GMWatch News Review archive

from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

We have two important campaign victories to celebrate this week. First, Dr Tewolde Egziabher, Africa's chief biosafety negotiator, finally - and belatedly! - got a visa after grassroots protests from around the world (MONTREAL MADNESS); and second, Dr Ignacio Chapela got tenure, despite being denied it by his university after he criticized its deal with a biotech firm and published research revealing GM contamination of native Mexican maize (CHAPELA VINDICATED). Both Tewolde and Ignacio have thanked all those who took action in support.

A new row has erupted about the cover-up allegedly perpetrated by Monsanto in collusion with government bodies over a feeding study which showed ill effects of GM maize on rats (FOOD SAFETY). Europe's food safety authority approved the maize in spite of knowing about the problems, and now their focus seems to be on making sure that the public never catch sight of the damaging data.

Don't miss some important new research from Hungary on the damaging effects of GM insect-resistant maize on butterflies and other species (EUROPE). It looks as if there may not be any more studies of this sort, however, as Monsanto has refused to supply any of its seeds for research!

Claire This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

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CONTENTS
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LOBBYWATCH SPECIAL
CHAPELA VINDICATED
SCIENTISTS UNDER ATTACK
MONTREAL MADNESS
FOOD SAFETY
ASIA
THE AMERICAS
EUROPE

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LOBBYWATCH SPECIAL
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+ REVEALED: THE PRIVATE INTERESTS BEHIND THE "PUBLIC" RESEARCH INITIATIVE
In 1997, in the midst of the Biosafety Protocol negotiations, the Global Industry Coalition flew in a panel of ''public researchers'' to lend support to the industry's case. The biotech industry's attempt to influence the negotiations, although unsuccessful at the time, seems to have provided the model for the new Public Research and Regulation Initiative (PRRI), whose supporters will be active in Montreal in the coming days, seeking to make sure their voice is heard at the Cartagena Protocol biosafety meeting and beyond by promoting GM research and opposing strict regulation.

Our new GM Watch profile makes clear the dubious backgrounds and behaviour of those driving forward this new initiative, and exposes the truth about their claims to being independent of the biotech industry.

A taster:
Prior to the formal launch of the foundation, a number of ''awareness-raising activities'' at events involving public sector scientists were undertaken with the financial support of the private sector. The private sector is also contributing to the running costs of the foundation. The foundation is even administered via a private sector company - Cambridge Biomedical Consultants Ltd.

Conflicting interests also enmesh the prime movers behind the initiative, Willy de Greef and Piet van der Meer, who are on the Foundation's four-member Board as well as being the Vice-Chairs of its Steering Committee. De Greef is currently the Executive Director of his own private consultancy - International Biotech Regulatory Services - but until the end of 2002 he was the Global Head of Regulatory Affairs - Biotechnology for Syngenta, while Van der Meer is married to a notorious lobbyist for the Global Industry Coalition!
Full profile: http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=316

+ VAN DER MEER IN MONTREAL
Disturbingly, at the current talks on the Biosafety Protocol in Montreal, Van der Meer got to make an 'expert' presentation at the liability and redress meeting on Wednesday. Helping Van der Meer make his presentation to the delegates was another supposedly impartial expert, Muffy Koch, who has been part of the industry-backed lobby group Africabio - a pro-GM lobby group which has Monsanto among its sponsors. An article in the science journal Nature said of Africabio, "the group's methods would be considered in some countries to be blatant media manipulation."
More on Van der Meer and Koch:
http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=271
http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=316

+ "PUBLIC RESEARCHERS" SAY KEEP THE PUBLIC OUT!
A meeting of the parties to an important UN Treaty on environmental rights - the Aarhus Convention - is being held 25-27 May. The Aarhus Convention covers Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. It has been ratified by 34 countries.

The current meeting will consider specific proposals to amend the Convention to extend the rights of the public to participate in decision-making on GMOs. However, the biotech industry is opposed to any amendment to the Convention that would give the public any greater rights. And so too is the new pro-industry grouping - The Public Research and Regulation Initiative (PRRI) (see above item).

If, however, the negotiating Parties do decide to amend the Aarhus Convention in relation to GMOs, PRRI wants the negotiating parties to exclude research and development activities.

You get the picture - these "public researchers", who are saying they need a far bigger voice in decision-making on GMOs want the public firmly excluded from such decisions. In other words, they want a bigger say for themselves over these issues, and no say at all for the public who fund their research and pay their salaries!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5274

See EUROPE for more on the Aarhus Convention.

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CHAPELA VINDICATED!
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+ CHAPELA GETS TENURE AND RETROACTIVE PAY!
UC Berkeley new Chancellor, Robert Birgeneau, has granted tenure and retroactive pay to Prof Ignacio Chapela. The action comes a month after Chapela filed suit against the University of California. Said Chapela, "I'm glad that this small chapter in my story is over. This takes the tenure issue out of centre stage and allows us to concentrate on the questions of the corruption of the university and how decisions are made."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5272

An article in the journal Nature noted, "In the United States and beyond, the Chapela tenure fight has symbolized the conflict between academics' freedom to challenge policies, and the relationship between public universities and industry. The case has taken on special significance in recent years as professors at other US universities have come under attack for their views, with leading politicians calling for reduced tenure protections."

A University spokesman claimed, "This shows the process works," but Chapela responded, "To me, it shows the system doesn't work, unless you fight."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5282

Chapela thanked his supporters in a statement, which said, "This decision is a clear message of vindication not only of myself, but also of the innumerable individual and collective efforts put into this process by all of you. You have generously added your voices to the many questions raised around my tenure review and demanded a process free of conflict of interest or undue influence, and for this I am thankful. I foresee no official recognition of your presence, but you should know that it was precisely that which in the end achieved this result."
Rest of Chapela's statement: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5261

+ GMWATCH COMMENT ON CHAPELA'S TENURE
While we celebrate this wonderful news, let's not forget that denial of tenure was an outrageous example of the university-industrial complex out of control. Tenure was denied to Ignacio despite the fact that:

*32 out of 33 voting members of Ignacio's department recommended that he should be tenured at Berkeley, based on his record and his performance;

*17 out of 18 worldwide experts recommended that Ignacio should be tenured based on his record and performance;

*2 'secret' expert committees independently and unanimously recommended that he should be tenured.

Ignacio was denied tenure above all because of his courage in protesting UC Berkeley's prostitution of itself to Novartis (now Syngenta) - a corporation whose character he fully comprehended, having worked for Novartis before coming to UC Berkeley. And, of course, showing that even a remote part of Mexico had been contaminated by banned GM corn didn't help either.

We also shouldn't forget that the denial of tenure was but one part of an orchestrated campaign of threats, reprisal and vilification that this courageous scientist has suffered.

Nor should we forget all the other scientists who have come under attack for standing up to corporate interests and the corruption of academia. In most cases, these victims of corporate retribution never achieve even partial redress - let alone the total vindication that (thankfully) Ignacio has achieved.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5261

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SCIENTISTS UNDER ATTACK
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+ FROM ARTICLE ON GM POLICY IN TURKEY
A bio-engineering scientist in Turkey with five years' experience in DNA testing of transgenic crops said that she came to the subject with an open mind, "neither for nor against, but now the risk side seems to outweigh the benefits for me."

She declined to reveal her name while pursuing a court case against her university for this month reassigning her to another department and taking her lab away. The researcher had raised funds from government and industry (80,000 euros from the State Planning Organization and 175,000 euros from Turkish food conglomerate Ülker) to set up an independent laboratory.

She was days away from final stage testing on seed samples gathered around Turkey when the news came from her rector.

The chairman of the Agricultural Engineers Association, Gökhan Günaydýn, said... "Where the pressure comes from is not clear, except that the same pressure is coming to our association," he said. "They blame us as anti-GMO activists, but I stood up in Parliament last month and said that we have no financial ties to any of these companies, unlike certain academicians who have a salary from their university and at the same time, take money as consultants to industry."

...a study at Middle Eastern Technical University (METU) that found GM tomato seeds in Turkey. "The minister of agriculture said it was not
true, that testing was complicated and that the school must have made a mistake, but METU researcher Candan Gurakan came back and asserted that foreign labs had confirmed the findings," he said.

The temporarily anonymous university researcher said she believes "GM corn and soy to be growing, Turkey's two largest crops, and of course we already found tomatoes."

"The ministry just doesn't want to be the one to say GMOs already exist in Turkey."

taken from 'Turkey working to form policy on genetically modified organisms', Turkish Daily News (Istambul)
http://www.tdn.com.tr/index.php

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MONTREAL MADNESS
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+ TEWOLDE GETS VISA!
Dr Tewolde Egziabher, Africa's chief biosafety negotiator, who was denied a visa from the Canadian government to enable him to attend a crucial biosafety meeting in Montreal, finally received the visa on the afternoon of 24 May. The meeting is being held from 25 May to 3 June 2005. Tewolde expects to arrive there late on 26 May, in time to join the end of the discussion on liability and redress for those who suffer loss from GM contamination.

The visa was granted after protests flooded in to Canadian government officials. Tewolde wrote to his supporters, saying, "Thank you all for your tremendous support. Multilateralism was getting another knock from the State level, but the grassroots multilateralism in which you have all been a joint force has won."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5272

Tewolde tells why he thinks the Canadian government didn't want him to participate in the talks and says we must act now to protect the right of developing countries to participate in future talks:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5280

+ EGYPT SAYS HOST COUNTRIES MUST FACILITATE, NOT HINDER, PARTICIPATION
In Montreal, Egypt formally regretted the current absence of negotiator Tewolde Egziabher due to Canada's initial denial of a visa and stressed that host countries are required to facilitate, not hinder, participation. Widespread unease is said to have been caused by the absence of several key participants who had not received their visas on time. For anyone wanting to follow the detail of what's been going on in Montreal, here's a very useful report on what's been happening: http://www.iisd.ca/vol09/enb09313e.html

+ FARMERS DENIED VISA FOR CANADA TO TELL STORY OF GM FAILURE
On 23 May two farmers from India were denied visas to attend the same meeting that Tewolde was hoping to attend in Montreal.

Prof Kavulakunpla Ramanna Chowdry, who is a farmer, a retired professor of agricultural economics and an adviser to the Andhra Pradesh state government, and Kaka Ramakrishna, a farmer who suffered huge losses in the recent Bt cotton disaster in his region, were to speak about their experiences with the GM cotton.

"I don't know whether this is about keeping the opposition out of Canada," said Beth Burrows, director of the Edmonds Institute, which was sponsoring the farmers' visit, "or whether this is about Canada's usual treatment of people from the Third World."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5264

+ 'PUBLIC' SCIENCE LOBBYISTS STRUT STUFF
The Public Research and Regulation Initiative (PRRI) start their side events in Montreal from Thursday, aimed at promoting GM and encouraging lax regulation. You can bet they didn't have any trouble with visas!!! See LOBBYWATCH SPECIAL (above) for more on this insidious lobby group.
http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=316

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FOOD SAFETY
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+ HEALTH FEARS OVER SECRET STUDY INTO GM FOOD
GM WATCH readers will have heard over a year ago about the study "revealed" in the story below (shortened), from the UK's Independent newspaper, but it's great that it's made the mainstream at last:

Rats fed on a diet rich in GM corn developed abnormalities to internal organs and changes to their blood, raising fears that human health could be affected by eating GM food. The Independent on Sunday can reveal details of secret research carried out by Monsanto, which shows that rats fed the modified corn had smaller kidneys and variations in the composition of their blood.

According to the confidential 1,139-page report, these health problems were absent from another batch of rodents fed non-GM food as part of the research project.

The disclosures come as European countries, including Britain, prepare to vote on whether the GM corn should go on sale to the public. A vote last week by the European Union failed to secure agreement over whether the product should be sold here, after Britain and nine other countries voted in favour.

However, the disclosure of the health effects on the Monsanto rats has intensified the row over whether the corn is safe to eat without further research. Doctors said the changes in the blood of the rodents could indicate that the rats' immune system had been damaged or that a disorder such as a tumour had grown and the system was mobilising to fight it.

Dr Vyvyan Howard, a senior lecturer on human anatomy and cell biology at Liverpool University, called for the publication of the full study, saying the summary gave "prima facie cause for concern".

Dr Michael Antoniou, an expert in molecular genetics at Guy's Hospital Medical School, described the findings as "very worrying from a medical point of view", adding: "I have been amazed at the number of significant differences they found [in the rat experiment]."

GM WATCH comment: Some of you will have heard Scientific Alliance GM pusher Prof Sir Colin Berry acting as Monsanto's spokesman on this study on BBC Radio's Farming Today. Berry said the findings were "not an issue", "not significant", and "within the range of changes that you see" normally.

However, Dr Arpad Pusztai once told me that scientific findings are either statistically significant, or not statistically significant, depending on objective measurements. The findings in this study were statistically significant. It is therefore not scientifically valid for Berry to claim that they were not an issue, not significant, etc. He is merely stating his unsupported opinion.
Read the Independent's great updated article on Pusztai and research findings on GM:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5266

On Farming Today, Berry also denied that the study was kept secret, claiming that it was "discoverable" in certain countries. This is nonsense, as activists worldwide found when they tried to get hold of it. Read the next item, to find out how governments connived with Monsanto to keep the study secret...

+ GOVERNMENTS CONSPIRE WITH MONSANTO TO COVER UP MAIZE DANGERS
A press release from GM Free Cymru says leaks from France, Germany and Belgium suggest that the GM maize variety MON863 may be unsafe for animal or human consumption, and that a major cover-up is under way, designed to protect Monsanto and the regulatory authorities which have prematurely advised that MON863 is safe.

The extent of the cover-up is becoming clearer by the day. In France Crii-Gen has been trying for more than 18 months to obtain sight of the full rat feeding study, national opinions and scientific advice on MON863, and other materials held on the dossier by the French authorities and the European Food Safety Authority. They have received point-blank refusals to their requests, on the grounds that all of these documents are covered by the "confidential business interest" (CBI) rules. However, these rules specify that the only material which may be classified as secret is data on the manufacturing process / genetic characterization of the GM variety; and that all material relating to health and safety issues must be released into the public domain.

In the UK, GM Free Cymru has been trying for months to obtain sight of the rat feeding study, the "opinions" of various EU governments, and other studies and papers relating to the MON863 application; but access has been consistently refused.

The only information available to the public on the EFSA and other websites is information which supports the EFSA / ACRE attitude that MON863 is perfectly safe; all information which might be embarrassing for Monsanto and the authorities has been given "CBI" classification.
More and sources at: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5270
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5271

+ LEAKED MONSANTO REPORT HIT SHARE PRICES
The leaks about the Monsanto rat feeding study (see above items) have hit the company hard. Shares were down 34 cents at $57.66 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange on 23 May.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5276

+ CONTAMINATED MAIZE IMPOUNDED AT IRISH PORT
A US consignment of GM corn gluten feed tainted with Syngenta's illegal strain Bt10 has been impounded upon arrival at an Irish port. The shipment was tested in the US and the positive results for Bt10 were sent to Ireland to allow Dublin to stop the cargo on arrival. Curiously, although it has been claimed that only about 1,000 tons of animal feed containing the Bt10 corn have entered the EU since 2001, in this one impounded consignment there is some 2,500 tonnes sitting in an Irish port!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5279

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ASIA
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+ INDIAN FARMERS WIN BATTLE AGAINST GM CROPS
P.V. Satheesh, who heads the Coalition in Defence of Diversity in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh gave a presentation in London on Tuesday on how three years of research had helped Indian farmers win a battle against GM crops by establishing that they can be less productive than normal crops. Earlier this month the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee of the Indian government withheld licenses for commercial cultivation on three varieties of GM cotton developed by Monsanto - Mech-12 Bt, Mech-162 Bt and Mech-184 Bt.

Though costing nearly 400 per cent more to buy, the average yield from the GM cotton was found to be about 150kg per acre, 30 percent less than from other non-GM varieties. The GM seeds also cost 12 percent more to cultivate in their need for manure and irrigation, and the reduction in pesticide use was negligible. ''Non-GM farmers earned 60 percent more than their GM counterparts over the three-year period,'' said the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in a paper.

Dr Michel Pimbert, director of the sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods programme at IIED, told the audience, "Rich government leaders are hotly debating the development agenda, but, sadly, small farmers and others such as the urban poor go largely unheard. This democratic deficit is harming both people and environment."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5277

+ BIOTECH QUICK-FIX WILL NOT END HUNGER IN CHINA - LANCET
A Lancet editorial says: "this year, China is expected to become the first country in the world to commercialise a GM major food grain crop (rice). With less than 10% of the world's arable land, 22% of the world's population, and 142 million hungry people, China seems to have ample justification for its policy of aggressive research into GM foods as a way of boosting crop yields [GM WATCH comment: in fact, there has been no convincing research that GM does boost crop yields]. .. However, this approach will make little headway in feeding China's malnourished millions unless the underlying causes of hunger - poverty and inequitable access to land and trade - are properly addressed.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5267

+ CHINA RATIFIES GM CONTROL TREATY
China, one of the world's largest importers of GM crops, said it has ratified the Cartagena Protocol, a UN treaty the US has spurned that aims for more transparency and control over trade in GM foods.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5267

+ CANADIAN GOVT URGED TO STOP GM CONTAMINATION IN JAPAN
Greenpeace and Japanese consumer, environmental and farmer organizations have appealed to the Canadian government to stop contamination of food products and the environment by exporting only non-GM canola in future.

The Japan National Institute for Environmental Studies found GM canola growing wild around five ports and investigations by citizens groups found the GM canola growing wild around a further three ports.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5275

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THE AMERICAS
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+ PHARMA RICE FIRM TARGETS THE SOUTH
Ventria Bioscience, which wants to plant GM pharma rice, has already been run out of town in California and the Monsanto state of Missouri. Now, the best option is outside of the US, said Scott Deeter, president of Ventria. "We are evaluating our options and looking at possible locations in Puerto Rico and South America," he said. "Growing in the Southern Hemisphere will allow Ventria to diversify production locations and have two growing seasons per year."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5268

Telling quote:
"Dodgy industries selling dubious wares have long headed for the Third World when their activities have been questioned in the West. The biotech industry has been following this well-trodden path ever since consumers in Europe turned against GM food and crops."
- Independent on Sunday, ''GM by the back door''

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EUROPE
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+ SCIENTIST WARNS OF SEVERE UNINTENDED IMPACTS OF GM MAIZE
European countries should not grow insect-resistant GM maize because of its potential threat to the environment, Prof Bela Darvas of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences argued at a press conference organised by Greenpeace.

Prof Darvas's research on behalf of the Hungarian government into the effects of a Monsanto maize (MON 810) led Hungary in January 2005 to impose a national ban on the crop, which is authorised for growing in the EU. His preliminary findings show that protected butterfly species and other organisms are sensitive to the Bt toxin produced by the crop, and raised other questions regarding secondary effects. "Bt maize can have a severe unintended impact on a variety of species," he said.

Prof Darvas added, "We asked Monsanto several times to provide us with material necessary to conduct further research on behalf of the Hungarian government, but the company said that it did not wish to provide more modified seeds for research purposes. This is absolutely unacceptable from a scientific standpoint. We cannot suspend studies into the safety of GM crops just because the findings upset the biotech industry. If this is a reflection of how little they care about the impact of their products on the environment, we have cause to be very concerned."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5278

Greenpeace Austria has provided a German translation of the Hungarian studies on the effects of GM Bt-maize pollen on the larvae of the peacock butterfly. On nettle leaves coated with MON810 pollen in a concentration common at field borders, Darvas and SzŽk”¡cs found a mortality of 20% for the first larvae stages.
http://www.greenpeace.at/uploads/media/dt_abstract_darvas.pdf

+ EU DOUBLE STANDARDS IN CENTRAL ASIA CONDEMNED
More than 30 civil society organizations from Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) have condemned the EU's attempts to prevent the public in non-EU countries from opposing the introduction of GMOs. The verdict came during a meeting of the parties to a UN Treaty on environmental rights, called the Aarhus Convention, in Almaty, (Kazakhastan), Central Asia.

Said Serhiy Vykhryst from Ecoforum, "The behaviour of the EU is outrageous... While the EU has one of the strongest biosafety frameworks for GMOs in the world, it is promoting weak GMO laws abroad. This is a clear unfair double standard."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5269