GMWatch News Review archive

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from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH guest editor
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Dear all

Welcome to WW38 bringing you all the latest news in brief on the GM issue.

Perhaps the most exciting events this week have taken place in New Zealand, where opposition to GM is reaching white heat pending the government's intention to lift the country's moratorium on cultivation of GM crops. The NZ environment minister's latest words of wisdom (see QUOTES OF THE WEEK) might make us wonder how often top-level decisions on our food supply are being taken by people a few cards short of a full deck!

Also from the antipodes comes a great radio programme, 'Behind the Biotechs'. Listen to it on the net:
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/audio/telegraph_28082003_2856.ram

The programme looks at "the power the biotechs wield in the GM debate from the Oval office to the farmer in the paddock." And it features the investigative journalist Andy Rowell, and Julie Newman of the Concerned Farmers Network. Well worth a listen.

WW38 may be of particular interest to any friends or contacts finding it hard to keep up with all the breaking news, so please circulate widely!

Claire    <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
www.ngin.org.uk

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WEEKLY WATCH  number 38 - CONTENTS
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SETBACKS TO THE GM LOBBY
FAIRYTALES FROM THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
REPORT OF THE WEEK
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
FACT OF THE WEEK
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
SUBSCRIPTIONS

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SETBACKS TO THE GM LOBBY
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GM FOOD FEARS HURTING CANADA, SAYS LEAKED PAPER
While governments in the UK and New Zealand toy with the idea of GM crop commercialisation, a recent Canadian government paper, marked "secret", warns that GM crop commercialisation in Canada has put its multibillion dollar agri-food industry at risk: "Consumers are becoming more worried that they can't distinguish between GE and non-GE products. These concerns could precipitate a loss of confidence in the integrity of the Canadian food system, which could be very disruptive to the domestic system as well as Canada's ability to export to demanding markets. There is a pressing need to immediately address these concerns to maintain Canada's markets and to uphold the Canada brand.

"there is no broad market acceptance (domestic and international) of genetically engineered (GE) products. The first generation of products were commercially introduced with minimal consumer interest... but now these products are being more closely scrutinized at home and abroad. Producers are becoming worried about losing markets and losing choice over what they can produce. The production of GE canola is currently adversely affecting the value of non-GE canola in some markets."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1368
 **MUCH MORE ON CANADA BELOW**

BLAIR FORCED TO SCALE BACK HIS PLAN TO INTRODUCE GM FARMING
Tony Blair is drastically scaling down his plans to introduce GM farming in Britain, according to an article in The Independent on Sunday, in the wake of the official inquiry into the events leading to the death of Dr David Kelly, the microbiologist and weapons inspector who operated in Iraq. Senior officials at the centre of the issue concede that the Prime Minister has accepted that it would be politically "too risky" to force through widespread commercial planting of GM crops in the teeth of public opposition, following the catastrophic collapse in public trust following the Iraq War and Dr David Kelly's apparent suicide.

The Government's formal decision on the technology, expected next month, will now not be taken before the end of the year "at the earliest", official sources say. And ministers and officials are now going out of their way to insist that the Prime Minister is not "gung-ho" about it, even though his personal enthusiasm - coupled with attacks on GM sceptics as "anti-science" - has long defined the Government's position.

In response to intense pressure as the Hutton Inquiry continues to lay bare the inner workings of the Blair government, the Prime Minister is changing his tactics. His new plan, sources say, is to secure a limited and heavily regulated introduction of some GM crops - rather than the previously expected blanket approval - in the hope of expanding them later. But there is concern in Whitehall that even this may be unachievable.

Ministers and officials have been shocked by the extent of public opposition revealed by the Government's "public debate" on GM over the last few months. Originally denounced by critics as a sham, it has in fact stimulated over 600 public meetings around Britain, and led to 36,000 people registering their views on the debate website.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=436640
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1355

PROBE INTO 'BULLYING' OF GM PANEL SCIENTISTS
Some of Britain's most senior scientists are being investigated in an inquiry to discover whether opponents of GM food have been bullied to soften their stance. Growing concern that Government-appointed experts have come under pressure from pro-GM peers to toe a biotech line has led Tony Blair to appoint Nigel Griffiths, minister for small business, to investigate. 

Griffiths insisted that the inquiry would avoid being influenced by Government spin. The inquiry follows at least two cases in which leading academics selected by the Government told how they were threatened in an attempt to rig a recent official inquiry into GM crops and food.

Dr Andrew Stirling, of Sussex University and a member of the Government's GM science review panel, was warned by a leading member of the scientific establishment his career would be ruined unless he stopped questioning the technology's safety. The pro-GM scientist tried to get Stirling removed from a research project by approaching its funders. 

Days earlier, another leading independent academic had told The Observer how he resigned from the science review after fearing his funding might be withdrawn. Professor Carlo Leifert, of the University of Newcastle, also felt it was improper that an employee of GM giant Monsanto had been allowed to draft a key chapter on the safety of GM foods for the science review. 
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,11032,1028519,00.html
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1352

NEW ZEALAND: PUBLIC OPPOSITION GROWING TO LIFTING OF GE BAN
New Zealand opinion has swung heavily against releasing GM organisms into the environment, according to a survey. A nationwide survey of 801 people found that 68.6  per cent want to extend the present three-year ban on releasing GMOs from containment, just two months before the ban is due to end on October 29. Those who said commercial release of GMOs should be "banned for good" jumped from 23.2 per cent in June last year to 37.8 per cent in the latest poll. Those willing to allow commercial release "under strict conditions" plunged from 66.7 per cent to 52 per cent. Those who felt GE should be "exploited as much as practical" slipped from 6.1 per cent to 5 per cent.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2636825a7693,00.html
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1354

TAIWAN TO REQUIRE LABELING OF FOOD WITH GM SOYBEANS AND CORN
The Chinese Department of Health (DOH) will require all foods or beverages made of GM soybeans and corn to be labelled clearly from next year on.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1354

CANADA: SASKATCHEWAN GOVERNMENT OPPOSES GM WHEAT
As the federal government considers letting Monsanto sell its GM wheat to Canadian farmers, the Saskatchewan government is adding its voice to the growing chorus of opposition. Officials worry about the potentially devastating impact GM wheat could have on the Prairie farm economy. Canadian wheat exports total nearly $3 billion per year. In an interview with the Saskatchewan News Network, Jim Stalwick of Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization said, "The (Saskatchewan) government has a view that it should not be approved until the market concerns are addressed and the agronomic environmental concerns as well."
http://www.checkbiotech.org/blocks/dsp_document.cfm?doc_id=5900

WHY MIGHT CANADA JUMP OVER THE GM CLIFF?
An article in the Globe and Mail comments, "Is it possible that Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) and the Minister of Agriculture are fully aware of the potential harm that their acceptance of GM wheat could cause wheat producers, but have nevertheless opted to do whatever could benefit the biotech companies? Given the importance of future research investment to the overall Canadian economy, as well as the political support that the corporate sector can offer, the government may have decided it is desirable to let GM registration proceed. There are strong corporate links among biotech industries, the AAFC, provincial research programs, and a variety of farm groups. The result may be that corporate interests come before producer interests in the federal agenda."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1362

CANADIAN FARMERS DON'T WANT GM WHEAT
Nearly 90 per cent of Canadian farmers say they would not grow GM wheat if they had the option, according to a survey conducted by University of Manitoba researchers earlier this year. One of the researchers, Ian Mauro, said, "There is a very small group that thinks this crop would be good to grow now. But all it takes is a small minority to introduce GM wheat into the system." The wheat board, the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, and other farm and rural groups have taken out large newspaper ads urging Monsanto to withdraw its federal GM wheat application. The organic-food industry fears GM wheat will contaminate their fields and make it impossible to grow organic wheat. Saskatchewan's organic canola industry disappeared after the introduction of GM canola several years ago.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1362

GM CROP WEED KILLER LINKED TO POWERFUL FUNGUS
Alarm continues to mount about the relationship between Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller, used on many food crops and on all GM Roundup Ready crops, and the proliferation of potentially toxic fungal moulds in the harvest. Roundup, which contains a chemical called glyphosate, is alleged to increase the size of colonies of the fungus Fusarium, a genus of toxic moulds that occurs naturally in soils and occasionally invades crops, but is usually held in check by other microbes. The link not only calls into question the world's number one weed killer, but also jeopardizes global acceptance of Monsanto's flagship line of GM Roundup Ready crops.

Glyphosate-treated wheat appeared to have higher levels of Fusarium head blight (a toxic fungal disease) than wheat fields where no glyphosate had been applied, said Scientist Myriam Fernandez of the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. While Fernandez's research recently made headlines throughout Canada, it was not the first to discuss the relationship between glyphosate-containing weedkiller formulations and the enhancement of toxic fungi, but it was the first to report on the possibility of toxic crop damage caused by the link in wheat and barley, two of Canada's most important crops.

Just under 50 scientific papers now point to an increase in Fusarium or other microbes after the application of glyphosate. In a recent article titled 'GM cotton blamed for disease' the Farm Weekly, an Australian publication, predicted that 'up to 90 percent of Australia's cotton belt could be inundated by the soil borne pathogen Fusarium wilt within the next decade' due to Roundup Ready cotton. Fusarium contamination of cereals has been responsible for serious crop losses. In Michigan during 2002 it was estimated that 30-40% of the crops were destroyed by the infestation.

The Fusarium fungus can produce a range of toxins that are not destroyed in the cooking process such as vomitoxin, which as its name suggests, usually produces vomiting and not death, to the more lethal compounds which include fumonisin, which can cause cancer and birth defects to the very lethal chemical warfare agent fusariotoxin, more often referred to as T2 toxin.

A Fusarium epidemic of cereals was considered responsible for thousands of deaths in Russia during the 1940s and more recently in 2001, it caused a series of deadly birth defects among tortilla-eating Mexican-Americans in Brownsville, Texas.

During 2000, the US Congress planned to use the fungus Fusarium as a biological control agent to kill coca crops in Colombia. Instead they used a chemical that produces a banned micro-organism. Sanho Tree, the director of the Institute for Policy Studies Drug Policy Project commented: "We have been using a fleet of crop dusters to dump unprecedented amounts of high-potency glyphosate over hundreds of thousands of acres in one of the most delicate and bio-diverse ecosystems in the world. This futile effort has done little to reduce the availability of cocaine on our streets, but now we are learning that a possible side-effect of this campaign could be the unleashing of a Fusarium epidemic in Amazon basin."
http://www.counterpunch.org/bigwood08232003.html
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1353

INDIA: PERFORMANCE OF BT COTTON: DATA FROM FIRST COMMERCIAL CROP
A report from India shows the economics of cultivating Bt cotton are not in favour of farmers. The seed is about four times more expensive than the good local hybrids... the investment per acre is much higher for Bt cotton than for non-Bt cotton varieties. The Bt cotton farmer had to invest on average Rs. 983 more per acre than his non-Bt counterpart. Yield/acre of Bt cotton was lower than non-Bt cotton and the cotton was of poorer quality thus fetching a lower price per quintal. Added to this was the higher investment in Bt cotton fields. The net result was significantly poor results from Bt cotton... Net profit from Bt cotton was lower per acre compared to non-Bt cotton in all types of fields (low to high yielding). In fact, 60% of the farmers cultivating Bt cotton were not even able to recover their investment and incurred losses.
Full text: http://www.genecampaign.org/btcotton.html
Press release: http://www.genecampaign.org/cotton.html

INDIA: BT COTTON INEFFECTIVE AGAINST INCREASING PINK BOLLWORM
Pink bollworm is emerging as a major pest in the cotton belt, especially in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, according to field observations. The toxin in Bt cotton is proving to be ineffective against pink bollworm and does not kill it, it kills only the green bollworm, said Dr Suman Sahai, director of Gene Campaign on her return from consultations in Hyderabad. This consultation was held with scientists, farmers, NGOs, representatives of the seed industry and cotton traders.
http://www.genecampaign.org/pink.html

INDIA: GM POTATO FAR AWAY FROM RELEASE
The GM protein-enhanced potato is far away from commercial release, says a report in the Times of India: "Its promoters appear to be jumping the gun deliberately, in order to pressure the agencies for its release citing a human suffering angle. The emotional button for Bt cotton was the farmers' suicides in Andhra Pradesh and the need to give them a cotton variety that would cut down the heavy expenditures on pesticides and, by inference, stop them killing themselves due to debt burdens. We know now that the Bt cotton has practically failed in almost all the locations it was grown. The emotional button being pressed for the GM potato is that malnutritioned [sic] children [are] susceptible to blindness and that this potato will solve this problem and bring smiles to their little faces. What is not explained is how the potato supposedly with enriched protein will cure night blindness, which is brought about by vitamin A deficiency."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1371

SERBIAN MINISTER ANNOUNCES DESTRUCTION OF GM SOYABEAN CROP
Provincial [Vojvodina] Agriculture Minister Igor Kurjacki said that GM soya beans had been discovered on 104 fields in Vojvodina. He announced that this soya bean would be destroyed over the next 10 days, knowing that its sowing is prohibited.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1359

SOUTH AFRICA TO ACCEDE TO TREATY FOR SAFETY ON GMOS
The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEAT) has announced that it will accede to the Cartagena Protocol, which allows South Africa to ban imports of GMOs if there are reasons to believe that they may cause danger to environment, health or socio-economic conditions.  The Cartagena Protocol has already been ratified by 51 countries, two thirds of which are developing countries.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1359

CLONES IN SUDDEN DEATH SHOCK
New fears have been raised about the health of cloned animals after three cloned adult pigs dropped dead from heart attacks. The pigs were created by the Taiwan-based team using a variation on the technique that made Dolly the sheep. Of four piglets born, one died within days. The remaining three have now collapsed and expired of heart failure at less than six months of age, team leader Jerry Yang of the University of Connecticut in Storrs revealed this week. "It was totally shocking," says Yang. He has dubbed the fatalities 'adult clone sudden death syndrome'.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1365

BAN ON GM FISH OFF CALIFORNIA
California plans to ban ocean farming of salmon, exotic and genetically modified fish off its coast.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1365

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FAIRYTALES FROM THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY
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INDUSTRY LINES UP RELIGIOUS DUCKS, TELLS THEM WHEN TO QUACK
In a June 25 press release, Carl Feldbaum, President of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), and Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches USA, which is comprised of 36 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations, announced that BIO and NCC had signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The press release quotes Dr. Edgar as saying, "Biotechnologies promise magnificent contributions to human well-being. At the same time, there is a need for vigilance about the ways in which those technologies are applied, so that human dignity and equality of opportunity are assured." In the MOU the two groups affirm "a common belief in the importance and urgency of the appropriate and ethical use of the rapidly growing field of biotechnology," and state their "unequivocal opposition to human cloning." Since then, it has emerged that Bob Edgar was acting entirely on his own, bypassing both staff members and NCC committees supposedly responsible for such areas. It seems that Bob Edgar and Carl Feldman are old friends.
Read the full story: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1356
Source: The Ram's Horn, http://www.ramshorn.bc.ca/

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OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
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WTO TOLD TO CLEAR OUT VESTED INTERESTS
Friends of the Earth has called on the head of the World Trade Organisation to "purge the organisation of vested interests" ahead of the transatlantic trade war on GM foods and crops. The WTO is likely to give the go ahead to the EU-US dispute. Friends of the Earth is particularly concerned about the role of the deputy director-general, Rufus Yerxa. Previous to this post Yerxa worked for the GM giant Monsanto as European general counsel and later as international counsel. Monsanto, who finance the Bush administration, seek to benefit enormously should GM crops be accepted world-wide. Friends of the Earth has written to the WTO Director General, Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, asking him to guarantee that Yerxa, or anyone else connected to the biotech industry, will not play any role in this dispute.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1369

ILLINOIS, USA: INDUSTRY STRUGGLES WITH GM CORN
Seed companies, farmers and grain handlers are struggling with how to keep GM corn from mixing with non-biotech crops. Some in the industry say changes aren't happening fast enough to keep up with the increasing use of GM crops. They fear problems similar to what happened with StarLink in 2000, when GM corn not approved for human consumption was accidentally mixed with other crops. The resulting scare triggered food recalls and caused a worldwide drop in corn prices.
"There needs to be some improvement here to avoid a train wreck," said Steve Pigg, president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1370

UGANDA'S PRESIDENT SAYS 'YES' TO GM IMPORTS - BUT OTHERS SAY 'NO!'
President Yoweri Museveni says he will allow the importation of processed GMOs which cannot contaminate other plants. Museveni was presiding over the launch of a multi-million biotech lab at the Kawanda Research Institute. Museveni said George Bush, the US president, had urged him to take on GMOs during his visit.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1359
However, he is facing stiff opposition. According to a leading non-government newspaper, "Lawmakers from eastern Africa have warned against the importation of genetically modified products." It also reported that Museveni's position has stirred "fresh concerns and suspicions" among scientists and civil society groups. The chairman of the Ugandan Parliament's Committee on Agriculture was quoted as saying, "There should be no importation of GM crops until we are completely sure of its effects." Scientists at the National Agricultural Research Organisation (Naro) were reported not to have approved the importation and to have stated in a report, "To the best of our knowledge there has not been any official importation of GM seeds into Uganda."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1364

NEW ZEALAND: SYNGENTA DECLINES TO FRONT CORNGATE INQUIRY
An inquiry has been launched following allegations by author Nicky Hager in his book Seeds of Distrust that Prime Minister Helen Clark and key ministers knew there had been an accidental release of GM corn but kept quiet under pressure from GM giant Syngenta.

Politicians hoped Syngenta would attend the inquiry to provide the answer to whether Corngate seeds were contaminated but the company has refused. Syngenta managing director Peter Gerner said it was impossible to gather all the experts needed to attend the parliamentary inquiry so he had sent written answers instead. Nor would he let Melbourne laboratory Genescan give evidence about its tests on the corn, saying that was inappropriate. Syngenta imported the corn in October 2000 and while Genescan reported initial results positive for GM, it did not complete the tests or report a final result. MPs want to know why.

The opposition party's Nick Smith said no laboratory would stop doing tests without being instructed to do so by their client and he "strongly suspected Genescan was told not to complete the tests".
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2639749a7693,00.html
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1366

MORE ON THE CORNGATE COVERUP
Corngate continues to haunt prime minister Helen Clark after it emerged that the head of her department withheld a memo from release after she had ordered full disclosure to prove there had been no cover-up. Opposition MPs say the memo by an official in the Prime Minister's Department showed that Helen Clark knew more about possible GM corn contamination in late 2000 than she let on during last year's election campaign. When the row over the Gisborne crop erupted, Helen Clark insisted officials had told ministers that there was no GM contamination. However, the memo shows she was directly advised that while contamination could not be confirmed, it could not be "completely discounted".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1367

More on this story:
http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=34663
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1361

NZ MOTHERS CALL FOR BOYCOTT OF ALL INFANT SOY FORMULA
MAdGE  (mothers against genetic engineering in food and environment) are calling for NZ parents to boycott all infant soy formulas until the minister of health and food safety discloses which brands contain detectable levels of GM soy. "We are outraged that Annette King is withholding information on which brands are contaminated and will not reveal those formulas containing GE soy. It's every mother's right to know what they are feeding their babies, especially as there has been no long term health testing of GM foods on either adults or infants." said Hilary Ord of Madge.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1367

INDIA: GOVERNMENT IS CREATING GM BASMATI RICE
Read the complete article by Dr Suman Sahai on how the Indian government is planning to effectively paint a skull-and-crossbones on a premium product with a massive market in GM-sceptical EU countries at
www.genecampaign.org/times.html
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1371

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REPORT OF THE WEEK: FAILING IN THE FIELD
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GM crops in Spain don't deliver promises, but harm farmers and the environment.

A new study published by Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace demonstrates that the growing of GM crops in Spain is causing contamination of organic crops, producing low yields and its benefits are grossly overstated. The report is also highly critical of the Spanish Government for failing to control or monitor the situation.

Spain is the only country in the European Union where GM crops are grown on a commercial scale: since 1998, an estimated  25,000 hectares are planted each year with a GM corn variety (Bt176) sold by the Swiss biotech company Syngenta. The corn has been engineered to resist the European corn borer, a potentially harmful insect for maize.

According to the report, independent studies show that the GM plantings pose serious economic and environmental problems:

*A study by IGTA shows that from 1998 to 2000, in most cases there were no differences between conventional and GM crops regarding corn borer attack. This indicates that the corn borer survives the toxin produced by the GM plant, which poses a risk of resistance developing. This not only creates an economic problem to farmers, but also an environmental problem, since heavier and more environmentally damaging pesticides will be needed to fight the "armed" insects.

*The first cases of organic crops contaminated by GMOs have been discovered in northern Navarra by the Council of Organic Farming in Navarra (CPAEN). The organic certificate was withdrawn and farmers suffered losses because their product could no longer be labelled organic.

*Studies have shown that the yields for the GM crop are substantially lower than comparable conventional varieties. For example, one study reported that in 1999 the GM corn yielded 25% less then the top yielding variety.

*The Spanish Government's own Working Group on Pesticides reported in 2002 that corn borer incidence in Spain is "low" and "does not justify the use of these GM varieties". In contrast, the biotech industry states, "Spanish farmers have suffered European Corn Borer for generations".

The report, "The impact of GM corn in Spain" is available from Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace websites in Spanish and English:
http://www.tierra.org and http://www.greenpeace.org/espana_es
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1360

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QUOTES OF THE WEEK
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Three quotes on the case of Percy Schmeiser, the Canadian farmer whom Monsanto successfully sued for having its GM seed on his land, notwithstanding the possibility that the GM pollen blew in from a neighbour's crop (the case goes to appeal at the Canadian Supreme Court in January 2004):

1. "Of all the life science companies, only Monsanto has chosen well publicized litigation as its method of preference for enforcing patent rights... The purpose is to generate fear, and hence, compliance, in order to force the purchase of more GM seed."
- E. Ann Clark of the Dept of Plant Agriculture at the University of Guelph, "A fanciful tale... On the Appeal of the Schmeiser Decision"
http://www.uoguelph.ca/plant/research/homepages/eclark/judge.htm

2. "It's an absurd situation, akin to someone dumping junk on your land and then accusing you of stealing it".
- Brian Helweil, agricultural expert with the Worldwatch Institute, based in Washington
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1372

3. "When is the Canadian government going to stop promoting the commercialization of a technology which has so clearly been released prematurely into the marketplace, and which so clearly externalizes its true costs of production involuntarily and unavoidably to its own citizens?"
E. Ann Clark, "On the Implications of the Schmeiser Decision", Genetics Society of Canada June 2001 Bulletin
http://www.uoguelph.ca/plant/research/homepages/eclark/percy.htm

Other quotes of the week:

"Um, I don't know."
- New Zealand Environment minister Marian Hobbs, whose government is planning to lift the GM moratorium, in reply to a question in an interview if she would be happy to eat GM products
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1361

"How many polls, protests and warning signs does it take...? The Government is not listening to science, to its own voters or to our overseas markets. Countries that embraced GM food in the mid-1990s were ignorant and careless. Countries that voluntarily give up their coveted GM-free status now are being deliberately and obstinately foolish."
- The Green Party's Jeanette Fitzsimons on the New Zealand government plant to lift the GM moratorium
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3519881&thesection=news&t
hesubsection=dialogue

"The [UK government's Science] Review does not give blanket approval for growing GM crops in Britain. Instead, it recommends that each application for approval should be considered and assessed for risks on its own merits. This may sound reassuring, but in fact it is not. For the 'case by case' approach that is being advocated is based on the unsupported assumption that there is nothing wrong with GM technology in general. The most that is being investigated is whether any particular crop presents specific hazards.

"At no point are the important and fundamental issues addressed. Worse, each application that is approved serves as a precedent for approving later ones, and in the end, it will be claimed that the entire technology has been properly investigated and approved when in fact it was never investigated at all.

"... The 'case by case' approach is thus a slowly-but-surely tactic for commercial approval of GM crops."
- Dr Mae-Wan Ho, "Commercialisation by stealth", ISIS report
http://www.i-sis.org.uk
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1357

"Martino said he had lived for 16 years in the US, 'and I ate everything that was offered to me, including genetically modified products. They had no effect on my health. This controversy is more political than scientific.'"
- from article "Holy Bio" in Canadian publication The Ram's Horn,
quoting Archbishop Renato Martino, Monsanto's apparent representative in
the Vatican, giving his scientific judgement on the safety of GM food
http://www.ramshorn.bc.ca/
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1356

"Feeding the poor is a bogey that is used by everybody starting from big business [and] government to multilateral agencies. To put the record straight, India produces adequate quantum of food items to feed all the billion plus population. Yet about one third of its population is condemned to living in abject poverty unable to have the minimum to meet one's hunger. It is the high cost of food that keeps the morsel of food from the hungry mouth. Even the prices of food items through Public Distribution Scheme (PDS), are too high for the poor. The World Trade Organisation, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the likes through globalisation and free market access have sucked the primary food items from farmers at a throwaway distress prices and have flooded packaged and processed trash food in return which only the higher middle class citizen can afford. Practically all food giants of the world are now engaged in processing and packaging food and marketing on an average at minimum ten times the basic cost... The Central Government has a full fledged Ministry for Processed Foods which advertises, at public cost, that processed (correct word junk) food is healthier than freshly cooked food."
- Kisan Mehta, "Genetically Modified Seeds - for whom and why?"
http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-4-64-1411.jsp
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1358

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FACT OF THE WEEK
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In 2000 Monsanto, the US firm taking the lead in development of GM foods, spent more than two million dollars on lobbying the U.S. government.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1369

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HEADLINES OF THE WEEK:  from the GM WATCH archive
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22/8/2003 Bishop speaks out in the Phillipines
24/8/2003 Blair forced to scale back his plan to introduce GM farming
24/8/2003 Probe into 'bullying' of GM panel scientists
24/8/2003 Opposition growing in NZ to lifting GE ban/Taiwan to label
24/8/2003 Toxic War - GM Crop Weed Killer Linked to Powerful Fungus
26/8/2003 GM crops in Spain harm farmers and environment
26/8/2003 GM Science Review Deeply Flawed
26/8/2003 Holy Bio - Lining up the religious "ducks"
26/8/2003 IPPC/South Africa/Uganda/Serbia
26/8/2003 Throttling India's marginal farmers
27/8/2003 Corngate coverup
27/8/2003 Government hands out free GM seeds to farmers
27/8/2003 Listen up, Ottawa: no GM wheat!
27/8/2003 Syngenta stonewalls Corngate enquiry
28/8/2003 Adult clones sudden death shock/California to ban GM fish
28/8/2003 Corporate Giants Hold Gov't & WTO Strings
28/8/2003 Genetically modified food fears seen hurting Canada
28/8/2003 GM Basmati/Resistant pink bollworms/GM's emotional buttons
28/8/2003 Industry Struggles With Biotech Corn
28/8/2003 Members of Parliament fight GM crops
28/8/2003 Suppressed memo laid at PM's door
29/8/2003 Monsanto's culture of fear - A Farmer Prepares for Final Battle Against Monsanto

FOR THE COMPLETE GM WATCH ARCHIVE: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive.asp

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CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
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The world's governments will be gathering for the World Trade Organisation's 5th Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico, from 10 to 14 September. Greenpeace is going to this meeting to push for trade rules that reflect the environmental, social and economic priorities of the world's citizens, not just the world's corporations.

We have launched a weblog to keep you updated on what is going on in Cancun this September, and we encourage you to read it, react to it, and take action by sending your comments to Cancun!

http://weblog.greenpeace.org/wto/

Greenpeace's major focus in Cancun will be opposing the spread of genetically engineered food.

On 13 May the US government declared a global war on consumers, farmers and the environment when it filed a complaint in the World Trade Organisation against the European Union's de facto moratorium on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). However, the fact is the moratorium was due to be lifted within months anyway.

So why the rush?

The real target of US aggression against GMO restrictions is the EU's new comprehensive GMO labeling laws.

The WTO case is the first step in a worldwide campaign to promote Frankenfood, so people everywhere should be concerned.

To find out more, please join the more than 7000 people who have participated in our cyberaction here:
http://act.greenpeace.org/ams/e?a=859&s=gen

You can also join our virtual protest and send a message directly to the WTO meeting here:
http://activism.greenpeace.org/wto/final/site

and join the more than 5000 people who have sent more than 20 thousand copies of Mark Fiore's brilliant e-card to their friends and colleagues:
http://act.greenpeace.org/ecs/s2?i=863&sk=std

Visit:
http://www.greenpeace.org/wto
for more information.

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