both the GM industry and regulators have done their best to dismiss the findings. One such reassurance has come from Anne Milton, a UK Government Minister and the no. 2 at the Dept of Health.

Bill Freese, a Science Policy Analyst with the Center for Food Safety, said Milton's remarks make clear that Bt proteins in GM crops have not been subject to rigorous safety testing; rather, EU and US regulators have relied on prior assessments of non-GM Bt proteins used in Bt sprays. Freese explains these and other differences.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13273
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13251

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REST OF THE MONTH'S NEWS IN BRIEF
For those who do not receive GMWatch Reviews
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+ PERU APPROVES TEN-YEAR BAN ON GM CROPS
In a great victory for Peru, the country's government has approved a ten-year moratorium on the import of GMOs for cultivation or breeding.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13231

+ GM-FREE RICE VICTORY IN THAILAND
The Thai government has written its commitment to GM-free rice into policy.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13224

+ FIFTEEN YEARS OF GM SOY IN ARGENTINA
Poisoning, massive clearing, loss of biodiversity, forced evictions, land concentration and murder are the legacy of 15 years of soy monoculture in Argentina, says a hard-hitting article in the Dutch press by Dario Aranda and Nina Holland of Corporate Europe Observatory.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13255

+ NIGERIA'S SENATE PASSES BIOSAFETY BILL IN WHOSE INTEREST?
Nigeria's national biosafety bill has been passed by the country's upper house. Critics of the bill say it has been kept away from public scrutiny and backs a hidden foreign agenda to legalise GMOs.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13254

+ GM FOOD: POISONING SOUTH AFRICA?
South Africans are the first people in the world to consume GM food as a staple. More than 75% of the country's white maize is GM. Glenn Ashton of the South African Civil Society Information Service says, "The industry claim that nobody has become ill from GM foods is scientifically dishonest. It is based on the principle of 'don't look - don't find'. Because GM foods are not clearly identified through clear labelling, it is impossible to know what sicknesses are related to the consumption of the product."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13225

+ PAKISTAN REGULATOR QUITS OVER ATTEMPT AT CLANDESTINE APPROVAL OF GM CORN
The head of a Pakistan committee involved in regulating the commercialisation of GM corn has resigned after a regulatory scandal involving Monsanto's GM corn/maize. A Pakistan news outlet said that Monsanto actually wrote the report on the trials of its GM corn on behalf of the regulatory committee, and that the report contained false information on the trials.
http://gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13240
http://www.gmwatch.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13253

+ ILLEGAL GM RICE SPREADS IN CHINA
GM rice has been spreading illegally for years in China, officials have admitted. Greenpeace has found illegal GM rice in baby formulas and dried noodles, as well as rice purchased from restaurants near schools in Hubei province. Greenpeace warned of health risks to children.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13248

+ U.S. CONGRESS BANS FDA FROM APPROVING GM SALMON
GM salmon will not go on sale in the US. The House of Congress has voted to ban the Food and Drug Administration from passing the fish fit for human consumption.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13257
GM salmon not needed: http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13223

+ U.S.: HERBICIDE USE FAILS TO DECLINE WITH GM CROPS - OFFICIAL
According to the 2010 Agricultural Chemical Use Report from the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), use of the herbicide glyphosate, associated with GM crops, has dramatically increased over the last several years, while the use of other even more toxic chemicals such as atrazine has not declined. Contrary to common claims from the GM lobby that the proliferation of herbicide tolerant GM crops would result in lower pesticide use rates, the data show that overall use of pesticides has remained relatively steady, while glyphosate use has skyrocketed to more than double the amount used just five years ago.

GM proponents have often said that even if farmers are increasingly reaching for glyphosate, this simply means that they are using less of more toxic weed killers like atrazine. However, the data show the opposite is true.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13246

+ NEW PLANT DISEASE LINKED TO GM CROPS AND PESTICIDES
US scientists claim to have discovered a dangerous new plant disease linked to GM crops and the pesticides used on them. The research, which is yet to be completed, suggests the pathogen could be the cause of recent widespread crop failure and miscarriages in livestock.

Prof Don Huber, who is leading the research, says it isn't clear yet whether it is the GM crops or the use of the pesticide glyphosate that causes the pathogen. But he says his research shows both the pesticide and the GM crops also reduce the ability of plants to absorb nutrients from the soil that are necessary for animal health.

"All the red flags are standing in a row for us," he said. "I would certainly express serious concerns with deregulation of our genetically modified crops."
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13258

+ GM BEAN IN BRAZIL'S PIPELINE
On May 17 a public hearing was held in Brasilia, Brazil to discuss an application for commercial release of the first GM bean. Beans are part of Brazil's staple diet, consumed daily by most of the population. The hearing was held at the head offices of Embrapa, the state company making the application. CTNBio, the regulator, attended.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13231

+ NEW ZEALAND: TRANSGENDER GM GOATS TO BE MILKED
New Zealand government research body AgResearch's GM goat experiments have a new bizarre twist with surviving GM pregnancies producing mostly unintended transgender offspring, which AgResearch staff term "goys", according to the Soil & Health Association of NZ.

The "goys", females in sterile male bodies, are to be induced into milking to ascertain whether the intended genetically engineered human protein will be expressed in the milk.

Previous GM cattle pregnancies have only 5% success, with the goats reported to have a success rate of possibly 15%, although one flock of about 18 recipient females failed to hold one GM embryo of a particular experiment. AgResearch has a track record of producing GM animals that are prone to a variety of disabilities including arthritis, respiratory distress, deformities and ruptured ovaries.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13242

+ MORE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AT EFSA
A new report from Corporate Europe Observatory exposes conflicts of interest in the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)'s ANS expert panel on food additives. Once again we see extensive links with the International Life Sciences Institute, an industry-funded group with funders including the major food, GM, and agrochemical companies. ILSI also has affiliates in EFSA's GMO Panel, which gives expert opinions on GMOs, and its PPR Panel, which gives opinions on pesticides. ILSI has actively involved itself in 'helping' EU regulators make rules for assessing the safety of GMOs and pesticides.

The European Court of Auditors is currently conducting an investigation into conflicts of interest within EU agencies, potentially including EFSA.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13249
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13260

Download the new CEO report here:
http://www.corporateeurope.org/system/files/files/resource/EFSA_ANS_panel.pdf

+ EFSA USES INDUSTRY DATABASE TO SHOW GMO SAFETY
EFSA, which gives expert opinions to the European Commission on the safety of GMOs and pesticides, has issued a positive opinion on Bayer's new herbicide-tolerant soybean for food and feed uses in the EU. In a short report, TestBiotech shows how the industry-funded group, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), influenced EFSA's risk assessment of the GM soy. The report says EFSA drew evidence on the GM soy's safety from the handy ILSI database, set up to provide regulators with ready-made comparisons of GM and non-GM plants (no prizes for guessing that this is about showing "substantial equivalence").
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13250

+ SWEDEN: GREENPEACE HINDERS BASF FROM PLANTING RISKY GM POTATO
In Sweden, Greenpeace activists tied themselves to the tractor of the chemical company BASF to stop them from planting their GM Amflora potato. BASF claims its GM potato is for industrial use only. But reality shows that Amflora last year received an approval from the European Commission for cultivation, processing, use as feed and even for use in food of up to 0.9%. In other words: Amflora has the approval to contaminate the food chain.
http://www.gmwatch.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13232
The GM potatoes are now planted but the Swedish campaigners still need your support please write to Swedish ministers asking them to ban Amflora, as other countries, including Norway, already have:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/getinvolved/gmo-potato/
Watch video about the protests:
http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-videosb/36-protests/13247
Video about protests against another GM potato in Belgium:
http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-videosb/36-protests/13243

+ NORWAY'S REGULATORS SAY NO TO BASF'S GM POTATO
The Norwegian government has decided that the cultivation and use of BASF's GM Amflora potato should be banned in Norway, for these reasons:
* risk to health from the presence of antibiotic marker gene in the potato
* no need for the product (when considering GMO approvals, the Norwegian government takes into account the benefit to society and ethics)
* "the applicant has not sufficiently assessed the risk to the environment, in particular with regards to effects on certain groups of non-target organisms".
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13222

+ UK GOVT BACKS HIGH SECURITY GM TEST SITES
The UK's coalition government has put its support behind conducting GM field trials on high security sites.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13252