from Claire Robinson, editor
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+ GM WATCH IN OTHER LANGUAGES
This monthly review is also available in Dutch:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6327
PLEASE TELL ALL YOUR DUTCH SPEAKING FRIENDS!
+ GM WATCH NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT
We need people with language skills to help us translate our bulletins so that we can reach the widest possible global readership.
We also need your financial support.
Please find out more about how you can help:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6043
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EUROPE
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+ U.S. WINS WTO BACKING IN WAR WITH EUROPE OVER GM FOOD
The World Trade Organisation has ruled that Europe had broken international trade rules by blocking the import of GM food, in a decision US trade officials hailed as a victory. The WTO found that Europe had imposed a de facto ban on GM food imports for six years from 1998 which violated trade agreements, and that Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg also had no legal grounds to impose their own unilateral import bans.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6218
+ PLEASE ACT
Email the Ministers for Trade & the Environment to ask them to stand up to the WTO and the right of European countries to ban GM food:
http://www.foe.co.uk/biteback/
+ FURTHER INFORMATION
Groups publish WTO conclusions:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/groups_publish_wto_conclus_09022006.html
New opinion poll shows consumers worried over GM foods:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/aternative_needed_to_secre_08022006.html
+ WTO'S DECISION DID NOT COVER SAFETY ISSUES
In its ruling, the WTO did not tackle the vexed issue of GMOs' safety. The (leaked) confidential WTO ruling noted that the organisation's dispute settlement panel had stuck purely to trade issues. Nor did it address "whether the biotech products at issue in this dispute are 'like' their conventional counterparts", even though this claim was made by Argentina, Canada and the US, which had asked for the WTO ruling.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6234
+ GREENPEACE DISMISSES WTO RULING ON GMOs
Greenpeace has dismissed the WTO ruling as irrelevant. "US agro-chemical giants will not sell a bushel more of their GM grain as a result of the WTO ruling. European consumers, farmers and a growing number of governments remain opposed to GMOs, and this will not change - in Europe or globally," said Daniel Mittler, Greenpeace International trade advisor. "The $300 million lost exports for US GM maize growers per year will continue, and remain a warning to exporting countries that GMOs are not wanted in Europe."
"This verdict only proves that the WTO puts trade interests above all others and is unqualified to deal with complex scientific and environmental issues."
Despite the ongoing WTO case, European governments voted with a clear majority in 2005 to retain existing national bans on GMOs and individual countries continue to reject GMOs. Greece has just announced an extension of its ban on seeds from a type of GM maize produced by Monsanto. Austria also recently announced its intention to ban the import of a GM oilseed rape. These bans, in addition to those imposed last year by Hungary and Poland, 172 regions in Europe which have declared themselves GMO-free zones, and a Swiss moratorium decided by public referendum, show that Europe is steadfast in rejecting GMOs.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6217
+ WTO RULING ON GM CROPS A "THREAT TO INDIA"
Civil society organisations and farmers' groups in India have expressed anguish over the WTO ruling, on the grounds that the US will become more aggressive in dumping GM food onto Third World countries.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6233
+ AMERICA'S MASTERPLAN IS TO FORCE GM ON THE WORLD
John Vidal in The (UK) Guardian says that the US intends to bypass European hostility to GMOs by using the WTO ruling to bully developing countries into growing them: "In fact, Washington and the US companies are not that bothered by Europe's predictable reaction ... It is now clear that the real reason the US took Europe to the WTO court was to make it easier for its companies to prise open regulatory doors in China, India, south-east Asia, Latin America and Africa, where most US exports now go."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6243
+ APRIL 8, JOINT INTERNATIONAL GM OPPOSITION DAY
In response to the WTO ruling, 100 international organizations from more than 40 countries are announcing April 8, 2006 as a Joint International GM Opposition Day.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6255
+ MONSANTO'S MEN AT WTO AND U.S. TRADE OFFICE
Before the US launched its WTO challenge to the EU over GMOs, the Financial Times applauded the shrewdness of the appointment of Rufus Yerxa as the US's deputy to the WTO's director general: "Yerxa has been international counsel to Monsanto... Just the man Supachai will need should the US ever bleat to the WTO about EU restrictions on genetically modified food." Previous to being Monsanto's international counsel, Yerxa was Monsanto's European general counsel.
There's also a Monsanto man (Richard Crowder) at the US Trade Office, ready to fulfill US Dept of Ag chief, Mike Johanns' mission, "We must use the WTO to force open markets for US products."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6227
+ U.S. TO TARGET E.U. LABELLING?
A statement from the Office of the US trade representative suggests the US may target EU labeling for GMOs via the WTO: "The labeling requirements include an obligation to label appropriate products genetically modified... these burdensome directives have already severely restricted market access for US food suppliers... The Directives generally are anticipated to have a negative impact on a wide range of US exports, including processed food exports."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6184
+ ORGANIC SHOULD NOT CONTAIN GMOs
NGOs in the UK have written to Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Margaret Beckett, to protest against the European Commission's proposal to allow 0.9% GM contamination of organic products.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6192
+ MONSANTO ASSERTS RIGHTS OVER PROCESSED FOOD
Last year, Monsanto wrote a letter to all exporters and importers explaining its intention to charge a fee of between $15 (GBP8.60) and $18.75 on every tonne of Argentinian soy produced with its Roundup Ready technology. By law, Argentinian farmers growing the crop do not have to pay royalties, so Monsanto is trying to recoup its lost income from South American exporters and European importers instead.
"[Monsanto] reserves the right to begin legal actions, on the assumption of uncovering imports from Latin America of unlicensed Roundup Ready soy, in countries where the said technology is protected by intellectual property rights," a statement by the company reads.
In keeping with the strategy, a ship carrying 5,900 tonnes of GM soy grain, worth an estimated $1m, was detained in Liverpool earlier this month. Monsanto tested the shipment for Roundup Ready technology in the prelude to a lawsuit. Monsanto has also filed cases for patent infringement in Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain.
If Monsanto is successful, the company could claim part-ownership rights on any product containing the Roundup Ready gene. Given that most highly processed foods contain an element of soy, such a list could include everything from European margarine to Chinese soy sauce.
"In the case of Argentina, Monsanto is really challenging its rights over processed food, not just over the seeds. This is something new. It's never happened before," warns Juan Lopez of Friends of the Earth.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6276
+ HUNDREDS PROTEST AGAINST GM SPUDS IN IRELAND
Hundreds of people mounted a demonstration outside the Dail [Irish Parliament] on 22 February to protest against plans to plant GM potatoes in Co Meath. The German chemical firm BASF has applied for permission to plant a crop of blight-resistant GM potatoes as part of a five-year experiment at a Teagasc research centre in Summerhill. Politicians from across the political divide were in attendance at the protest, along with farmers, consumers groups and green campaigners.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6277
Sign the petition against the GM potato trial at
http://gmfreeireland.org/action/index.php
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THE AMERICAS
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+ FARMERS, OTHERS SUE USDA OVER MONSANTO GM ALFALFA
A coalition of farmers, consumers and environmental activists have sued the US government over its approval of a GM alfalfa. The lawsuit contends that the US Dept of Agriculture improperly is allowing Monsanto to sell an herbicide-resistant alfalfa seed while failing to analyze the public health, environmental, and economic consequences of that action.
The suit asserts that the GM alfalfa will contaminate non-GM alfalfa, forcing farmers to pay for Monsanto's patented gene technology whether they want it or not. The group says biotech alfalfa would also hurt production of organic dairy and beef products as alfalfa is a key cattle feed. And the suit claims farmers could lose export business, valued at an estimated $480 million per year, because buyers in Japan and South Korea would avoid buying US alfalfa once the GM variety is released.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6257
+ FRENCH FARMER BANNED FROM 'LAND OF THE FREE'
French anti-globalization activist and GM crop-puller Jose Bove was stopped at JFK airport upon arrival in the US, denied entry by customs officials and put on a plane back to France. Bove had been set to speak in New York at an event sponsored by Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6224
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6232
+ RESEARCH CASH FAILS TO SPAWN NEW BUSINESS
A report for Associated Press says a lot of money goes into biotech research in Missouri, but not much comes out. In an effort to turn things around, the governor of Missouri is pumping $300 million in taxpayer dollars into local biotech initiatives. Roger Beachy of the Danforth Plant Science Center, established by Monsanto and academic partners, says the idea is to avoid unpleasant surprises and controversies that could derail the plans of biotech companies to move to Missouri.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6180
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ASIA
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+ PHILIPPINES: BT CORN CAUSING ILLNESS
Tribal residents in the Philippines living within a hundred metres of a GM Bt corn test site have complained of ailments that range from headaches, flu and vomiting to skin allergies.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6182
+ DOZENS ILL AND FIVE DEATHS IN PHILIPPINES AFTER EXPOSURE TO BT MAIZE
Dr Maewan Ho reports that many Philippines villagers exposed to GM maize pollen in 2003 have remained ill to this day.
EXCERPT:
.. there have been five unexplained deaths in the village. In total, 96 people got sick. In addition, 9 horses, 4 water buffalos, and 37 chickens died soon after feeding on GM maize...
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6231
+ JAPAN: CLONED CATTLE ABNORMAL AND COMING TO DINNER
MAFF (ministry of agriculture, fisheries and food) has announced the current state of cloned animals up to the end of September 2005. Of 474 somatic cell cloned cattle born, 72 were stillbirths, 80 died immediately following birth, 102 died from illness, and only 104 have survived, showing that abnormality has now become the norm. So far 700 embryonic cell cloned cattle have been born, and 295 of these have been shipped as meat for human consumption. Since 63 head are listed as "unknown" it is thought that over 300 head have ended up on dinner tables. In addition, 152 somatic cell cloned pigs have also been born.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6211
+ INDIA: BT COTTON SEEDS CAUSE ALLERGY
A three-member investigation team has concluded that a large number of farmers of Nirmar region suffer from allergies after coming in contact with Bt cotton seed. The team, comprising Dr Ashish Gupta, Ashish Mandloi and Amulya Nidhi, carried out the survey in five villages between October and December 2005.
The team said the toxins inside the Bt cotton seed were the main reason for the allergy. Dr Gupta said that all respondents had itching of skin, while 86% of them had eruptions on body and 56% had swelling of face. In some cases, the itching was so severe that they had to discontinue their work, or take anti-allergy medicine in order to be able to work.
The following is from the conclusion of the report:
"All the evidence gathered during the investigation shows that Bt has been causing skin, upper respiratory tract and eye allergy among persons exposed to cotton... The allergy is not restricted to farm labourers involved in picking cotton but has affected labour involved in loading and unloading Bt from villages to market, those involved in its weighing, labourers working in ginning factories, people who carried out other operations in the field of Bt cotton, or farmers who stored cotton in their homes etc."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6268
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6278
Read the report in 2 parts:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6265
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6266
+ SEEDS OF MISERY
The Hindustan Times reports multiple problems GM cotton has caused in India.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6220
+ MAHARASHTRA GOVT ANNOUNCES AID TO BT COTTON FARMERS
The Maharashtra Government has announced special financial assistance to the farmers who lost their Bt cotton crop due to disease and other reasons in 2005-06 in the state.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6263
+ INDIAN COTTON FARMERS BETRAYED
With reports of the failure of Bt cotton widespread in India, why are many farmers still queuing up to plant the crop? Rhea Gala of the Institute of Science in Society visited India to find out. Her eye-opening report, which reveals a mixture of aggressive hype by biotech companies and corruption on the part of seed dealers, is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6204
+ WALKOUT OVER BT COTTON
Major opposition parties, including Congress, staged a walkout in the Madhya Pradesh assembly alleging heavy losses suffered by farmers due to low yield from Bt cotton and accusing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of promoting the interests of multinational companies. The walkout was triggered by agriculture minister Chandrabhan Singh's attempt to dismiss the problems with Bt cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6253
+ INDIA: MONSANTO GETS NOTICE OVER "EXORBITANT" ROYALTY
In an unprecedented move, the Andhra Pradesh government has asked the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) to restrain Monsanto from charging an "exorbitant" royalty on Bt cotton seed. The state has seen a spate of suicides among cotton farmers in recent years, due to indebtedness and Bt cotton crop failure.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6186
+ PERILS OF INDO-U.S. FARM PACT
KP Prabhakaran Nair warns of the perils to farmers and biodiversity posed by the new Indo-US farm treaty, which will open up the country's most important public agricultural research establishments to private players from the US. He says, "the treaty threatens to expose the country's bio wealth to the machinations of US-based corporates and research institutes. Agro-interests in the US have had designs on the country's bio-resources for quite some time now. In 1995, the medicine centre of the University of Michigan even managed to secure a US patent on certain therapeutic uses of turmeric... Such biopiracy happened clandestinely. But now it can take place with official sanction. The MoU to open up our agricultural research institutes to private players from the US will ensure exactly that..."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6250
"...of the nearly 5,000 patents given out by the US Patent Office on various medical plants by the year 2000, some 80% were plants of Indian origin." - BBC report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4506382.stm
+ FARMER BODIES OPPOSE INDO-U.S. RESEARCH INITIATIVE
The proposed Indo-US Knowledge Initiative in Agri Research and Education has run into rough weather, with the farmers' organisations of the UPA coalition partners opposing the move. The farmers' organisations have criticised the move as "surrendering the interests of Indian peasants to the multinationals based in US". They have demanded that the government make the details of the programme public and initiate a debate in both houses of Parliament.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6262
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6264
+ WAL-MART AND MONSANTO ON INDO-U.S. FARM PACT BOARD
Wal-Mart and Monsanto are on the board of the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture Research and Education. It will set the agenda for collaborative farm research with Indian laboratories and agricultural universities. Transgenic research in crops, animals and fisheries would be a substantial part of the collaboration, requiring India to pledge huge funds.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6230
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AUSTRALASIA
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+ JAPANESE PAY PREMIUM FOR GM-FREE CANOLA
Grain growers on Kangaroo Island, Australia are receiving a premium price for their GM-free canola after signing a deal with a Japanese company. Derrick Johnson from the Kangaroo Island Canola Company says the Japanese approached growers because of the island's GM-free status. According to an economic study by Australia's Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, "the US share of the EU's maize imports has fallen to virtually zero (from around 2/3 in the mid-1990s), as has Canada's share of EU canola imports (from 54% in the mid-1990s). GM-adopting countries have lost market share to GM-free suppliers".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6191
+ DEMOCRATS WILL MAINTAIN GM BAN
The South Australian Democrats have announced they will support the state's ban on GM crops when the Parliament resumes after the state election.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6279
+ GM CANOLA - HIGHER COST, LOWER SALE PRICES
The Network of Non-GM Farmers in Australia has produced an analysis of the impact of GM canola. It says that there is clear evidence in Canada of a price penalty associated with GM or GM-contaminated canola: "Canada lost their premium over Australian canola of $US32.68/tonne and are now faced with price penalties up to $US30/tonne and are experiencing large carryover stocks despite their major market being US, which is not GM sensitive."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6219
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AFRICA
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+ AFRICAN FARMERS SAY GM CROPS ARE NOT THE WAY FORWARD
Cotton-growers and other farmers have voted against introducing GM crops in a "citizens jury" in Mali. Instead, the jurors proposed recommendations to strengthen traditional agricultural practice and support local farmers.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6183
+ SOUTH AFRICAN GOVT PROPS UP FAILED GM COTTON PROJECT
The South African government is distributing "free packs of Bt cotton seed as well as fertiliser, pesticides and herbicides to farmers in the area", in an effort to prop up the failed Bt cotton project in Makhatini, South Africa. A study published last year showed the number of farmers planting Bt cotton had dropped by 80% since 2000 and that farmer indebtedness had been exacerbated since Bt cotton was introduced.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6223
+ NEW ATTEMPT TO NOBBLE JOURNALISTS IN AFRICA
GM industry body ISAAA is a key player in a new training initiative to "improve" the reporting on GMOs by African journalists.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6242
+ AFRICAN SCIENCE MUST REGAIN CONTROL OF LOCAL RESOURCES
In an excellent article for SciDev.Net, Kazhila Chinsembu, biologist at the University of Namibia, says Africa risks being "enslaved" by GM technology it doesn't own and urges African nations to regain control over their biological resources and indigenous knowledge.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6195
+ DROUGHT-RESISTANT GM SEEDS WON'T BE AVAILABLE FOR KENYA FOR 10 YEARS
A Monsanto spokesman has admitted that "miracle crops" with drought-tolerance might be at least 8-10 years away from benefiting farmers in Africa.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6190
+ SOUTH AFRICAN RESEARCHERS FIND GM CONTAMINATION IN LOCAL MAIZE
GMOs can be found in nearly three-quarters of locally sold maize and soya products that claim to be free of these ingredients, researchers at the University of the Free State have found.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6177
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TERMINATOR
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For a leaflet on Terminator go to:
http://www.progressio.org.uk/Templates/AssociatesHome2.asp?NodeID=91487
+ U.N. MEETING UNDERMINES MORATORIUM ON TERMINATOR
Indigenous peoples were betrayed and farmers' rights trampled at a UN meeting when the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments - guided by the US government and the biotech industry - sought to undermine the existing moratorium on Terminator technology (plants genetically modified to produce sterile seeds). The damaging recommendations from the meeting in Granada, Spain, now go to the upcoming 8th biennial meeting of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Curitiba, Brazil, March 20-31.
Although the meeting "reaffirmed" the fragile UN moratorium on Terminator, new recommendations adopted in Granada now may be used to block the CBD's precautionary approach. Not only did the meeting fail to condemn Terminator as immoral and anti-farmer, Australia and the US falsely claimed that Terminator, which creates sterility and prevents seed saving, would "increase productivity."[!!!]
With a US government official consulting at her side, the Australian negotiator insisted on deleting reference to the "precautionary approach" and won controversial wording for a "case-by-case risk assessment" of Terminator.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6179
+ MONSANTO BREAKS ITS WORD ON TERMINATOR
Monsanto made a public promise in 1999 not to commercialize Terminator. Now Monsanto says it may develop or use the so-called 'suicide seeds' after all. The revised pledge from Monsanto now suggests that it would use Terminator seeds in non-food crops and does not rule out other uses of Terminator in the future.
Over 300 organizations have declared their support for a global ban on Terminator Technology, asserting that sterile seeds threaten biodiversity and will destroy the livelihoods and cultures of the 1.4 billion people who depend on farm-saved seed.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6276
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LOBBYWATCH
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+ EASING FEARS OF BIOTECH FOOD WITH BULLSH*T
New Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO) man Sean Darragh is a former US defence, national security and trade official. The "new public face of the global agricultural biotechnology industry" is also a bullsh*t specialist par excellence, as a newspaper interview he gave to the Sacramento Bee shows:
EXCERPT:
Q: "Have you done studies over a long period of time to say whether people who eat more genetically modified foods get more cancers or get more of other diseases than people who eat more organically grown food? Have those sorts of studies been done?"
Darragh: Ten years have gone by without one documented case of any problem associated with the technology. ... I've never met anybody with a science degree, who has a PhD in biology, ever, who was not comfortable with the safety of biotechnology... If I had a conversation with anybody with a PhD in biology and they could articulate why they were concerned about it and why this technology is any different than the stuff that's been happening for years - like Mendel's peas - then I could understand. But there's nobody out there."
Nobody out there? Darragh really needs to get out more. For starters he could try the views of these leading scientists - none of them short of a PhD or three and some of them even to be found in America's regulatory agencies!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6281
+ EXPOSED: THE SECRET CORPORATE FUNDING BEHIND HEALTH RESEARCH
Article for the UK Guardian by George Monbiot.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6213
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FOOD SAFETY
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+ SUSPICIONS ABOUT GMOs
Why are the French the only nation in the world judged intelligent enough to read the facts of GM food safety research in their newspapers? Le Monde carries an excellent article arguing that "several recent studies effected by credible researchers and published in scientific reviews tally with one another to throw doubt on GMOs' complete harmlessness."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6246
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PEST MANAGEMENT
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+ GM CROPS NOT THE ANSWER TO PEST CONTROL
Farmers' heavy use of pesticides has led to increased resistance in pests, which in turn has caused crop losses and a slide into debt, writes G. V. Ramanjaneyulu, executive director of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad, India, in an article for SciDev.net.
It does not make sense, argues Ramanjaneyulu, to apply high doses of toxins over extended periods, irrespective of whether the pests are present. Effectively, this is what supporters of GM insect-resistant crops are encouraging farmers to do. A better solution is the use of integrated pest management (IPM), or non-pesticidal management and organic farming.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6237
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WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
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+ WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES STRONGLY AGAINST GM
A largely overlooked document released last year shows how the World Council of Churches - an international fellowship of Christian churches which represents virtually all Christian traditions - has come out strongly against GM. The World Council of Churches calls upon churches and individuals "to build partnerships with civil society, peoples movements, small scale farmer groups and Indigenous Peoples in opposing the science, philosophy and practice of genetic engineering in agriculture..."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6280
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CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF SCIENCE
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+ DIFFERENT FACES OF SCIENCE FRAUD
In the San Diego Union Tribune, Prof David Schubert argues that the alleged fabrications of Korean cloner Dr Hwang are perhaps the least harmful among different types of scientific fraud currently taking place.
EXCERPT:
.. if fraud is defined as the creation or manipulation of data to achieve a specific end, then the type of scientific misconduct perpetrated by some industries and the Bush administration is much more serious and has led to extensive human suffering...
If there is opposition to the introduction of a product from a consensus of scientists, usually in the form of proposals for increased government oversight, then companies will employ their own scientists to publish manuscripts in an attempt to discredit the consensus. These manuscripts frequently contain experiments that only have an illusionary relevance to the problem, but are used in PR campaigns to create scientific uncertainty about the science in order to block the regulation.
.. The plant biotech industry has repeatedly made false claims about the safety of their genetically engineered food crops and has tried to discredit scientists who publish manuscripts showing that they are harmful.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6275
+ HOW THE GM INDUSTRY KILLS OFF "UNCOMFORTABLE" RESEARCH
Fact: Two years ago, when Prof Bela Darvas and his colleagues in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences revealed a massive buildup of toxins associated with plantings of a GM maize called MON810, and indicated that they wanted to repeat and extend their research, Monsanto shut off supplies of seeds and effectively killed off the research project.
Fact: In 2005, when Dr Judy Carman asked Bayer CropScience for a small amount of GM InVigor canola seeds to help assess the accuracy of some field tests in Australia. The request was ignored, making the research impossible.
These cases are by no means unique ... the GM industry routinely refuses to supply GM seed and other GM "reference material" to bona fide scientists who ask for it, citing as justification patent protection and "commercial in confidence" rules.http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6267