from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:
I wonder just who is convinced by the US "regulator", the FDA's latest move to protect the safety of the nation's food supply. Apparently the FDA, which currently requires no oversight of GM crops, is to recommend - but not require - companies wanting to release such crops to report their work first and vouch for its safety! Oh, and this recommendation doesn't even cover GM pharmaceutical crops.
Reassured, are we? The biotechnology industry certainly is. Its trade body - BIO - has praised the FDA for ensuring the safety of the food supply and recognizing that accidents with experimental proteins are "natural"!! Only in America. (THE AMERICAS)
Meanwhile, in India the resistance to GM crops has been rising to remarkable new heights with even a Chief Minister and former promoters of GM coming out against the technology. They have been joined by Dr Pushpa Bhargava, a world-renowned pioneer of genetic engineering in India, who has called for GM seed to be immediately withdrawn from the market "just like faulty drugs". "It is an absolute scandal for us to allow further trials despite the failure of Bt cotton," says Dr Bhargava. (ASIA)
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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PODCASTS
THE AMERICAS
AUSTRALASIA
ASIA
EUROPE
AFRICA
FOOD SAFETY
RESEARCH
COMPANY NEWS
NANOTECHNOLOGY
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GM WATCH PODCASTS
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The latest GM Watch podcast (no. 4) is now available at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=158600210
In this podcast, producer Peter Brown interviews GM Watch's editors about the dangers of GM pharmaceutical crops and the latest concerns over Monsanto's GM cattle drug rBGH.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6672
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THE AMERICAS
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+ BRAZIL GM CRACKDOWN
The discovery of illegal Monsanto GM cotton plants on roughly 18,000 hectares of Brazilian cotton farms has led to a quarantine of those fields and the decision to destroy the illegal GM cotton plantations.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6674
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6675
+ US STATE LEGISLATURES INCREASINGLY TRYING TO LIMIT GM
During the 2005 legislative session, 117 pieces of legislation related to agricultural biotechnology were introduced in 33 states and the District of Columbia. 14% of the bills introduced addressed preemption (i.e. they forbid local bans on GM) and 26% addressed support for agricultural biotechnology. In other areas, 12% of introduced bills in 2005 imposed moratoria on GM crops and animals; 8% imposed labeling requirements; 8% involved studies and taskforces and 2% concerned crop destruction.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6674
+ ACTION ALERT FOR CALIFORNIA USA RESIDENTS
On 28 June, the California State Assembly Agriculture Committee will consider a bill (SB 1056) that will take away local government authority over seed regulation. If passed, this bill will override restrictions on GM crops and seeds.
In 2005, a groundswell of organizational and citizen response stopped the California pre-emption attempts - help prevent the passage of this bill once and for all.
1. Call, email or fax your own Assembly member to ask them to oppose SB1056. True Food Network http://www.truefoodnow.org/ has set up an online action page or use the sample letter at http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6650
Call your local elected officials and encourage them to do the same.
2. Attend the Assembly Agriculture Committee hearing in Sacramento on 28 June to voice your opposition (for details, contact Becky at 510-647-3733 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
3. Forward this email to everyone you know in California and urge them to take action!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6650
+ FDA ADVISES VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF GM CROP TESTS
Federal food regulators have announced a step they claim will help guard against genetic engineering experiments that could contaminate non-GM crops. The Food and Drug Administration advised companies testing bioengineered plants to report their work first and vouch for its safety.[!!!]
Bill Freese, a science policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety, criticized the action for not requiring testing and for assuming contamination would be slight. "It is designed to make it look like there is regulation when in fact it's just a green light to allow contamination of food with these untested substances," he said.
Conversely, the Biotechnology Industry Organization praised the FDA for "ensuring food safety" while recognizing that accidents with experimental proteins are "natural."
In its guidelines, the FDA recommends - but does not require - that companies file a report attesting to the harmlessness of any bioengineered protein they intend to test.
After reviewing the reports, the FDA will either raise questions about the possible impact on food safety or say it is satisfied. The agency itself will not draw a conclusion. The action does not cover an already large supply of GM plants. It also doesn't cover plants grown for pharmaceutical use.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6673
+ UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII EXPECTED TO ABANDON TARO PATENTS
The University of Hawai'i is expected to announce that it is dropping its patents on three varieties of taro after Hawaiians and taro farmers protested the concept of someone owning strains of the plants.
Sarah Sullivan of Hawai'i SEED, a sustainable agriculture coalition, said the university and other organizations involved in plant breeding should involve the community before engaging in genetic modification or patenting of organisms in the Islands.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6665
+ SANTA CRUZ OK'S BAN ON GM CROPS
Santa Cruz County supervisors have approved a moratorium on growing GM crops in the county. The unanimous decision pleased numerous audience members, all of whom spoke in favor of the decision. The county now joins Marin and Mendicino in outlawing the plants.
Prior to the vote, a report on GM written by Santa Cruz's agriculture commissioner and public health experts together with appointees from each of the five districts in the county found that:
*State and federal laws provide inadequate oversight. The US Department of Agriculture does not know the location of many GM test sites. Some crops not approved for human consumption have found their way into the food supply.
*Lack of safety testing leaves a potentially dangerous void in understanding long-term health effects of GM food, which is still largely unlabelled in the US.
*Farmers worldwide have reported their crops being tainted by stray GM pollen, subjecting some to patent infringement lawsuits from biotechnology corporations.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6664
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AUSTRALASIA
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+ NON-GM BIOTECH THRIVING IN AUSTRALIA
Research Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Value Added Wheat, Dr Bill Rathmell, says Australian researchers are leading the world in developing wheat-breeding technology - without needing to use genetic modification.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6666
FOR MORE ON NON-GM BIOTECH SEE 'RESEARCH'
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ASIA
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+ TOP BIOTECH SCIENTIST SPEAKS OUT AGAINST GM BRINJALS TRIAL
A top biotech scientist has criticized Indian government plans to trial GM Bt brinjals (aubergines/eggplants). "It is an absolute scandal for us to allow further trials despite the failure of Bt cotton," said Dr Pushpa Bhargava, founder of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, a world-renowned pioneer of genetic engineering in India. "The seed should be withdrawn immediately, just like faulty drugs are removed from the market. We are being taken for a ride by the [multinational company] MNC-government nexus. These committees don't even have specialised scientists. They exist only to promote the interests of powerful companies, not of the country..."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6663
+ INDIAN STATE SAYS "NO!" TO GM SEEDS
In a meeting with representatives of the Coalition for a GM-Free India including the president of the farmers' union, Bhartiya Kissan Union (BKU), the chief minister of Uttaranchal said that there would be no permission given to GM seeds in Uttaranchal. Tiwari cited the need to protect the image of the state as producers of organic food. His statement follows a call by BKU and other members of the Coalition for a GM-Free India to make Uttaranchal a GM-free state.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6655
+ INDIAN FARMERS REJECT BT BRINJAL AND OTHER GM CROPS
At the annual convention of farmers' group Bhartiya Kissan Union in Haridwar, delegates resolved that India does not need GM crops. Thirty thousand farmers congregated for the convention from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal.
Chowdhary Mahinder Singh Tikait, president of the Bhartiya Kissan Union, strongly rejected GM seeds in Indian agriculture and demanded that the government allow Indians to eat safe food, without GM. "The Indian government is becoming anti-farmer in every way in any case - now, it wants to feed Indians with poison in the form of Bt crops. How can we accept this?" he said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6651
+ PROMOTERS OF GM COTTON IN PUNJAB TURN AGAINST GM
Promoters of Bt cotton in Punjab, the Bhartiya Kisan Union, will now oppose the introduction of other Bt crops in the state.
The turnaround, according to Manjit Singh Kadian, general secretary, has come after "the Centre [central government] allowed the testing of Bt brinjal in the country. As we eat vegetables we cannot take the risk which involves our health".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6657
+ "STOP SALE OF BT COTTON SEEDS"
The Karnataka state farmers' organisation, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), will burn Bt cotton plantations if both the state and central government does not stop sale of Monsanto's Bollgard cotton seeds and all other GM seeds in the state, said its state president Chukki Nanjundaswamy. KRRS says the majority of farmers who committed suicide in Karnataka and Maharashtra had grown Bt cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6646
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6659
+ INDIAN SOYMEAL BOOMING BECAUSE NON-GM
India's soymeal exports are expected to nearly double to 3.7 million tonnes in the year ending September 2006. Rajesh Agrawal, chairman of the Soybean Processors' Association of India, said, "Everywhere Indian meal was better accepted this year because it is non-genetically modified and of good quality."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6674
+ GEAC DISMISSES EFFECTS OF BT COTTON ON SHEEP
India's GM regulators - the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) - have apparently brushed aside concerns raised by the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) that mortality in sheep flocks was being affected after grazing on Bt cotton fields in Warangal district, Andhra Pradesh. The GEAC has presented no actual evidence to support its stance but it has recommended that a study be set up to assess the problem in Warangal district with the help of the local veterinary hospital.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6674
+ RAMIFICATIONS OF REDUCED BT COTTON SEED PRICES
A subscriber from India writes that though agricultural ministers believe that they are doing a favour to farmers by forcing Monsanto to reduce its royalties on Bt cotton seeds to half the previous price, they are doing more harm than good. Samuel Sundar Singh writes, "With the repeated failures of Bt cotton, the government should have put an indefinite ban on Bt cotton, but by reducing the price and creating a fertile market, the government has emboldened the seed companies."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6659
+ LOWER PRICES, MORE HYPE: BT COTTON IN INDIA
Once again the big hype is on for Bt cotton in India with enforced price reductions on the expensive seeds as part of this season's picture, but the seed firms are also trying to cover their backs ahead of the next round of crop failures and financial ruin for poor farmers.
EXCERPT from an article by Kavitha Kuruganti of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture:
It was ... educative reading about all the instructions and package of practices printed on the packet by Nuziveedu Seeds' products. In case there is bollworm attack, do this. In case there is sucking pests' incidence, do that. In case there is wilt, do the other. All printed in English, for the illiterate cotton farmers!! Is this a company genuinely trying to tell farmers how to grow their cotton or is it the latest way of companies covering their own backs ...?
If the crop fails tomorrow ... will they be told that they have not followed the recommended package of practices, when no one bothered to recommend anything [they could understand] in any case?
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6659
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EUROPE
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+ EUROPEAN STILL DON'T WANT GM FOODS - REPORT
Europeans are more optimistic about biotechnology than ever before, but this acceptance does not extend to their view of GM foods, according to a new survey. The Eurobarometer report, the sixth in a series of surveys conducted since 1991, reveals that although Europeans generally support the use of medical and industrial biotechnology, their overall feeling on GM food is that it should not be encouraged.
"GM food is widely seen as not being useful, as morally unacceptable and as a risk for society," said the report.
Based on a representative sample of 25,000 respondents, the survey reveals that a clear majority of Europeans oppose GM food.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6667
+ NFU ALARMS ORGANIC FARMERS WITH GM CROPS COEXISTENCE POLICY
The UK's National Farmers Union (NFU) is embroiled in a row with farmers against the introduction of GM crops after agreeing a policy statement on GM coexistence targets.
The union's ruling Council has endorsed a position statement which backs the co-existence framework recommended by the industry body SCIMAC (Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Agricultural Crops), to allow 0.9% "accidental" contamination of non-GM crops. The NFU's statement also calls urgently for a 0.5% threshold for seeds.
The Soil Association has publicly criticised the position statement. Somerset farmer Oliver Dowding, the NFU's former organic farming spokesman, said he was disappointed with the policy and thought it was a mistake. "Any move further down the path of this technology is for me unwelcome. GMs won't rescue us from the doldrums. I think there is a serious risk of alienating consumers. We can make things work without GMs and we will make it work without them."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6669
Soil Association's letter to NFU: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6660
+ FRIENDS OF THE EARTH EXPOSES EU FOR SECRET BIOTECH INDUSTRY BIAS
Friends of the Earth has condemned a high-level meeting on Europe's future biotechnology strategy, that took place 20 June behind closed doors and from which environmental NGOs have been barred entry.
Helen Holder of Friends of the Earth Europe said: "Meeting in secret to discuss issues of high public importance is an absolute disgrace and a bad sign of what is to come under the Finnish Presidency of the EU. Once again, big industry has a permanent seat in biotech strategy discussions whereas environmental groups are barred."
The meeting, which took place in Helsinki, provided a platform for biotech industry representatives to engage in discussion with Member States and the European Commission. The biotech industry was presented with preliminary results of a major Commission study and they were invited to comment, even though the period for input from stakeholders like environmental and consumer groups has not finished. Friends of the Earth Europe has already criticized the study's lack of independence and transparency.
Friends of the Earth Europe enquired anonymously into free places at the event and were informed that several spaces were still available. When attempting to register minutes later in the name of Friends of the Earth Europe, conference organizers responded that unfortunately the event was full. A second anonymous query to the hotel venue confirmed that this was untrue. When Friends of the Earth went to the conference location they were refused entry.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6656
+ IRELAND URGED TO PREVENT GM DISASTER
Delegates from America, Asia and Europe attending the Green Ireland Conference at Kilkenny Castle warned Irish farmers that they will lose ownership of their seeds and crops if the WTO and the European Commission succeed in forcing the Irish government to allow the release of patented GM varieties.
Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser told the conference that he faced a million dollar patent infringement lawsuit from Monsanto after his crops became contaminated by its patented GM genes in 1996. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that because Monsanto owns the patent on the GM genes, Mr Schmeiser's seeds and crops now belong to Monsanto.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6654
+ FEW JOBS IN BIOTECH
Plant genetic engineering in Germany employs less than 500 people and it is not likely to increase.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6652
+ GM TRIAL DESTRUCTIONS IN GERMANY
A press release from the Federated Association of German Plant Breeders complains that the destruction of field trials of genetically modified plants costs millions of euros and "is creating great distress among scientists and plant breeders."
How much "distress" do they think that the presence of unwanted GM crops in our food and our environment causes the rest of us?
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6675
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AFRICA
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+ FOOD SECURITY, FOOD AID AND GMOs in AFRICA
A working group composed of civil society and farmers' organizations met in Lusaka, Zambia 19-21 June to examine hunger, food aid, GMOs and food security in the country in particular, and Africa in general. The working group also noted that GM contaminated food aid is not just a problem for Africa.
The working group's conclusions were:
***The current model of distribution of food aid perpetuates dependency on food aid.
***There is a need for comprehensive food security policies that would include regulation of food aid shipments.
***The Zambian government must invest in food security. Given adequate investment in small-scale agriculture, Zambia can produce enough food to be self-sufficient and even have surplus to help neighbouring countries.
***A Zambian biosafety law needs to be adopted to ensure that Zambia's environment is protected from GM contamination through food aid or other means.
***There is a need to activate local, consumer and small-scale farmer campaigns in order to overcome lack of information on biosafety, food security and food aid/GM.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6671
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FOOD SAFETY
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+ UPDATE ON SAFETY RESEARCH ON GM FOODS
A Soil Association briefing lists recent studies that have found a range of serious, unexplained effects from GM consumption:
***an Australian study of GM peas revealed immunological effects of genetic engineering with the transfer of a 'safe' gene to a different plant species producing allergic reactions in mice. A trial by Monsanto also indicated immunological effects with higher white blood cell levels in GM maize fed rats.
***the only long-term feeding trial (24 months, by an Italian team) found GMOs can affect key body organs, changing the cell structure and cell functioning of the liver, pancreas and testes of mice fed Roundup Ready soya. Similarly, a Monsanto trial found rats fed its GM maize Mon863 developed smaller kidneys.
***a Monsanto trial found GM consumption affects the development of the blood with fewer immature red blood cells and changes in blood chemistry in rats fed its GM maize Mon863.
***a Russian rat study found apparent generational effects of GMOs with very high death rates in the young of rats fed GM Roundup Ready soya (56% died) and stunted growth in the surviving progeny.
More studies: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6661
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RESEARCH
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+ EFFECT OF BT CORN RESIDUE ON EARTHWORMS
A team of Danish researchers has found that Bt corn residues in soil had a statistically significant negative effect on the life history of the earthworm in terms of cocoon hatchability.
This research evidence is only now starting to emerge, even though, as the authors note in their abstract, "Vast areas of agricultural soils worldwide are grown with transgenic Bt corn. With such widespread use of Bt-corn, it is important to evaluate the potential risks of Bt protein to non-target organisms in agro-ecosystems such as earthworms."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6670
+ THE STAY-AT-HOME PEST IN GM FIELDS
Farmers who plant Bt corn are supposed to plant non-GM "refuges" alongside that aim to delay the appearance of insects resistant to the Bt toxin as long as possible. But now, "This strategy might not be as optimal as thought," says Denis Bourguet of INRA-Montpellier, France. His team has observed that a key element was not evaluated correctly: when and how these butterflies mate.
In a study published 30 May in PLoS Biology, the French researchers revealed that copulation frequently takes place in the location where the butterfly was born and not in the refuge zone where it is supposed to disperse its genes. This behaviour increases the risks of seeing individuals from a resistant strain multiplying.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6645
+ GM IS OBSOLETE - NON-GM BIOTECH NOW "THE FIRST CHOICE"
The Foundation on Economic Trends (FET), founded by the economist Jeremy Rifkin, has recently completed a white paper on the next generation of biotech agriculture, called Marker Assisted Selection (MAS).
Rifkin, like many others, is convinced that MAS has eclipsed genetic engineering in its potential and that GM is a failed technology whose limitations are hotly denied by corporate-friendly scientists and the entrenched interests they represent.
FET's paper quotes Wally Beversdorf, former vice president of plant science research at Syngenta, candidly admitting that although the company was still engaged in GM technology, "marker assisted selection is the first choice" now in the company's research priorities.
Rifkin's FET sees its position paper as "opening up a new conversation in the debate surrounding GM food." Those biotech proponents wedded to an already outmoded vision of the future of agriculture, centered on GM and patents, can be relied upon to try and drown out that conversation.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6668
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COMPANY NEWS
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+ BP JOINS BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION
Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) president and CEO Jim Greenwood has announced that global energy group BP - British Petroleum - has become the first fully integrated energy company to become a member of BIO. Said Greenwood, "BP joins a growing list of forward-looking companies in BIO's Industrial and Environmental Section, all of whom recognize the key role industrial biotechnology will play in transforming how we produce fuels and consumer products in the 21st century." BP is linking up with Dupont.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6653
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NANOTECHNOLOGY
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+ NANOPARTICLES IN SUN CREAMS CAN STRESS BRAIN CELLS
Tiny particles used in some sun creams (including so-called "natural" sun creams) have the potential to cause neurological damage, researchers in the US have found.
The research does not necessarily imply that these microscopic grains, which are also used in consumer products such as some toothpastes and cosmetics, are harmful in the human body. But it adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests that their safety cannot be taken for granted simply because larger particles of the same substance have no ill effects.
Bellina Veronesi of the US Environmental Protection Agency's research laboratories in North Carolina and her co-workers studied the effect of nanoparticles of titanium oxide on cultures of mice cells called microglia, which protect neurons in the brain from harm. They found that the particles provoke the cells to manufacture chemicals that are protective in the short term but potentially damaging when released in the prolonged manner seen in the experiments.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6658