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THE WEEKLY WATCH number 25
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from Claire Robinson, guest WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all,
Our usual WEEKLY WATCH editor, Andy Rees, is away this week so I'm filling in for him.
This is an exciting time to be involved in the GM issue, with the launch of the new Independent Science Panel, a body of prominent scientists concerned about the dangers of GM, in London this Saturday 10 May. I hope to see many of you there!
Increasingly, it seems, scientists and other experts are speaking out loudly against this risky and unnecessary technologyy. This week has seen reports of complaints from specialist advisory committees to the US Environmental Protection Agency and the UK's Food Standards Agency, to the effect that their concerns have been ignored. This is a positive sign because the more people who speak out, the easier it will become for others to join them and the harder it will become for biotech's 'shouting' brigade to bully them into silence.
Finally, watch out for the important report about how companies like Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer are exploiting child labour in their cottonseed production in India. It gives the lie to the claims of these giant corporations to be intent on transforming the lives of the world's poor.(see LIES FROM THE GM INDUSTRY)
Claire Robinson <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
www.ngin.org.uk
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WEEKLY WATCH number 22 - CONTENTS
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SETBACKS FOR THE GM INDUSTRY
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
LIES FROM THE GM LOBBY
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
SUBSCRIPTIONS
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SETBACKS FOR THE GM INDUSTRY
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DEATH KNELL FOR GMOS IN EUROPE
An article in Nature Biotechnology sounds the death knell for GMOs in Europe. Here are some excerpts:
"Field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in the European Union (EU) have plummeted by 87% since 1998, according to a European Commission (EC) investigation."
"Two-thirds of large agroscience companies have cancelled at least one GMO research project during the same period..."
"Most Europeans consider GM foods "of little value and dangerous for society," the Eurobarometer survey found..." "We are beginning to see early-stage research in Europe moving overseas and I expect that to continue. And multinational companies will probably not keep their R&D headquarters in Europe if they don't see a market here - especially if they also see their staff facing public hostility over what they do for a living." - Joyce Tait, director of Edinburgh University's Centre for Social and Economic Research on Innovation in Genomics (Innogen) Nature Biotechnology, May 2003, Volume 21 Number 5, pp 468 - 469
PUSZTAI RAISES NEW GM FEARS
Arpad Pusztai, the scientist who shocked the world with research claiming that GM) crops might damage human health is to release new findings supporting his warnings. Pusztai lost his job at the prestigious Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen after outlining his findings in a television programme in 1998.
Pusztai's study is contained in a book called Food Safety, a compilation of scientific papers which describes the contaminants and toxins contained in modern foods. In his section, Pusztai brings together all the scientific studies carried out into the safety of GM foods and subjects them to rigorous statistical and scientific scrutiny. He warns that the work carried out by biotechnology companies into the human health hazard from GM food is inadequate and unsafe. He also points to technical defects in the way GM plants are created. He said: "We found that there are only a few such studies and they show many problems. In particular, they illustrate that GM foods have never been publicly tested for their safety and wholesomeness. There is increasing research to show they may actually be very unsafe." - The Sunday Times, May 04, 2003
NB Pusztai is one of the speakers at the Independent Science Panel (ISP) conference on GM, to take place in London on May 10.
FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY SLATED BY ITS OWN CONSUMER COMMITTEE
The Food Standards Agency has come under fire from its own consumer committee for its actions in conducting a survey of consumer attitudes to GM food which found (surprise!) that British consumers felt GM foods should be available to buy in the UK. The Agency had been widely attacked by consumer groups for organising the survey as a 'breakaway' activity from the government's main public debate on GM, and for the pro-GM bias of its publicity materials.
Now the consumer committee has joined in the attack, stating that: * the committee should have been consulted before the work was started, as it would have been able to offer advice on the approach.
* the committee questioned why the Agency had felt the need to undertake such work separate from the main public debate, adding that it would have been useful to analyse existing work on consumer attitudes to GM to identify where the gaps in understanding were, prior to initiating the programme.
* information provided in the booklet and on the website was useful but incomplete and biased, as it ignored existing concerns about GM food.
PHILIPPINES: HUNGER STRIKERS: WE ACCEPT NO COMPROMISE AGAINST GMOS
Protesting farmers and members of nongovernment organizations who are holding a hunger strike in front of the Dept of Agriculture office in Quezon City, said they will only stop their action if the government orders a moratorium on the promotion and release of GMOs in the country. Now (as of 8th May) on their 17th day of protest, the hunger strikers, who are opposed to the commercialization of Bt corn, are gaining support from some 70 organizations, both local and international. http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/abs_news_body.asp?section=Provincial&oid=22465
PHILIPPINES: SCIENTISTS CALL ON ARROYO TO DECLARE MORATORIUM
More than 578 scientists from all over the world have signed an open letter urging President Arroyo to declare a moratorium on the release of GM crops for reasons of safety and other concerns. The call is being supported by the Ecological Society of the Philippines and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
Many independent scientists along with the British Medical Association now believe there is sufficient evidence to indicate that GM crops pose serious risks to health and environment. A number of the most prominent scientists have formed an Independent Science Panel on GM which is due to present scientific evidence to the public while calling for a ban on GM crops and endorsing organic sustainable agriculture. http://www.philstar.com/philstar/Business200305044507.htm
EU: NO EXPORT OF GMOs WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF IMPORTER NATION
On 30 April 2003, the European Parliament Environment Committee adopted a recommendation that there should be no export of GMOs without the prior written consent of the country of import.
AUSTRALIA REJECTS GM CROPS
Australia will remain free from GE crops for at least another year, following the announcement of a freeze on the commercial release of GE canola by yet another state government. The twelve month freeze by the southern state of Victoria, now means all major Australian canola growing states have imposed some form of moratorium on the commercial release of the country's first proposed GE food crop, for 2003. http://www.greenpeace.org.au
SWISS VOTE FOR MORATORIUM TILL 2010
The Swiss House of Representatives has come out in favour of a temporary ban on GM agricultural produce. The House voted to introduce a moratorium until 2010 despite opposition by the economics minister. The decision has to be endorsed by the Senate before it can take effect. Consumer groups and farmers' organisations have threatened to force a nationwide vote if parliament fails to impose a moratorium. http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=113&sid=1840623
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OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
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EPA IGNORED CONCERNS OF ITS OWN SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY PANEL IN MONSANTO CORN APPROVAL
The US government's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stands accused by its own scientific advisory panel of ignoring the panel's concerns in its approval in February 2003 of Monsanto's YieldGard Rootworm corn. The dispute centres on the question of how to manage pest resistance to the crop. The unheeded scientific advice, and other decision-making glitches, left critics wondering whether EPA regulation is grounded on the best scientific advice.
"The EPA is calling for science-based regulation, but here that does not appear to be the case," says scientific advisory panel member David Andow, a corn entomologist at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. Panel members convened by the EPA in August 2002 were mystified and frustrated when the agency bypassed some of their major recommendations. Other technical experts say they were asked to give their opinion on the corn, then blacklisted from the advisory panel later. Kendall Powell, "Concerns over refuge size for US EPA-approved Bt corn", Nature Biotechnology, May 2003 Volume 21 Number 5 pp 467 - 468
LAUNCH OF INDEPENDENT SCIENCE PANEL FOR A GM-FREE SUSTAINABLE WORLD - MICHAEL MEACHER TO ATTEND
Dozens of prominent scientists have joined forces to form an Independent Science Panel (ISP) on GM, to counteract what they see as a concerted campaign by the government and the scientific establishment in the UK to promote GM under the guise of 'sound' science. At a launching conference on May 10 in London, the ISP will release their report, The Case for A GM-Free Sustainable World, a dossier of evidence to support their call for a ban on GM crops and widespread adoption of organic sustainable agriculture. This is timed to kick off the GM public debate in the UK, and to input into the Ministerial Conference and Expo on Agricultural Science and Technology in Sacramento, California in June.
Environment Minister Michael Meacher says he will be attending the launch. The Panel includes the botanist, broadcaster, writer and campaigner David Bellamy OBE, who will lead the launch of the ISP. Other speakers include Stanley Ewen, Consultant Histopathologist, at Grampian University Hospitals Trust; Malcolm Hooper, Emeritus Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Sunderland; Vyvyan Howard, toxipathologist, University of Liverpool; Arpad Pusztai, formerly senior scientist at Rowett Institute, Scotland, and Gundula Azeez, Policy Manager, Soil Association.
GREENS ACCUSE COMMISSION OF SNUBBING THEM AT GM HEARING
Green MEPs and activists claim they were snubbed at talks held by the European Commission on how to regulate the 'coexistence' of GM and conventional crops. Scientists, farmers and policymakers convened at the invitation of Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler and his research counterpart Philippe Busquin for a 'round table' on coexistence how to manage the production of GM and non-GM crops on the same farm or between neighbouring farms.
The talks focused on two kinds of GM crops, maize and oilseed rape, that are candidates to be planted across Europe if a de facto moratorium on introducing new GM crops is lifted, as is widely anticipated, by next year. Yet what the Commission hoped would be a low-key technical discussion drew an unexpectedly large crowd of some 300 to 400 participants. The gathering also attracted protests from green groups who said they had been snubbed by the EU's executive arm. MEPs Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf, Hiltrud Breyer and Jill Evans said: "As with so many other previous meetings organized by the European Commission, this round table seems primarily geared towards paving the way for genetic engineering in European agriculture." - "Greens accuse Commission of snubbing them at GM hearing" by Karen Carstens The Economist, Volume 9 Number 16, 1 May 2003
FURY AT CARGILL'S MAN IN IRAQ
Oxfam has launched a scathing attack on the man the US has put in charge of agricultural reconstruction in Iraq. Dan Amstutz is a former senior executive of Cargill, the biggest grain exporter in the world, and served in the Reagan administration as a trade negotiator in the Uruguay round of world trade talks. Oxfam is concerned that his involvement is an example of the potentially damaging commercialisation of the reconstruction effort in Iraq, which it would prefer to see conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
Kevin Watkins, Oxfam's policy director, said Mr Amstutz would "arrive with a suitcase full of open-market rhetoric", and was more likely to try to dump cheap US [read GM] grain on the potentially lucrative Iraqi market than encourage the country to rebuild its once-successful agricultural sector. "Putting Dan Amstutz in charge of agricultural reconstruction in Iraq is like putting Saddam Hussein in the chair of a human rights commission," Mr Watkins said.
"This guy is uniquely well-placed to advance the commercial interests of American grain companies and bust open the Iraqi market - but singularly ill-equipped to lead a reconstruction effort in a developing country." - Heather Stewart, "Fury at agriculture post for US businessman", The Guardian, April 28, 2003
GENETIC TEST BLUNDERS RISK NEEDLESS ABORTIONS
Many pregnant women in the US have had risky and unnecessary fetal tests following genetic screening of themselves and their partners. And some may have terminated healthy pregnancies after muddles or irregularities in genetic tests on their fetuses. This is the warning being issued by medical geneticists who have assessed the outcomes of some of the tens of thousands of DNA tests carried out in the US in the world's largest screening programme for cystic fibrosis. Companies carrying out the tests blame doctors for misinterpreting complex results or requesting the wrong tests. But geneticists say companies are at fault too, for failing to stick to clinical guidelines.
Cystic fibrosis is the first of many diseases for which genetic testing is likely to become routine. If mistakes are being made already, experts warn, what will happen as screening becomes more and more common? - New Scientist, 30 April 03 http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993675
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LIES FROM THE GM INDUSTRY
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BATESON AND THE RS CLAIM PUBLIC MISLED BY ANTI-GM CAMPAIGNERS
Professor Patrick Bateson, vice-president of the Royal Society, has said the truth about GM was hidden behind a "smokescreen of unfounded claims". He was especially critical of the message sent out by Greenpeace, which has campaigned against GM foods. The Royal Society has made submissions to the Government's GM Science Review, setting out its views on GM plant products. The RS said there was no evidence to suggest that food containing ingredients from GM plants was any less safe than its conventional counterpart.
Bateson said: "We conducted a major review of the evidence about GM plants and human health last year, and we have not seen any evidence since then that changes our original conclusions. If credible evidence does exist that GM foods are more harmful to people than non-GM foods, we should like to know why it has not been made public. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,1271,-2650378,00.html
Bateson's claims are disingenuous for two reasons:
* there is scientific evidence for concern about GM foods, so Bateson is either ill-read or lying when he claims not to have seen any
* even if Bateson were correct in saying there is no worrying evidence on GM, as a scientist he should be aware of the by now ancient dictum that no evidence of risk is not the same as evidence of no risk.
Greenpeace replied to Bateson saying it had commissioned and published a report from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands, which specialises in life sciences, on uncertainties and unknowns around GM crops. "This has been submitted to the science review and is available on the Internet. What a pity Professor Bateson hasn't read it," Greenpeace campaigner Ben Ayliffe said.
Patrick Bateson and the Royal Society know all about misleading the public, as journalist Andy Rowell told Bateson to his face at the Twisting the Genome conference - see: Strange Bedfellows http://ngin.tripod.com/190303d.htm
Royal Society and Big Business http://ngin.tripod.com/rsfunding.htm
Pro-GM scientist threatened editor http://ngin.tripod.com/rs.htm
MONSANTO, BAYER, SYNGENTA EXPLOITING CHILD LABOUR, SAYS REPORT
The very companies which claim to be intent on transforming the lives of the world's poor, including Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer are, according to a new report, perpetuating child labour in India "in a big way". The report notes that though they claim they are committed to the highest standards of socially responsible corporate behaviour "their activities in the area of cottonseed business in India are certainly not in tune with their claims ...their business strategies and profit motives encourage the environment which supports the practices of child labour in a big way."
The report, by Dr Davuluri Venkateswarlu, was commissioned by the India Committee of the Netherlands. http://www.indianet.nl/index_e.html
It should be possible to download the full report as a word document from http://www.indianet.nl/cotseed.html
If you have difficulty, it may be possible to obtain copies from the author, Dr Davuluri Venkateswarlu <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
THIS REPORT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
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HELP STOP MONSANTO'S GM WHEAT
Wheat is the single biggest food source in the world -- and the oldest. Canada and the US sell one fifth of the world's wheat -- second only to China. Now Monsanto is asking for permission to sell GM wheat in North America. Take action today by signing this petition urging the Canadian government to ban GM wheat: http://www.greenpeace.ca/e/action/wheat/index.php
For more information, watch "Slice of Life", a 9-minute video documenting just how much is at stake, for our food supply and for our farmers. You can see the video on-line here: http://www.greenpeace.org/multimedia/
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