GMWatch News Review archive

from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

It's been a trying time for civil liberties. Peaceful protests against biotech companies and other dangerous corporations have been suppressed under dubious new laws ("aggravated trespass" and "anti-terror") which we at GM WATCH predicted from the beginning would be used for exactly this purpose (ANTI-GM PROTESTS SUPPRESSED WORLD-WIDE).

And Canada's government appears to be preventing Africa's chief biosafety negotiator, the brilliant Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, from attending a Cartagena Biosafety Protocol meeting by denying him a visa. Please protest NOW - time is of the essence (CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK).

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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CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
ANTI-GM PROTESTS SUPPRESSED WORLD-WIDE
LOBBYWATCH
ASIA
THE AMERICAS
CODEX LABELLING DECISION
EUROPE
AFRICA
AUSTRALASIA
RESOURCES
CORPORATE CRIMES
GM VIRUSES

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CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
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+ CANADIAN GOVT DENIES VISA FOR CHIEF AFRICAN BIOSAFETY NEGOTIATOR - PROTEST!
The Canadian government has denied a visa to the chief African biosafety negotiator, preventing him from attending a vital Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety meeting in Montreal, 25 -27 May 2005.

Demand that the Canadian Government issue a visa immediately.

The Protocol is the United Nations treaty that governs the international movement of genetically modified (GM) organisms. Dr. Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, the Ethiopian government's chief expert and its representative to the Montreal-based UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) had his passport returned without the requested Canadian visa yesterday after a long delay, and without explanation.

The renowned scientist submitted his passport to the Canadian embassy on May 5 and had planned to fly to Oslo, Norway for inter-regional negotiations prior to attending the Montreal meetings that begin Wednesday, May 25. Because his passport was returned May 17, Dr. Tewolde was also forced to miss the Oslo meeting.

To demand that the Canadian government issue a visa to Dr. Tewolde immediately, please e-mail, call or fax:

Hon. Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Telephone (613) 995-8872
Fax: (613) 995-9926

Hon. Andy Mitchell ,Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Telephone:(613) 996-3434
Fax: (613) 991-2147

Hon. Stéphane Dion, Minister of the Environment,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Telephone: (613) 996-5789
Fax: (613) 996-6562

Hon. Hon. Joseph Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Telephone: (613) 992-
6361 Fax: (613) 992-9791

Dr. Tewolde is the recipient of a number of awards and honours - in particular, the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize). Dr. Tewolde is one of the best known leaders among African diplomats addressing environmental issues. However, his positions have not been popular with the Canadian government.

Tewolde writes: "...now that I have been prevented from coming to Montreal, who knows which ones of you will be prevented next time? ...I protest, and I invite you to join me in the protest, to the Government of Canada. If this act of sieving by Canada continues, I suggest that we either move our Secretariat of the CBD elsewhere, or at least refuse to hold any negotiation sessions in Canada."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5255

Here are a couple of the choice comments we've seen that have been sent to Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs:

"This refusal strikes me as more irrational - more paranoid, and more stupid - than the USA's withholding of [the Nobel prize winning scientist] Linus Pauling's passport." [Pauling was prevented by the U.S. from travelling for 2 years because he hadn't condemned communism withsufficient vigour!]

"Are people not allowed in Canada to listen to or have views about an unethical, ruthless and potentially life-destroying 'science' anymore, and especially not if they are Black?"

+ EXCERPTS FROM INTERVIEW WITH TEWOLDE
Tewolde: "...contrary to the claims of the GM lobby, these crops would not have fed nor freed us by giving us greater control over our production, but rather enslaved Africa once more - particularly because of the patenting aspect. ...our farmers would have beciome serfs to the patent-holding companies overseas. A kind of slavery would have been reintroducded, not as historically [with] our people transported to grow crops in the plantations of America, but rather that we would now be forced to grow US companies' crops in Africa's soil."

Tewolde [is] something of a hate figure to global agribusiness.

Tewolde: "I'll give you one example, which concerns a former US ambassador to the UN, who now runs a company that seeks to increase investment opportunities for commercial companies in Africa. When I was regional representative during the negotiations over the Cartagena Protocol, this person contacted me and said, 'Why have you created this juggernaut, this big organisation that opposes Africa's development...' I presumed he meant the Africa Group so I pointed out to him that my government couldn't even afford to send me to the negotiations. I could only attend thanks to a free ticket from the UN. My African colleagues were only there too thanks to hand outs from the UN... If we did manage to appeal to others, then it must be because there was something in what we had to say."

Taken from an interview with Tewolde in the current Ecologist magazine (May 2005)
http://www.theecologist.org/

+ CANADA'S DOUBLE STANDARDS: TEWOLDE VS CANADA'S PIT BULL
If you think the Canadian government might be prepared to stoop to anything, after delaying and then denying a visa to Africa's chief biosafety negotiator and after leading the industry charge to bring back Terminator, then you're probably right!

Contrast the Canadian government's treatment of Tewolde with its treatment of biotech attack dog, Doug Powell, over the travel issue.

EXCERPT from the GM WATCH profile of Powell:
Powell's notoriety for "aggressive if not vicious attacks" extends beyond his 'attack dog' defence of GMOs. In autumn 2004 he made the front page of Guelph's local paper when he pleaded guilty to assault...

A curious aspect of the case was that the judge was asked to give Powell a discharge. Discharges are normally only granted to first offenders so that they do not acquire a criminal record. Powell, as the judge noted, already had a criminal record as a result of the two prior convictions for serious criminal offences. However, the judge was advised that Powell - "a well-respected consultant, a prolific writer and an expert in his field of food science who travels extensively" - had a travel waiver that allowed him to enter the United States despite his criminal convictions. The judge was persuaded by a joint submission on sentencing from the prosecution and the defence that a criminal conviction for domestic violence might serve to prevent Powell from crossing the border.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5257

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ANTI-GM PROTESTS SUPPRESSED WORLD-WIDE
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It's not exactly hard to spot the pattern.

Students at the University of Lancaster in the UK peacefully protest against a "corporate venturing" conference on campus involving, amongst others, Lord Sainsbury, GM firm Dupont, arms manufacturer BAE Systems and Shell, the oil giant responsible for environmental devastation in the Niger delta. 5 months later the protesters suddenly find themselves facing charges of aggravated trespass carrying a possible jail sentence.

In Denmark Greenpeace protesters go into a company building to hang up a banner protesting against GM crops and eight months later find the organisation is to be prosecuted under anti-terrorism laws.

In May 2003, protesters in St Louis, who had come to demonstrate at the Monsanto-backed World Agricultural Forum (WAF) taking place in the city, found themselves arrested and held for hours before they even had the chance to protest. They're now bringing a legal case against the mayor and police chief for conspiring to stifle their protests.

In Thailand, GM protesters find themselves facing 5 years of prison for exposing an environmental crime involving illegal contamination of innocent farmers' papaya crops.

Among these attempts to silence protest, what's happened at Lancaster University is, if anything, the most depressing. The criminal charges could only have been brought against the protesters at the request of their university. As one of the students has commented, "[the university] has a duty to allow and even facilitate the expression of views opposing unethical companies and the university's involvement with them. It is wrong, and in the long term counterproductive, for an academic institution to ignore such concerns, let alone to prosecute those who raise them."

For more information on the Lancaster 6 and how to protest:
http://www.free-webspace.biz/GeorgeFox/index.html
To protest what's happening in Thailand:
http://act.greenpeace.org/1114629368/index_html
For articles/links to articles on all the above incidents:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5248

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ GREENPEACE DOESN'T BACK GENETIC ENGINEERING
Greenpeace has strongly denied the suggestion that it supports the cultivation of GM pharmaceutical or "pharma" crops, a suggestion made by the Grand Forks biotech company Agragen. Greenpeace vehemently opposes the environmental release of any GM crops, especially GM pharma crops.
The article that Greenpeace is responding to: http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/11664113.htm

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ASIA
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+ THAILAND TRYING TO OPEN THE DOOR TO GMOs
As mentioned above, the Thai government is taking two Greenpeace activists to court on charges of trespassing, theft and destruction of property after a media stunt at the Khon Kaen research centre. They face five years in prison. "This is the opening of the GMO door in Thailand," defendant Patwajee Srisuwan warned. "They are trying to stop us from exposing more information about what they're doing with GMO papaya, because the [agriculture] department has tried to push for its commercialisation."

Thailand is under pressure to resume field trials of GM crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5247

+ INDIAN NGOs DEMAND WITHDRAWAL OF NATIONAL BIOTECH POLICY
As the deadline fixed by the Department of Biotechnology for receiving feedback from the public on the National Biotechnology Development Strategy paper passed, scores of NGOs demanded that the draft policy be withdrawn immediately and extensive consultations put into place before coming up with a policy. They contend that the policy has been drafted without any participatory processes on important issues like biotechnology in agriculture.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5241
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5246

+ ANDHRA PRADESH FARMERS' EXPERIENCES WITH BT COTTON
Here's a sample of Andhra Pradesh farmers' experiences with Bt cotton:
May 2005 - Mekaleswari, a farmer in Komala village, Ranganathpally Mandal, Andhra Pradesh, had planted Bollgard (Monsanto's brand of Bt cotton) in two acres. "We planted the way they told us to. What do I know? They said pests won't come. Didn't happen like that. Crop is full of pests. Ate into the leaves. Holes all over," she says. She points out that seed dealers then gave her pesticide and asked farmers to spray once. Despite that, pests overwhelmed their crops. "Again I bought mandu (pesticide) and sprayed. Thrice. Pests still continued to eat away", she says. Here and there, a plant grew one or two or three or five bolls. Some plants have none whatsoever, adds Mekaleswari.
More: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5246

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THE AMERICAS
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+ BRAZIL MINISTRIES FIGHT GM CORN IMPORTS
Brazil's Environment and Health ministries are contesting the decision of the country's biosecurity commission, CTNBio, to authorize imports of GM corn from Argentina to make up a shortage in production.

The ministries argue that CTNBio President Jorge Almeida Guimaraes didn't have the power to allow the six varieties of GM corn be imported for animal feed without holding a vote among the commission members or conducting an environmental and health impact analysis.

The recent actions of CTNBio, a regulatory body with massive conflicts of interest among its members, have been the centre of controversy. Soon after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed off on the biosecurity bill, the committee liberated a number of GM varieties. This created a storm of protest and, in the middle of last month, a government decision prohibited CTNBio from issuing rulings until the biosecurity law is published.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5235

+ MONSANTO DEFEATED IN ATTEMPT TO INVADE BRAZILIAN SCHOOLS
Brazil's ministry of culture has declined to support a "social" project financed by Monsanto, which was directed to students in Brazilian schools. After intensive lobbying from individuals and NGOs, the ministry decided to suspend the distribution of the magazines that contained articles about agriculture, and were sponsored by Monsanto.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5250

+ BRAZIL'S ACCELERATING RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION
The Amazon rainforest is being destroyed at near record levels, according to new figures released by the Brazilian government. The environment ministry said 26,000 sq km of forest were chopped down in the 12 months prior to August 2004. The figure is the second highest on record, 6% higher than the previous 12 months. Deforestation was worst in the state of Mato Grosso where vast swathes of land have been cleared to grow soya.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5259

+ STAR WARS SPOOF PITS ORGANIC VS DARK SIDE
Marketers for M&Ms, Diet Pepsi and Frito-Lay are betting millions that ad tie-ins with the opening of the latest Star Wars movie will sell lots of junk food. But the Force may well be with a tiny upstart called Store Wars: The Organic Rebellion, an online video that's been flying around the Internet and so far has been seen by more than 168,000 viewers.

A project of the National Organic Trade Association, the five-minute video features a supermarket cast of thousands - vegetables, fruits, pastries and canned goods - and tells the story of the battle between those who follow the organic "way of the Farm" and those who've gone "to the dark side" - growing conventional and GM crops.

When asked to comment on the video, Kimball Nill, technical director of the American Soybean Association, said it was misleading. Nill claimed that GM soy planting in the US has allowed farmers "to reduce the total amount of herbicides applied to the land and reduce soil erosion to nearly zero by using no-till planting. So, frankly, it's been a good thing."

But Nill's claims are contradicted by the research of Dr Chuck Benbrook, a former Executive Director of the Board on Agriculture of the US National Academy, which shows that GM crops have increased the use of pesticides overall.
To see the video: www.storewars.org
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5243

+ DR MARC LAPPE - SCIENTIST OF INTEGRITY - DIES
Dr Marc Lappe, author, educator, toxicologist and medical ethicist, has died of cancer aged 62. Dr Lappe co-wrote the book Against the Grain, which accurately predicted that many claims by manufacturers of GM foods would prove false.

"Three interrelated issues mark our times: We have altered the planet with our chemicals; we are transforming agriculture with bioengineering; and we are contemplating the recreation of humankind through genetic technologies. All three compel us to reexamine how we use scientific knowledge: will our new technologies be greeted with 'hurrahs' or a whisper of despair from the species that we have decimated, crops that are gene-contaminated and people who, though yet to be created, may yet curse us for our technological prowess?"
- Marc Lappe
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5252

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CODEX LABELLING DECISION
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+ CODEX DEFERS DECISION ON GM LABELS
The Codex Committee on Food Labelling on May 11 deferred a decision on draft guidelines for mandatory labelling of GM food in response to opposition from the US and four other countries. During debate 30 delegations spoke in favour of mandatory labelling and 18 remained silent.

"Despite the overwhelming support for labelling, the conclusion of the meeting was to defer a decision," a Consumers International spokesperson said. "Discussions will continue over the year, but little other progress was made at the meeting."

The US has kept biotech labelling bottled up in the CCFL for more than a decade. This year the US argued that the committee should abandon work on the issue if it cannot make progress!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5244

+ AUSSIES ACCUSED OF DOUBLE STANDARDS FOR SAKE OF U.S.
Consumers International (CI) has accused Australia of playing double standards at the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL), which aims to set an international standard for labelling GM foods.

A delegation from CI lobbied delegates from 55 countries to speak up for an international guideline on labelling of all GM food that would protect countries which already have labelling of GM food from being challenged at the World Trade Organisation.

CI's Julia Crosfield said it was incredible that Australia, which already has mandatory labelling requirements for GM food, had spoken out against Codex guidelines. The other country that took a similar stand was Thailand.

Australian Consumers' Association's Clare Hughes said: "We are ashamed that Australia spoke against labelling of GM food. Australia has labelling of GMOs and yet the delegation failed to stand up for the even limited amount of protection we have at home.

"As such, we are denying countries from having the benefits of something that Australians already have." Hughes reckoned that Australia's stand stemmed from its trade agreement with the US.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5244

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EUROPE
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+ GREENPEACE CHARGED UNDER DANISH TERROR LAW FOR GM CROPS ACTION
Greenpeace has become the first body to be charged under the provisions of the anti-terrorism package over a protest action against genetic modification. This conflicts with the aim of the anti-terrorism legislation, several Danish parliamentarians have said.

On 13 October 2003 Greenpeace carried out an action against GM crops at Danish agriculture's headquarters at Axelborg in Copenhagen. Activists entered Axelborg illegally and hung up a giant banner. Greenpeace activists have used the same tactics in scores of previous actions and this usually triggers a fine for each individual activist. The charge against Greenpeace is based on a law change that allows entire organisations to be prosecuted for the acts of individual members.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5240

+ EU POSTPONES KEY VOTE ON APPROVING NEW "LIVE" GMO
The European Commission has postponed a watershed vote of EU environment experts on whether to allow a new GM crop to be grown in Europe's fields, officials at the EU executive said. There was no new date for the meeting, which was tentatively scheduled for June 6. It would have been the EU's first attempt to approve a "live" GMO for planting since 1998, before the bloc began its six-year ban on allowing imports of new GMOs.

The crop in question is GM maize 1507, made by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a subsidiary of DuPont, and Dow AgroSciences unit Mycogen seeds. It is engineered to resist the corn-borer insect and a herbicide.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5234

+ EU PREPARES FOR BUSY TIMETABLE ON GM VOTES
The European Commission has scheduled several meetings of EU ministers and member state experts in the coming weeks to debate approving new GM crops and foods. Full list at:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5234

+ EUROPE'S REGIONS DEMAND A SAY IN GM CROP DECISIONS
European regions have reiterated their demand to be included in any decisions over the commercial cultivation of GMOs in order for them to enhance and promote quality agriculture and food products. Over 250 people from across Europe on 17 May attended an over-subscribed conference in Brussels to hear regional Ministers and MEP's call for a bigger say in whether GM crops are grown commercially in their region.

The number of European regions and provinces now declaring themselves "GM Free zones", or publicly wishing to restrict GM crops, has climbed to 162. Over 4500 local governments and smaller areas in Europe are similarly calling for restrictions to commercial growing (see www.gmofree-europe.org for a full list).
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5251

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AFRICA
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+ ZAMBIA BUILDS LAB TO DETECT GM FOOD IMPORTS
Zambia has begun building a modern molecular biology laboratory to detect GM organisms entering the country. The National Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research (NISIR) began the project last month. It is expected to finish by December. The Norwegian government has donated US$330,000 for buying equipment and training scientists. Despite Zambia experiencing its third severe drought since 2000, the government is sticking to its decision to ban GM food imports.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5245

+ THE GM DEBATE IN ZAMBIA
An article, "The Rise and Fall of the GM Debate in Zambia" by Zarina Geloo, has been widely circulated on pro-GM listservs but there are good reasons for treating some of its claims with caution.

The article is published by the Panos Institute in London, which provides an information service specialising in issues for developing countries. When the GM food-aid crisis hit Zambia in 2002, Panos put forward the view that the "heated and difficult" debate over the issue was "tending to drown out the voices in favour" of GMOs.

The services and perspective that Panos offers have attracted powerful support. In 2004 the British government's Department for International Development entered into a partnership with PANOS worth over a million pounds in its first year, with a possibility of a further 5 years of similarly generous funding. Panos also attracts generous funding from major US foundations, like the Ford Foundation.

This pattern of support has been reflected in Zambia where Panos has been funded to carry out a "programme of initiatives... to raise public understanding and stimulate public debate in Zambia on the issues surrounding genetically modified organisms" by the Rockefeller Foundation. As Panos itself acknowledges, the Rockefeller Foundation "is in favour of informed, constructive use of GM technologies."

Panos claims its activities in Zambia have been conducted independently of its sponsor but Geloo's article very much reflects the Panos line on the GM issue in Zambia and often at the expense of the facts.
More: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5245

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AUSTRALASIA
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+ GM BUG TRIAL SHELVED BECAUSE OF CONSUMER OPPOSITION TO GM
A 10-year project to develop a GMO to help cattle fight Gidyea and Heartleaf poisoning has been shelved. Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) has decided against applying to do further testing. MLA's Dr Ruben Rose says consumer attitudes to GM food could create problems for beef producers.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5253

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RESOURCES
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+ RESOURCES FOR GM ACTIVISTS
A useful list of articles, research papers etc. on the net is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5237

+ NEW BOOK ON HUMAN GE
Author Pete Shanks has written a layperson's introduction to the scientific, political, and social dimensions of human genetic engineering, titled Human Genetic Engineering: A Guide for Activists, Sceptics, and the Very Perplexed.

Dr Marcy Darnovsky, one of the most important voices on this subject, describes this new book as, "a terrific introduction to human genetic engineering and the fraught issues it raises. ... [It] covers the cloning of people and pets, "transhumanism," eugenics, sex selection, designer babies, gene doping, stem cells, and more. ... The book's appearance is engaging, with a table or pull quote or something else visually interesting on almost every page. The writing is top-notch - entertaining, even funny and intermittently irreverent, but without ever losing sight of the seriousness and importance of the subject matter... I recommend this book very highly."

The book is only published in the US so far but you can get it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1560256958
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5258

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CORPORATE CRIMES
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+ MONSANTO BRIBES CASE - FALLOUT IN INDONESIA
The Central Jakarta District Court will hear a civil lawsuit filed by American lobbyist Harvey Goldstein against The Asian Wall Street Journal for an article that described his firm's involvement in a US$50,000 cash payment to a former Indonesian minister.

In a document filed with the court, Goldstein's attorneys claimed that his two companies, Harvest International Indonesia and Harvest International Inc., had lost clients due to an April 5, 2005 article, "Seedy Indonesia Saga: Monsanto Pays to Settle Allegations of Bribery."

"All the allegations made against the plaintiffs as implied by the article are completely false and baseless," the document says. "The article has caused irreparable harm to the plaintiffs' business and reputation."

The 2,803-word article chronicles an alleged cash transfer by Monsanto to former environment minister Nabiel Makarim, which the article said was facilitated by Michael Villarreal, an American ex-employee of Harvest International Indonesia. The article said that Villarreal, with the knowledge of Goldstein, handed over the cash in $100 bills to Makarim on Feb 5, 2002, in an effort to persuade him to modify a rule to allow GM cotton to be grown in Indonesia.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5254

+ DOW REJECTS PROPOSAL TO CLEAN BHOPAL USING FIRST-QUARTER PROFITS
The same man who appeared on BBC World TV last December as a Dow representative to announce that Dow would finally clean up Bhopal showed up at Dow's Annual General Meeting to suggest the same thing to Dow's board of directors and shareholders.

"We made an incredible $1.35 billion this quarter," said "Jude Finisterra," aka Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men. "But for most of us, that'll just mean a new set of golf clubs. Let's do something useful instead - like finally cleaning up the Bhopal plant site, or funding the new clinic there." Dow Chairman Bill Stavropolous responded to "Finisterra's" suggestion with a curt dismissal.
http://theyesmen.org/hijinks/dow/bhopal2004.shtml
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5239

+ THE POOR PAY WITH THEIR LIVES: CLINICAL TRIALS IN INDIA
India is getting set to become a major centre for clinical trials of drugs, writes Suman Sahai. The Indian poor are being transformed into guinea pigs on which drugs, many of them dangerous, will be tested. The bulk of the companies testing their drugs on India's poor will be the MNC pharmaceutical giants. But Indian companies working on GM drugs producing pharmaceutical molecules will also participate.

Because of the high cost of drug-testing and the fact that volunteers in western countries are more conscious of the dangers inherent in such trials and are, therefore, unwilling to participate, pharma companies are increasingly conducting their trials in poor countries like India. Many poor and ignorant people are being exploited by such companies who do not inform them about the drugs being tested on them or the likely dangers.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5239

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GM VIRUSES
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+ US SCIENTISTS PUSH FOR GO-AHEAD TO GENETICALLY MODIFY SMALLPOX
US scientists are awaiting World Health Assembly approval to begin experiments to genetically modify the smallpox virus, one of the most lethal organisms the planet has known.

Researchers have already been given the go-ahead by a technical committee of the World Health Organisation, which accepts the argument that the research could bring new vaccines and treatments for smallpox closer. [Hang on - as this article points out, smallpox was eradicated as a disease in 1977, so what's the point of making vaccines and treatments for it - unless there is a plan to release the virus?!] This week the debate will pass for a final decision to the floor of the full assembly of the WHO, whose representatives from 192 member states begin a 10-day annual meeting in Geneva on May 16.

Protest against the development of GM smallpox to the World Health Organisation:
http://www.smallpoxbiosafety.org
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5242