from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:
Another claimed biotech industry 'success' has been exposed as a fraud. The showcase Bt cotton project in Makhatini Flats, South Africa has resulted in 80% of farmers pulling out of growing the crop, increased pest problems, and massive debts for the farmers (AFRICA).
In the wake of the media brouhaha over the secret Monsanto GM maize study that showed damage to rats, reports on the study commissioned by the German government from Dr Arpad Pusztai - but subsequently hushed up - have been leaked. They make interesting reading. Monsanto appears to have done shoddy science, found damaging results in spite of a poor study design, and then tried to dismiss those results as insignificant. Monsanto still won't release the original study: we wonder why?
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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FOOD SAFETY
Bt10 CONTAMINATION LATEST
LOBBYWATCH
MONTREAL (CARTAGENA PROTOCOL) LATEST
ASIA
AFRICA
THE AMERICAS
EUROPE
NEW RESOURCE
QUOTE OF THE WEEK - lots on Canada
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FOOD SAFETY
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+ LEGAL MOVE TO MAKE EU PUBLISH GM TEST RESULTS
Two legal initiatives are to be launched to force European bureaucrats to make public secret research on the effects of feeding Monsanto's MON863 GM corn to rats.
This week, in separate moves, a British pressure group is to approach the European ombudsman, and a former French environment minister is to write to the European Court to ask it to lift the cloak of confidentiality from a 1,139- page report by Monsanto, which showed that rats fed a GM corn had smaller kidneys and raised levels of white blood cells compared to those who ate a similar non-GM one.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5302
+ BERRY'S BULLSH*T
It seems unlikely that there is anything in the Monsanto study that could remotely be regarded as "commercially sensitive" - the reason given by Monsanto for not publishing it. Unless, of course, Monsanto has a proprietary right over crap science!
Incidentally, Prof Colin Berry, who is part of the industry-friendly pro-GM lobby group - the Scientific Alliance, said the following during a recent BBC interview:
BBC: Wouldn't it be better then just to publish them up front and people would have much more confidence if they knew that any scientist could go and look at the data, look at the original findings and say whether or not they stand up to scrutiny?
BERRY: Yes I think that's a perfectly reasonable point. I think the problem is I'm not the proper person to decide what is commercially sensitive, but let me emphasize, as far as I understand it all of these data are discoverable that any... by any scientist who wants to see them if they've been reported to a regulatory authority.
So perhaps Sir Colin could tell us exactly where scientists who want to see this data can "discover" and obtain them from a regulatory authority - or why Dr Pusztai had to sign a "Declaration of secrecy" before one of the national competent authorities handed over the 1139 pages? The declaration was designed precisely to ensure that Dr Pusztai could not publicly "say whether or not they stand up to scrutiny".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5302
+ MONSANTO AGREES TO RELEASE OF FEEDING STUDY EVALUATIONS
After an extended campaign from NGOs to achieve the publication of Dr Pusztai's evaluation, Monsanto's UK head of Corporate Affairs, Tony Combes, has written to GM Free Cymru to say that the company has not been responsible for the suppression of the "Pusztai Report" on its controversial 90-day rat feeding studies. Combes claimed the refusal to release it into the public domain was down to the German Regulatory Authorities.
Some of the findings of the rat feeding study were exposed in the "Independent on Sunday" newspaper, and repercussions from the story have gone around the world.
Dr Arpad Pusztai, one of the few independent scientists specializing in plant genetics and animal feeding studies, was asked by the German authorities in autumn 2004 to examine Monsanto's 1,139-page report on the feeding of MON863 to laboratory rats over a 90-day period. The study found "statistically significant" differences to kidney weights and certain blood parameters in the rats fed on the GM maize as compared with the control groups.
Dr Pusztai was forced by the German authorities to sign a "declaration of secrecy" before he was allowed to see the rat feeding study, on the grounds that the document is classified as "CBI" or "confidential business interest". However, he assumed that this would not prevent the publication of his findings by the Germans themselves, should his evaluation highlight any health and safety concerns.
In the event, his evaluation was critical of the methodology of the study, and he also expressed concerns about what the researchers had found. These concerns were identical to those of Prof Gilles-Eric Seralini of the University of Caen and scientists in Germany and elsewhere, but the German government refused to publish them and insisted that Dr Pusztai should respect his "gagging order." So he has been unable to circulate his written material or speak about what he found.
You can read Dr Pusztai's reports at:
http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=66&page=1
All we need now is Monsanto to release its actual 1,139-page study on the feeding of MON863 to lab rats, to allow proper scientific discussion.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5306
+ SOME OF DR PUSZTAI'S CRITICISMS OF THE MONSANTO FEEDING STUDY
Here are some of Dr Pusztai's key criticisms of Monsanto's study:
* The design of the feeding study is not well focussed, with many flaws and crucial omissions in it and not up to date of what is expected of such an important study. The experiments are poorly executed in many instances and the presentation of the results is fragmentary, repetitive, not well set out and confusing
* There is no demonstration of the fact that the maize diet of the "control group" of rats was genuinely GM-free
* It is unacceptable for any experimental scientist to regard something as important as significant increases in white blood cell and lymphocyte counts and decreases in kidney weights in male rats, or a decrease in reticulocyte counts in females, as representing normal biological variability... The authors must be aware of the fact that increased lymphocyte counts are strong indicators of infection or even tumour development
* Overall, this study... has no scientific value. However, the study strongly indicates that feeding rats on diets containing significant amounts of MON 863 GM corn can potentially be detrimental to the health of these animals and may cause major lesions in important organs (kidneys, liver, etc.), interfere with the function of their immune system (lymphocyte, WBC, granulocyte counts) and change their metabolism (glucose)
* The food conversion ratio [amount of weight put on relative to weight of food eaten] dropped catastrophically in the last few weeks of the experiment. No explanation was given
* No part of the gastrointestinal tract or any of the muscles are weighed to establish whether the GM maize diet did have any effect on them despite the fact that there are many papers in the literature that indicate such effects
* There were many significant differences between the blood constituents of the 33% GM maize diet-fed rats and the REF controls. However, the possible significance of these is underplayed by the authors.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5308
+ ITALY CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT RESEARCH ON GMOs
Italy has called for Europe's food safety agency to use its own research when deciding if GMOs are safe - not just that of the manufacturers.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is regularly asked for its independent scientific views on the safety risk of GMO products for entry into the EU's food chain. But the agency conducts assessments based on data given by the biotech companies that make the GMOs. "The EFSA ... does not conduct any scientific tests to ascertain whether new genetically modified products are safe to use. It merely examines the scientific data supplied by applicants," said a statement written by Italy's EU delegation.
"In our view, the EFSA should itself be able to perform the analysis required for independent assessment of the safety of products for which marketing authorization is sought, either by making its own checks on data supplied or, if necessary, by having further investigations carried out," it said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5307
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Bt10 CONTAMINATION LATEST
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+ ILLEGAL U.S. GM MAIZE FOUND IN JAPANESE IMPORTS
Syngenta has confirmed that a 390 ton shipment of Bt10 corn from the US was discovered by Japanese customs officials last Thursday.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5313
+ SEND ILLEGAL GM MAIZE BACK TO U.S. SAYS GM-FREE IRELAND NETWORK
An illegal shipment of 2,546 tonnes of GM corn-gluten animal feed made from Syngenta's illegal Bt10 maize arrived in Ireland on 25 May and was unloaded at Greenore Port in Co. Louth, the next day.
The GM-free Ireland Network (which represents over 32,000 farmers, food producers, retailers, and restaurants North and South of the border) has called on the Irish government to return the outlawed GM maize Bt10 to the US.
Instead of returning the illegal cargo to the sender in the US, the government allowed it to be taken ashore, together with GM soybean hull pellets and dried grain destined for the Irish food chain. Local eyewitnesses said the Bt10 consignment was improperly unloaded through the same hopper, transport vehicles and storage facilities used for legal GM and non-GM animal feed, which have thus been contaminated by the banned Bt10.
In an attempt to cover up the scandal on 25 May, the Irish Dept of Agriculture and Food issued a press release which referred to the illegal Bt10 shipment as a "sample", failing to disclose that this so-called sample consists of 2,546 tonnes - enough to fill over 85 lorries and feed over six million cattle and sheep.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5296
+ ARE Bt10 AND Bt11 THE SAME?
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), responding to public pressure and a request from the Geneethics Network, has released documents that purport to support the FSANZ view that Bt10 (the illegal Syngenta maize that is contaminating US exports) is virtually identical to Bt11.
FSANZ has argued that because Bt11 has been deemed safe for human consumption, then FSANZ is justified in taking no steps to remove Bt10 products from Australian supermarket shelves or to prevent imports of Bt10 products.
But it is fast becoming clear that the two maize varieties are not the same. Dr Jack Heinemann, Institute of Gene Ecology, University of Canterbury, who has seen the Syngenta documents released by FSANZ, says, "The Syngenta documents you have provided indicate that there are additional and possibly substantial differences between BT10 and BT11." Read Dr Heinemann's analysis:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5286
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LOBBYWATCH
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+ LOBBYISTS IN MONTREAL
As countries around the world discuss the regulation of trade and transboundary movements of GMOs, as part of the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in Montreal, a huge lobbying effort is underway by the GM industry for weaker rules.
A series of lobby groups have been running side events to the negotiations, but reports from Montreal refer particularly to the direct input of 3 lobby groups:
The GLOBAL INDUSTRY COALITION
The INTERNATIONAL GRAIN TRADE COALITION (IGTC)
The PUBLIC RESEARCH AND REGULATION INITIATIVE (PRRI)
The GLOBAL INDUSTRY COALITION straightforwardly represents the biotech industry. In contrast, the other two lobby groups claim not to be aligned with the biotech industry.
But a whole series of key members of the IGTC are from the main GM crop exporting countries. One of its key members, the U.S. Grains Council, for instance, aims to develop export markets for U.S. grains and gets market development funds from the U.S. government. It is also among several key members of IGTC which have either biotech industry members, biotech industry funding or are otherwise aligned with the industry.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5314
And PRRI, while claiming to represent public sector biotechnologists, is deeply enmeshed with biotech industry interests.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5316
PRRI has more than 20 scientists in Montreal to try and influence the negotiations. Disturbingly, one of the scientists involved the activities of this lobby group with multiple biotech industry connections, is a member of the GMO committee of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). It's not the first time,however, that EFSA members have been caught up in boiotech promotionals see the FoE report: http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/publications/EFSAreport.pdf
FOR MORE ON WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING IN MONTREAL, SEE BELOW
+ 36 ORGANIC MEGA-COUNTRIES DWARF EVEN ISAAA'S INFLATED FIGURES
Biotech industry lobby group ISAAA's 2005 report indicates that there were 14 biotech mega-countries in 2004 - countries where more than 50,000 hectares or biotech crops are being grown. The figures, however, are extremely dubious.
Organic farming, on the other hand, whose certification process makes crop acreage easy to establish, is developing rapidly throughout the world. According to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement's study The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2005, 36 countries achieved organic mega-country status in 2004, meaning that over 50,000 hectares of certified organic land are currently being cultivated. In total, over 26 million hectares of land are currently certified worldwide, generating over $25 billion in revenue in 2003.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5299
+ CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF SCIENCE
Read a couple of excellent pieces by Dr Milton Wainwright, microbiologist at the University of Sheffield, on 'heresy' in corporate-led science, at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5297
EXCERPT:
Surprisingly, organisations like the Royal Society and the Royal Colleges often do the opposite of protecting dissenting scientists. The Royal Society for example, seemed to take an almost morbid delight in crucifying Arpad Pusztai when he dared to doubt the safety of GM foods; a process applauded by those of his fellow scientists, whose grant income relied upon his martyrdom.
Being a heretic has been a particularly bad idea during four historical periods: the Catholic inquisition, the Lutheran Protestant period, the Stalin-Lysenko years and finally the present day. Nowadays, university science in the UK is 'accountancy led'...
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MONTREAL (CARTAGENA PROTOCOL) LATEST
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Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety have been convening in two working groups.
Working Group I has been discussing risk assessment and risk management, and considering handling, transport, packaging and identification, and other scientific and technical issues.
Working Group II has been addressing notification requirements and socioeconomic considerations. A contact group also discussed documentation for living modified organisms for food, feed or processing.
The most contentious issue being dealt with by Working Group I is that of liability regulations to make companies accountable for the contamination and damage caused by GM products
The EU, unlike the Africa Group, has during the week seemed to soften its stance on the need to agree a strict liability regime on GMOs.
A small number of countries - New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico and Peru - have been holding up progress in the negotiations. The most extraordinary position adoped by any country has been that of New Zealand, which seems to be operating simply as a stooge for the U.S.
In the words of Gurdial Singh Nijar, a law lecturer at the University of Malaya, "New Zealand is arguing we should spend our time developing rules and procedures for liability which would end up with no rules"!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5303
This follows on from NZ's support for Terminator and for the US's WTO case against the EU.
As well as the reports below, you can find detailed reports on what's been happening each day here: http://www.iisd.ca/biodiv/bs-copmop2/
+ GM CROPS CONTAMINATE FIELDS AND FOOD AROUND THE WORLD
Greenpeace, farmers' organizations and community representatives called on delegates to the Biosafety Protocol meeting to urgently introduce strict liability regulations to make companies accountable for the contamination and damage caused by their GM products.
As predicted by NGOs, GM seeds have, since their introduction in 1996, contaminated food crops and the environment across the globe. Over 50 incidents of illegal or unapproved GM contamination have been documented in 25 countries on 5 continents, and those are only the recorded incidents.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5298
+ INDIA PRESSES FOR LIABILITY REGIME AT CARTAGENA PROTOCOL
India has called for an international liability regime to redress the damages resulting from transboundary movements of GMOs. This liability regime should be incorporated under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety which came into effect September 11 2003.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5289
+ NZ COULD WEAKEN LIABILITY REGIME
New Zealand's stance on "biosafety" in moving living GM organisms between countries is so out of step that it provoked open laughter from other countries when stated by Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5310
+ TEWOLDE CALLS ON UN TO MOVE AGENCY FROM CANADA
Cartagena Biosafety Protocol meetings should be moved away from Montreal if delegates continue to have problems getting Canadian visas to attend meetings, says Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, negotiator for the Africa Group.
Tewolde received a visa to visit Montreal only after protests. At least four other would-be participants in the meeting have been refused visas and there are likely others, said Eric Darier of Greenpeace.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5289
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5303
See also LOBBYWATCH for our guide to the lobbyists active in Montreal.
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ASIA
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+ INDIA: FARMERS AGAINST SALE OF GM Bt COTTON SEEDS
At a press conference in Bhopal, farmers from Malwa & Nimar areas of Madhya Pradesh strongly protested against the State government's allowing corporations to push the seeds of Bt cotton. The representatives asked why, once Bt cotton had failed miserably in Andhra Pradesh, were the companies permitted to sell it in Madhya Pradesh?
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5304
+ WHY INDIA'S SEEDS BILL IS ANTI-FARMER
Read Dr Suman Sahai's telling analysis at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5315
+ TEST SUGGESTS GM PAPAYA RAMPANT IN THAILAND
An independent test has found a sample of what was thought to be an ordinary papaya plant from a farm in Kamphaeng Phet province, Thailand was actually GM, Greenpeace said.
Kamphaeng Phet is one of the main papaya-producing provinces. Farmers there obtained GM papaya seeds from the Agriculture Dept's research station in Khon Kaen province. Greenpeace sent samples of a variety grown in the station and nearby farms to a lab last year which confirmed they were GM. Environmental advocates later demanded the department investigate the illegal spread of the GM variety as the station had sold papaya seeds to over 2,600 farmers in several provinces.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5312
But instead of investigating the GM polluters, the Thai government is prosecuting the activists who exposed the crime. They face up to 5 years in prison. Please take action at:
http://act.greenpeace.org/1114629368/index_html
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AFRICA
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+ BT COTTON IN MAKHATHINI, SOUTH AFRICA: THE SUCCESS STORY THAT NEVER WAS
Despite claims that Bt cotton will catapult African farmers out of poverty, recent reports revealed that the majority of Bt small-scale cotton farmers on the Makhathini Flats in South Africa have stopped planting Bt cotton because they cannot repay their debts.
A five-year study by Biowatch South Africa has shown that small-scale cotton farmers in Northern KwaZulu Natal have not benefited from Bt cotton and that the hype surrounding this case is just that - a media hype created by American biotech companies to convince the rest of Africa to approve GM crops.
Findings include:
*Farmers are in debt and credit institutions have withdrawn from the area because farmers cannot repay their loans and the number of farmers planting cotton has dropped by 80% since 2000. One farmer commented: "Four years ago we were told we would make lots of money but we work harder and make nothing".
*According to a local Land Bank official, farmers in Makhathini owe an average of US$ 1,322 per farmer and around 80% of them have defaulted on their loans.
*There has been no reduction in the use of pesticides. Now stink bugs have emerged as a major problem, as in other parts of the world where Bt cotton is grown.
*Farmers are made to sign contracts that they cannot read (either because they speak only Zulu, or are illiterate) and do not understand their implications. Few know that they are supposed to plant refugia in order to slow down the rate of pests developing resistance to the crop.
Makhathini was the GM industry's showcase for how transgenic crops can help the poor. Monsanto... and USAID have brought African scientists, farmers, journalists... in droves to Makhathini. In 2003 the chairman of the local farmers' association, TJ Buthelezi, was flown to the US to stand next to... the US trade representative, when he announced that the US will take the EU to the World Trade Organisation to challenge its stand on GM crops and food.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5287
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5294
A summary of this study is published in GRAIN's quarterly magazine, Seedling (available at http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=330 )
+ SOUTH AFRICA: "BIZARRE" GM LAW HELPS FIRMS, NOT CONSUMERS
South Africa is in the "bizarre" position of having liability provisions in law that mean users - not producers - will be liable for any consequences of consuming GMOs, said an attorney specialising in environmental law, Cormac Cullinan.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5311
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THE AMERICAS
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+ AG INDUSTRY AIMS TO STRIP LOCAL CONTROL OF FOOD
Legislation aiming to prevent counties, towns and cities from making local decisions about our food supply is being introduced in states across the nation. Fifteen states recently have introduced legislation removing local control of plants and seeds. Eleven of these states have already passed the provisions into law.
These highly orchestrated industry actions are in response to recent local decisions to safeguard sustainable food systems. To date, initiatives in three California counties have restricted the cultivation of GM crops, livestock, and other organisms and nearly 100 New England towns have passed various resolutions in support of limits on GM crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5293
+ OREGON: GM CROP BAN HEADED FOR SENATE VOTE
The anti-"biopharm" bill under consideration in the Oregon Legislature that seeks to prohibit farmers and researchers from growing a range of GM crops has passed to the Senate.
Democrats on the Senate Environment and Land Use Committee have recommended that Senate Bill 570 be passed. The bill directs the state Dept of Agriculture to slap a hefty fine - as much as $25,000 - on anyone caught growing GM plants covered under the ban.
Specifically targeted for prohibition by the legislation are GM crops "designed to produce industrial products, substances for use in industrial products, industrial or research chemicals, or industrial or research enzymes."
If the legislation is adopted, Oregon would become the first state in the country with such a ban.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5293
+ UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII HOLDS OFF GENETIC TESTS WITH TRADITIONAL CROP
Hawaiian varieties of taro (a potato-like traditional staple crop) will not be used in University of Hawaii GM research until native Hawaiians advise scientists about cultural concerns, a university dean said. The promise is an attempt to stave off controversy and foster dialogue between the university and the native Hawaiian community.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5283
+ HAWAII: STATE REJECTS GM ALGAE
A biotech company's plans to grow GM algae for pharmaceutical use has run into a roadblock. Mera Pharmaceuticals wanted to bring the algae to its facilities in Kailua-Kona, to see if it can be grown in large quantities. The company needed approval from the state Board of Agriculture, which voted 6-3 against the company's request. "Really they haven't had a good look yet at whether this can escape into the wild, whether it can survive in the wild, in fresh water, and whether there might be any health or environmental concerns, any impacts," project opponent Elisha Goodman said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5283
+ STOMACH LESIONS AND DEAD LAB RATS SPICE UP SCIENCE MEETING
Critics of biotech foods spoke of stomach lesions and dead lab rats while backers of the technology cited increased crop production and hopes for healthier foods in a debate before a group of US scientists in Kansas City.
"We believe that the current version of genetically modified crops are unsafe... they should be banned," Jeffrey Smith, director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, told members of the Association of Official Analytical Communities (AOAC).
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5291
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EUROPE
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+ VICTORY FOR THE PUBLIC!
After four years of intensive discussions, the Meeting of the Parties to the UN Treaty called the Aarhus Convention (AC) agreed to grant the public of the Pan-European Region, including Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia the right to participate on decisions related to GMOs. This is the first time that a pan-European legal obligation will provide the public with effective information and public participation on decisions to authorize a GMO release for experimental and for commercial purposes.
"This is a major victory for the public. No GMO will be introduced anymore in this region without public scrutiny and adequate information", said Juan Lopez of Friends of the Earth.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5292
+ RUSSIANS REJECT GM FOODS
Two thirds of Russians are against GM foods and the majority of experts support a ban on GM crops as the government prepares new laws. Of those who were already aware of GM 95 per cent said they were strongly against it or seriously concerned, according to new research by VCIOM, Russia's largest public opinion research body.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5300
+ BLAIR SAYS WE SHOULD ACCEPT RISKS TO SUPPORT GM INDUSTRY
Britain was in grave danger of "blowing our chance" to become a world leader in biotech, Tony Blair warned as he called for a national debate on everyday risks faced by the public. The Prime Minister, pointing to concerns such as GM foods, said: "We are in danger of having a wholly disproportionate attitude to the risks we should expect to run as a normal part of life."
"It is time to have a proper dialogue about how science and its risks are evaluated and reported. Biotechnology is probably the coming industry of the world," Blair said in a speech in London to the Institute of Public Policy Research.
GM WATCH comment: B-Liar did not explain why we are expected to accept the risks of eating GM foods when we already have surplus amounts of un-tampered-with food. He also seems incapable of telling the difference between contained medical use of GM, which few object to in spite of its useless track record and which involves patients consciously accepting risks in return for hoped-for benefits, and GM foods, which the public hates because risk is forced onto us with no choice and no benefits.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5290
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NEW RESOURCE
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+ FIRST ON-LINE WORLDWIDE REGISTER OF GM CONTAMINATION
GeneWatch UK and Greenpeace International have launched the first on-line register of GM contamination incidents.
The searchable register: www.gmcontaminationregister.org
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5309
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QUOTES OF THE WEEK
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"Whether globally or domestically, genetically modified crops can be sold only by force, for example, obstructing the Biosafety Protocol and mounting WTO challenges, or subterfuge, refusing mandatory labelling." - Dr E. Ann Clark, agricultural scientist, the University of Guelph, Canada
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5305
"Dr. Tewolde has been to Canada many times. The political denial of a visa to this renowned scientist is one of the crudest abuses of power the Canadian government has ever exercised and its purpose is transparent...This issue falls smack dab in the middle of (the Canadian Prime Minister) Paul Martin's plate. One of the few areas he has staked out as his own personal priority is attention to the plight of the Third World, and Africa in particular. His government's appalling behaviour suggests that hypocrisy and expediency rule the day." - Murray Dobbin, 'Sterile seeds, Canada's impotence'
http://www.rabble.ca/columnists_full.shtml?x=39671
"This (GE-FREE CANADA) movement is about long-term economic sustainability, local control over food production, a healthy environment and democracy as opposed to food profiteering and the destruction of our genetic biodiversity through corporate control of seeds and agriculture." - Canadian farmer, Percy Schmeiser
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2005/02/c6866.html
"Over four years ago, the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel's report called for a much more rigorous and independent regulatory framework for GM foods. Not only have few of the report's key recommendations ever been implemented, but now... the approval of GM and other novel foods could even be weakened." - spokesperson for the United Churches, Canada's largest protestant denomination, explaining their call for a moratorium on new GM crops