from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
------------------------------------------------------------
Dear all:
We'd like to apologise to any subscribers who didn't receive our last WEEKLY WATCH. If you want to see the WATCH you missed, then all our list messages are archived here: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive.asp
This week we have a disturbingly high number of stories about GM contamination of conventional and organic crops. They give the lie to the claims of industry and governments worldwide that coexistence between GM and conventional and organic farming is possible.
There's good news on Terminator - the existing moratorium was reaffirmed in spite of the attempts of industry and its Australian, Canadian and New Zealand government patsies to overturn it (CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY).
Claire This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY (COP8)
EUROPE
THE AMERICAS
ASIA
AUSTRALASIA
LOBBYWATCH
CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF SCIENCE
COMPANY NEWS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY (COP8)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ TERMINATOR SEEDS DEFEATED AT GLOBAL CONFERENCE
The delegates of the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP8) in Curitiba, Brazil have decided to keep the de facto moratorium of Terminator field trials and commercialization. This announcement caused relief amongst indigenous peoples, local communities and civil society organisations. There had been long-lasting and strong lobby work by these organizations against attempts, led by Australia, Canada and New Zealand, to overturn the moratorium.
Benedikt Haerlin, director of Save our Seeds and Foundation on Future of Farming, commented: "This victory marks the beginning of the end of Terminator technologies... because it has been won by a uniquely broad and diverse coalition of peasants, farmers, social movements and environmental organisations who are supported by the vast majority of delegates.
"Five hundred thousand farmers in India, 120 scientists in Italy, protesters all over the world, recently staging protests in Delhi and London in front of the New Zealand embassies, indigenous communities around the globe, environmental and consumer organisations from all continents say: sterility will never be a valid concept to maintain and enhance biodiversity and sustainable agriculture, to feed the world and to maintain food sovereignty.
"One argument of the industry was that Terminator was needed to make GMOs safer. Our response is: You should never release seeds that need to be made sterile in order not to threaten the environment. We are confident that this sends a clear message to governments around the world to ban Terminator now, once and forever."
Said Francisca Rodriguez of Via Campesina, a worldwide movement of peasant farmers, "This is a momentous day for the 1.4 billion poor people world wide who depend on farmer saved seeds."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6376
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6374
+ INTERNATIONAL DELEGATION'S SOLIDARITY VISIT TO OCCUPIED SYNGENTA FIELDS
On 22 March, an international delegation of people attending COP8 and related events in Curitiba, Brazil made a solidarity visit to the illegal GM field trials on a Syngenta testing station near Iguacu National Park, currently occupied by about 600 members of the powerful landless movement in Brazil, the MST.
The regional court had given the MST until 22 March to leave, and in theory they could now be evicted. However, the visiting delegation believe an eviction is unlikely, as the governor of the state of Parana is himself unhappy with the illegal trials, and has said he will send his police forces to destroy them.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6377
------------------------------------------------------------
EUROPE
------------------------------------------------------------
+ LABOUR PEERS' CASH FOR PRO-GM INFLUENCE IN GOVT
"Cash for GM?" is the question being posed by Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of the Scottish Parliament Rob Gibson after the publication of the Labour Party loans shows that some of the most prominent backers of the party are also some of the biggest proponents of GM technologies.
Mr Gibson is worried that science and agriculture polices are being decided by a few high-profile, rich and unelected peers.
Lord Sainsbury is one of the Labour Party's biggest donors. He has been a peer since 1997 and as government science minister, he is also a major investor in biotech. Lord Drayson gave GBP1.1 million to the party and was granted a peerage from Tony Blair in 2004.
Lord Drayson is tipped to become Lord Sainsbury's successor as science Minister. When he still headed his biotech company and was also head of the Bioindustry Association, Lord Drayson financially supported the pro-GM Science Media Centre as well as participating in the Pro-GM lobby group Sense About Science. The other GM link is Sir Christopher Evans of Merlin Biosciences, known in some quarters as the "Biotech King".
Mr Gibson said, "Just these three people show that the Labour Party are deeply indebted to these people and therefore are allowing biotech and GM entrepreneurs shape the lives of millions of people throughout the UK.
"I am deeply worried about these connections and the power that unelected but monied people can have to shape people's lives and the future of the environment. The miracle cures and crops that were promised by the biotech industries have not materialized. However Lord Sainsbury (presumably with the consent of Tony Blair) sees fit to close down three centres which are vitally important to long-term research on climate change.
"... after parliamentary votes by Labour and Lib-Dem MSP's to allow GM maize to be grown and ministerial consultations about separation distances between potential GM and non-GM crops, it is important that people mobilize against the kind of technologies that have left vast parts of South American farmland barren and useless."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6400
+ EFSA'S ROLE IN THE CORRUPTION OF GM SCIENCE
On 27 February GM Free Cymru sent a letter to the acting chief executive of the European Food Safety Authority, with copies to all members of the Management Board and all members of the GMO Panel chaired by Dr Harry Kuiper. The letter has not been replied to, or even acknowledged. GM Free Cymru has therefore published the letter, which can be read at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6386
The letter lists specific and coruscating criticisms of the EFSA's conduct of science. It's worth reading in full.
Here's a taster:
"... EFSA accepts routinely the 'science' submitted in application dossiers by the GM corporations, in the full knowledge that all submitted papers are produced with advocacy and verification in mind and that all experiments are non-replicable [because the corporations refuse to release their seeds to independent researchers]. According to the long-established standards of good science, all of these materials should be rejected."
+ JOHN INNES CENTRE WORKING ON NANO-BIOTECH CROSSOVER
Researchers at the John Innes Centre are using what they call a "harmless" virus of cowpea plants in nanotech-biotech crossover experiments because its tiny size and unique structure makes it an ideal scaffold for decoration with various chemicals to give different characteristics, depending on the application required.
GM Watch comment: Even if this virus in its natural form is harmless, it may not be so when used in nanotechnology, which carries poorly understood but unique risks. More on nanotech at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6385
+ SILO DOORS WELDED SHUT AT SWEDISH GM SOY SUPPLIER'S
Greenpeace activists blockaded a storage facility for GM soy in Sweden on 23 March, calling for a halt to its use as animal feed. According to a Greenpeace GM spokesperson the group had "welded shut the silo doors".
Greenpeace activists unfurled banners calling for a halt to genetic experiments on feed and erected signs around Lantmaennen's facility in the city of Norrkoeping which read "Warning: contains GMO, genetically modified organisms." Lantmaennen is one of Sweden's largest importers of animal feed.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6389
Genetically engineered animal feed is sneaking into the food chain. Please sign the petition at
http://prefs.greenpeace.org/mail-links/clicks/14304.2304463.72938
+ SWEDISH CONSUMERS DO NOT WANT TO EAT GM-FED MEAT
In an opinion poll conducted by Exquiro Market Research and commissioned by Greenpeace, 93% of Swedish people asked said that meat products coming from animals fed with GM feed should be labeled. Furthermore, 68% answered that they would not buy meat products if they knew GM feed was used.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6398
+ UK: GM SOY IN 10% OF SAMPLES
Low levels of GM material were found in 10 percent of samples in a survey by Britain's Food Standards Agency of soy-containing ingredients which did not have labels indicating GM material. The FSA said that all 60 samples complied with the law, which allows for small amounts of GM material from accidental mixing of crop varieties.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6398
+ HUNGARY'S SUPERMARKETS ACT AFTER GREENPEACE GM CLAIM
Supermarket chains have promised to remove or investigate suspect products after Greenpeace Hungary claimed that food made with GMO soya was being sold unmarked. Greenpeace said it found 3% of GMO soya in canned meat goods made by Globus, Szegedi Paprika and a third unnamed firm. According to Hungarian law, products with GMO content over 0.9% must indicate this on the packaging.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6398
------------------------------------------------------------
THE AMERICAS
------------------------------------------------------------
+ GM PAPAYA HYPE TAKES A TUMBLE
GM papayas are often hyped as having been the saviour of the Hawaiian papaya industry. Only the GM papayas, the story goes, could withstand a devastating diseaseand so allow commercial production in Hawai'i to continue to thrive.
But an article in the Honolulu Advertiser shows that the Hawai'ian papaya industry has not been thriving. In fact, it has now reached a more than 25 year low. Moreover: "Unlike most other Hawai'i farmers, papaya growers have one other issue with which to deal. Many Hawai'i papaya growers are raising a genetically engineered product that has yet to generate the market acceptance and higher sales prices that non-genetically modified papayas command. Japan, for example, does not accept genetically modified papaya."
And although GM proponents imply in the article that without GM papaya there would be no papaya at all, the article notes that non-GM papaya are also growing in Hawai'i, showing that the disease can be managed by other means. But Hawai'i's non-GM papaya growers find themselves shut out of markets because of the GM papaya that are grown in Hawai'i.
Non-GM papaya growers, including local gardeners and organic farmers, have also been struggling with massive GM contamination problems. Testing of nearly 20,000 papaya seeds from across Hawai'i's Big Island, 80% of which came from organic farms, showed up a GM contamination level of 50%!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6395
+ GMO OMEGA 3 PIG FAT
A BBC report says that scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have created GM pigs that produce compounds which have been widely touted as good for the heart. Much research has suggested that omega-3 fats can cut the risk of heart disease, although the link has been challenged in a new paper.
Currently, the only way for humans to realise the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids is by taking dietary supplements, eating certain types of plants or oily fish such as salmon and tuna that may also contain high levels of mercury."
Professor Keith Kendrick, of the Babraham Institute, University of Cambridge, agreed that the GM pigs might help scientists assess the role of omega-3 fats in reducing cardiovascular disease. However, he said: "I am less convinced that this is going to be a source of omega-3 for human consumption when there are other non-GM sources."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6382
------------------------------------------------------------
ASIA
------------------------------------------------------------
+ INDIA: IN GEORGE'S CLUB
An excellent article by British journalist Andy Rowell comments on George Bush's hypocrisy in threatening Iran for developing a nuclear programme while actively encouraging India to do the same. Rowell says the crucial difference between Iran and India is that India is "in George's club". India has conveniently volunteered to be the dumping ground for America's GM crops, which few other countries will accept, making it the saviour of Monsanto.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6383
+ VIDHARBHA, INDIA: 33 FARMERS COMMIT SUICIDE IN LAST 10 DAYS
Vidharbha's agrarian crisis has worsened. The farm group Vidharbha Janadolan Samiti (VJS) says these farmers are the innocent victims of failed government policies. These policies include promoting Bt cotton. Over 300 of the farmers who committed suicide in the cotton-growing heartland opted for Bt cotton, which failed.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6388
See chart showing farmer suicide locations since June 2005 at
http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=71&page=1
+ NEW STUDY ON BT COTTON SHOWS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN LOSSES
A new study has found that the collective loss incurred by Bt cotton farmers in Andhra Pradesh was around 400 crores of rupees - over 80 million US dollars. For generally poor Indian cotton farmers, these are enormous losses. Interestingly, the government's own assessment of Bt cotton backs up several of this study's findings.
The study used a comparative design to compare the results from Bt cotton fields with those of NPM (Non Pesticidal Management)/organic cotton farmers from four districts. The findings showed that the cost of cultivation per acre on Bt cotton was around 67% higher than NPM/organic cotton, while the net incomes were lower in Bt cotton by at least 37% compared to NPM/organic cotton.
The study was conducted by the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture with partner organizations. The full study report, including reports of fact-finding visits, can be obtained as a pdf from Kavitha Kuruganti at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6393
+ INDIA: ORGANIC FOOD FOR THE PRINCE AND GM FOOD FOR THE MASSES?
Groups working on environmental and sustainable development issues have written an open letter to the chief minister of Punjab, Capt. Amarinder Singh, in protest against his hypocrisy. The groups point out that Singh hosted an organic jamboree for organic farmer and opponent of GM crops, Prince Charles, while at the same time promoting GM crops in the state.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6375
Tribune (India) article: "CM's [Chief Minister's] 'organic date' with Charles raises eyebrows":
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6380
John Vidal of the Guardian (UK) on Charles' visit:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6392
+ PEOPLE'S INITIATIVE TO DEFEND INDIA'S FOOD SECURITY
At a meeting in New Delhi, farmers' organisations, environmental groups, scientists and health and nutrition experts launched an action plan to defend the country's food security. Director of Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology Vandana Shiva and farmers' representative Krishnavir Chaudhary said the plan intended to defend India's food and farming from the threat of GMOs, processed and junk foods, the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture and the proposed Integrated Food Law.
A movement for GMO-free, patent-free villages is to be launched, with the involvement of sustainable agriculture and farm organisations. On May 10, to coincide with the 149th anniversary of the first movement of Independence of 1857, action will be taken to boycott Monsanto's Bt cotton seeds and launch "Asha Yatras" (Pilgrimages of Hope) in regions where Bt cotton aggravated farmers' suicides.
The participants at the conference also decided to launch a People's Initiative in agriculture as an alternative to Monsanto-Walmart-led Indo-US Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture, "which was reducing India's food and farming systems to a market for US agribusiness, threatening farmers' livelihood, biological and food diversity, food safety and health safety."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6378
+ DEMAND TO MAKE PUBLIC THE INDO-U.S. AGRICULTURE DEAL
Dr Suman Sahai of Gene Campaign, Dr Suneelam of the Madhya Pradesh Kissan Sangharsh Samiti and Sri Yudhvir Singh, secretary of the Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements said that the Indo-US agriculture deal announced by President Bush in Delhi is a one-sided affair in which India would gain little and give away a lot.
Charging the government with illegitimate secrecy regarding the terms and conditions of the deal, the representatives of the three leading farming organizations demanded that the Indo-US agriculture deal be placed in Parliament for discussion and circulated to the public so that the views of citizens could be taken before finalizing the agreement.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6378
+ INDIA: FARMERS TOLD NOT TO BUY BT COTTONSEED
The Hyderabad state government has asked farmers not to buy Bt cottonseed as it was in touch with the seed companies to reduce prices. Agriculture minister N. Raghuveera Reddy also said that the government would not give permission to Monsanto to market new seed until the company adequately compensated farmers who suffered by sowing Bt cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6390
+ TRANSGENIC THREAT TO INDIAN CROPS
An article for CNN-IBN News in India says forty GM seed varieties of food crops like rice, maize, okra and mustard are under trial awaiting government approval before they can be commercially grown. But GEAC, the final authority on regulating GM cropping in India, has no idea where the field trials are taking place because private companies like Monsanto keep locations secret.
Additionally, in Warangal, CNN-IBN said it "found a field trial plot where most of the trial guidelines have been violated and it's not just a one-off case". Trial plots are not being isolated as they should be in order to prevent contamination of natural crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6390
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6394
+ HONG KONG GOVT GAVE GM PAPAYA SEEDS TO ORGANIC FARMERS
Greenpeace has said that papaya farmers in Hong Kong were notified by the government late last year that papaya seeds provided to them earlier were "very likely" GM. The government gave 18 local organic farmers the seeds since February last year, Greenpeace's Fung Ka-keung said.
By December, after some of the 300 papaya trees were harvested and sold in markets, it urged farmers who grow organic produce to cut down the papaya trees because the seeds were "very likely to be genetically modified," Fung said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6399
+ PHILIPPINES IS GM-CONTAMINATED
GMOS have contaminated common foods being sold in the Philippines, Greenpeace claimed. Daniel Ocampo of Greenpeace Southeast Asia said the Philippines is one of 39 countries in the world that are affected by contamination from GMOs based on the "GM Contamination Report 2005" of Greenpeace and GeneWatch UK.
The report showed widespread global contamination, illegal planting and negative agricultural side-effects caused by GM products. The contamination cited for the Philippines was the presence of GMOs in common food products, including baby food.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6398
+ KOREA: ORGANIC MILK IS GM-CONTAMINATED
An investigation by the Korea Food and Drug Administration has revealed that organic soybean milk and organic formula manufactured by Korea's leading food companies contain GM components.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6398
------------------------------------------------------------
AUSTRALASIA
------------------------------------------------------------
+ AUSTRALIA'S FARMERS FEAR ECONOMIC PROBLEMS FROM GM CROPS
Farmers in Australia are concerned that the country's GM legislation only considers health and environment risks, not economic consequences.
That narrow definition of risk goes to the heart of the issue for farmers such as Juliet McFarlane. McFarlane, a founding member of the Network of Concerned Farmers, is worried about the costs and liability associated with contamination of non-GM crops with GM material, the possible loss of markets for agricultural produce because of consumer resistance to GM material, and what the GM industry will mean for the corporate control of farming.
"The crux of the argument for us has always been an economic one," she says. "There is absolutely no demonstration in Australia that this will give us a better return, increase our market base and give us more market acceptance."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6387
------------------------------------------------------------
LOBBYWATCH
------------------------------------------------------------
+ MORE ON SHANE MORRIS
We recently demolished Shane Morris's "get out of jail" card concerning the research paper he co-authored on consumer perceptions of GM and non-GM sweet corn.
In his book Secret Ingredients, Canadian journalist Stuart Laidlaw reported examples of gross bias in the way Morris's research was conducted. This included a sign that described the non-GM sweet corn to customers as "wormy"! Laidlaw's book included a photograph of this sign.
Morris's paper failed to make any mention of any of the biasing factors that Laidlaw identified. But Morris claimed in a response on his blog to have no knowledge of the "wormy" sign: "I wasn't even in the Country for your alleged 'sign' fraud!!"
We pointed out that his own paper showed the research going on for weeks after he arrived in Canada and that his CV showed him as working with the lead researcher, Doug Powell, in the period in question.
Having had that excuse blown out of the water, Morris has now produced his second "get out of jail" card. This time he says he has photographic evidence that shows "no misleading signs during the data collection period".
But when you look closely at the the pic he has put on his blog, the image is at too low a resolution to allow you to read what the relevant sign above the non-GM sweet corn bin actually says!
Interestingly though, if you compare the sign in Morris's image to the one in the photograph in Laidlaw's book, you discover that the number of words, the length of lines etc. suggest that exactly the same notice may feature in both photographs!!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6381
------------------------------------------------------------
CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF SCIENCE
------------------------------------------------------------
+ RESEARCHERS LURED TO FUDGE TRUTH
A recent survey by HealthPartners Research Foundation in Minneapolis of more than 3,400 early- and mid-level US scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health showed that more than one-third admitted research wrongdoings between 2002 and 2005. And nearly 1 in 6 say that in the last 3 years they changed the design, methodology or results of a study in response to pressure from a funding source.
And last year, the federal Office of Research Integrity in the Dept of Health and Human Services received about 300 allegations of research misconduct last year, double the number from 2003.
Among the top 10 misbehaviours, with proportion of scientists who admitted to them, are:
***Changing the design, methodology or results of a study in response to pressure from a funding source (15.5%)
***Overlooking others' use of flawed data or questionable interpretation of data (12.5%)
***Failing to present data that contradict one's own previous research (6%)
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6384
------------------------------------------------------------
COMPANY NEWS
------------------------------------------------------------
+ CAPTAIN HOOK AWARDS FOR BIOPIRACY 2006
The Coalition Against Biopiracy has announced its Captain Hook Awards for Biopiracy 2006. Biopiracy refers to the monopolization (usually through intellectual property) of genetic resources and traditional knowledge or culture taken from peoples or farming communities that developed and nurtured those resources. Here's a taster of the latest honorees:
Worst Threat to Food Sovereignty: Syngenta
- For its Terminator-like patent designed to prevent potatoes from sprouting, despite the company's pledge not to commercialize technologies involving sterile seed. US patent 6,700,039 describes a genetic modification method that prevents sprouting unless an external chemical inducer is applied.
And for Syngenta's multi-genome patent applications on thousands of gene sequences vital for rice breeding and extending to dozens of other plant species.
Greediest Biopirate: J Craig Venter
- For undertaking, with flagrant disregard for national sovereignty over biodiversity, a US-funded global biopiracy expedition on his yacht, Sorcerer II, to collect and sequence microbial diversity from the world's oceans and soils. The genetic material will play a role in his most ambitious project to date: building an entirely new artificial organism.
Biggest Threat to Genetic Privacy: Google Inc.
- For teaming up with J. Craig Venter to create a searchable online database of all the genes on the planet so that individuals and pharmaceutical companies alike can 'google' our genes - one day bringing the tools of biopiracy online.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6379
+ COG AWARDS FOR RESISTING BIOPIRACY
Among the winners of the 2006 Cog Awards for Resisting Biopiracy is one of GM Watch's most admired organizations, the Deccan Development Society:
Best People's Defence: Deccan Development Society (India)
- For two decades of organizing successful seed sovereignty systems among Dalit women's communities in Medak District of Andhra Pradesh. Also for their groundbreaking grassroots research into the effects of Bt cotton that persuaded the government of Andhra Pradesh to kick Monsanto out of the state.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6379
+ CHALLENGE TO BAYER AT STOCKHOLDERS' MEETING
The Coalition against Bayer-dangers, based in Duesseldorf, Germany, has introduced countermotions to Bayer's annual stockholders' meeting. The protest group will discuss the proposals at the meeting in Cologne on April 28.
Among the issues to be raised by the Coalition are
***Bayer's continuing use of child labour in Indian cotton growing. Around 500 children were still working for Bayer's suppliers in the 2005 planting season. The children are exposed to toxic pesticides and receive a daily wage of less than one euro.
***Bayer's unethical production of the diabetes product Glucobay with the aid of a bacterium from Lake Ruiru in Kenya. Not one cent of annual Glucobay sales of around Euro 280 million goes to East Africa.
****Bayer's intention to continue its practice of testing highly dangerous pesticides directly on humans. The company even took legal proceedings against the US Environmental Protection Agency, which had described such experiments as "unnecessary and unethical".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6371
+ DUPONT MUST ACKNOWLEDGE GM RISKS - SHAREHOLDERS
Concerned that DuPont may be going down the same road that led to its current woes surrounding Teflon, Christian Brothers Investment Services, Inc. (CBIS) is urging DuPont investors to vote next month in favor of a shareholder resolution calling on the company to meet its Sarbanes-Oxley obligations to disclose any potentially material risk or "off-balance sheet liability" that could be posed by its manufacturing and distribution of food-related GMOs.
John K. S. Wilson of CBIS said: "We wish to avoid a repeat of the Teflon controversy, which was brought about when DuPont inaccurately asserted the safety of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) over many decades. It is particularly important that the company conduct independent assessments of GMO products already in the market so that neither DuPont nor its shareholders are surprised if GMOs fail to live up to DuPont's preliminary safety and environmental claims. At a minimum, DuPont has an obligation under Sarbanes-Oxley to start acknowledging to its shareholders that there are valid concerns here about potential risks."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6391
+ A NOTE AT THE END: CROPDEATH INTERNATIONAL
Website: http://www.cropdeath.com
"Please be advised that the international trade association for the Plant Science Industry, formerly known as CropLife, has now adopted an updated corporate identity in line with industry priorities.
To better reflect our high-profile advocacy work for sterile seeds (known as Terminator Technology) and our ongoing lobbying for increased pesticide and herbicide sales we will be soon assuming the new name of 'CropDeath'.
To cover the transition period while we update our materials CropDeath representatives at COP8 to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Curitiba will assume the transitional identity of 'PRRI - The Public Research Regulation Initiative'.
We are not sorry for any confusion this may cause."
MUCH MORE TO ENJOY AT: http://www.cropdeath.com