GMWatch News Review archive

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WEEKLY WATCH number 196
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from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

UK supermarkets don't sell GM food and 18.5 million UK citizens live in self-declared GM-free zones but the big biotech companies are still trying to sneak GM into our food - by getting the Government to legalise GM contamination of our crops.

The Government is now asking us what we think, so please respond urgently by e-mail to the consultation because numbers matter and the deadline is 20th October.

Go to http://www.stopgmcontamination.org where there's a 1 page model letter, and tell the Blair Government to keep our food and farming GM free!

Watch out too for our CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK.

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

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CONTENTS
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CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
GM RICE CONTAMINATION SCANDAL
GM RICE FEST!
AUSTRALASIA
ASIA
AFRICA
THE AMERICAS
EUROPE

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CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
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+ SAY NO TO GM WINE!
The South African campaign group SAFeAGE is calling for everyone to make South Africa's wine industry aware of the dangers from planned field trials of GM grapes in the Western Cape - the first application for a release of GM vines on the African continent.

Co-existance between GM and non-GM crops simply does not work. There are already 132 recorded cases of unintended contamination worldwide and some have had severe economic consequences for farmers, companies and exporters.   

Tell 'Wines of South Africa', which represents all exporters of South African wines, your opinion of the GM trials - just click the link below to automatically send an e-mail. It only takes a minute. http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=87&page=1

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GM RICE CONTAMINATION SCANDAL
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+ BIOTECH INSTILLS FEAR AND LOATHING IN CALIFORNIA RICE BELT
That was the title of an Associated Press piece this week about the economic impact on California's farmers of "a biotechnology blunder so disastrous that it prompted the rice industry's biggest export customer -- Japan -- to prohibit some varieties and threaten to ban all U.S. imports. The European Union is making similar threats because genetically engineered rice continues to turn up on grocery shelves in Europe."

Here are some quotes from the article:

"It has given everybody a new perspective on this technology and it's not positive." - Grant Lundberg, chief executive of Richvale-based Lundberg Family Farms, one of the state's biggest rice growers

"It's pretty much economic suicide to let genetic engineered rice creep into California and pose a contamination threat." - John Hasbrook of SunWest Foods Inc., California's largest rice miller

"If that happens, the California industry will evaporate." - Fourth-generation farmer Greg Massa
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7124

+ UK: STORES TOLD TO REMOVE GM RICE FROM SHELVES
The government's food watchdog has changed its advice to retailers about GM rice. Stores must remove any rice known to contain GM strains from their shelves, the Food Standards Agency said.

Selling products known to be contaminated with GM material is illegal in the UK, but the FSA previously told businesses that actively tracking down and removing contaminated rice products was unnecessary because they didn't pose an "imminent" health risk.

An FSA spokesman said today: "We are doing this because there is new information."

Friends of the Earth complained that the stepped-up advice had come too late.

FoE's Clare Oxborrow said: "The FSA should have issued this advice right from the start, instead of playing down the seriousness of the issue. The agency is still refusing to carry out any testing of rice on shelves and still failing to require retailers to carry out such testing themselves."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7106

+ GERMANY FOUND ILLEGAL GM RICE FROM U.S., CHINA
German consumer protection authorities have said that they detected the presence of banned GM rice from the US and China in various food products.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7106

+ USDA SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON DEREGULATION OF ILLEGAL GM RICE
The US Dept of Agriculture is seeking public comment on a petition to deregulate LL601 rice.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7106

+ CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY COMMENTS ON "DEREGULATION"
An extremely useful critique of the current attempt to approve ("deregulate") LL601 in the US.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7119

+ JAPAN'S RICE TESTING STUNS INDUSTRY
California Rice Commission president Tim Johnson reacted with surprise and disapointment to the requirement from Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries that US-origin short and medium grain rice and rice stocks be tested for the presence of Bayer's LibertyLink 601 rice.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7106

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GM RICE FEST!
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+ GM RICE "PERFECTLY SAFE"
This week saw an international rice conference in India at which GM rice was repeatedly promoted without any reference to the FEAR AND LOATHING GM rice has been causing in the US rice belt.

Robert Zeigler, Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), was busy punting GM rice on the sidelines of the conference.

Ziegler claimed China has already developed a GM rice variety that "is perfectly safe to consume".
But the rice in question contains a gene which "has not been approved for human consumption in any food crop", according to leading international scientific experts, and which produces a toxin with significant potential allergenicity.

That Ziegler should punt an unapproved GM rice variety with such concerns surrounding it as "perfectly safe to consume" speaks volumes about his agenda and the nature of IRRI's commitment to GM rice.

IRRI has benefitted for decades from grants from a whole array of agrochemical and biotech corporations.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7118

+ INDIA MUST BALANCE GM FEARS WITH FOOD SECURITY - PM
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also spoke at the conference, saying he's willing to trade off ethical, environmental and food safety concerns about GMOs against the gains GM can deliver in terms of food production.

The only problem is that there's no convincing evidence for increased food production from GM, as Dr Doug Gurian-Sherman, the Senior Scientist at the Center for Food Safety and a former biotech specialist at the US Environmental Protection Agency, recently pointed out in a N. American context:

"There were big gains in yield for decades in field crops like corn or soybeans due to conventional breeding and other changes before GMOs (along with this have come all of the problems with industrial agriculture - but yields have improved), and I have not seen evidence that GMOs have increased that improvement rate over the background of what would be expected without GMOs. In fact, with soybeans in the US, there has been some evidence of a fall-off in yield improvements since GMOs were introduced (but that has not yet been adequately confirmed)."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7114

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AUSTRALASIA
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+ GM LOBBY EXPLOITS DROUGHT - WITH LIES
As Australian farmers grapple with the current record-breaking lack of rainfall, Australia's Agriculture Minister, Peter McGauran, and a coterie of pro-GM lobbyists are trying to exploit the drought by demanding an end to the GM moratorium operated by Australia's state governments.

The Australian press reported this week, "The states have been told to lift their moratorium on genetically modified crops as Australia grapples with the harshest drought in a century... Mr McGauran said there was only a 5 to 10 per cent chance of rain breaking the drought, and GM technology could be a boon."

The former head of the South Australian Farmers Federation, John Lush, recently went still further, claiming, "drought-resistant GM crops could save farmers millions of dollars."

And "GMO Pundit", a.k.a. GM-zealot David Tribe, has been highlighting on his blog an article that makes it look like the US is laughing all the way to the bank, while Australia suffers, thanks to GM, "ONLY IN AMERICA: GM crops saving farm economy from drought."

The only problem with this onslaught is that it's based on deceit. The article Tribe highlights is a vacuous and misleading propaganda piece from the rightwing Heartland Institute, which fights climate-change science and regulations on smoking just as vigorously as it promotes GM.

And McGuaran and Lush's claims of massive benefits denied to drought stricken Australian farmers are equally cynical. Although there's been talk for many years about the wonders of drought-resistant GM crops, all the evidence is that they are many years, possibly even decades, away from being commercially available. And if and when they do finally become available, a Monsanto spokesperson says, it will be "in the United States... well before they become available in other countries."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7105

+ VICTORIAN SCIENTISTS DEVELOP NON-GM DROUGHT TOLERANT CANOLA
Victorian scientists have developed a new species of non-GM drought tolerant canola that could make up to 1.5 million hectares of drought prone farmland in Australia more productive and profitable, the minister for innovation, John Brumby, announced.

Commercial arrangements are currently being finalised and seed plantings for the first two juncea canola cultivars bred for Australia are also underway, with a view to releasing commercial quality seed to farmers next year.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7105

+ AUSTRALIAN STATE AG MINISTER SLAMS GM CALL
Western Australia's Agriculture Minister Kim Chance has slammed Australia's pro-GM Federal Agriculture Minister, Peter McGauran's call for an end to the States GM moratorium.

Chance said, "Mr McGauran obviously has not read about the Canadian experience, and I would like to know which countries he believes are enjoying financial and environmental benefits for GM crops, particularly GM canola."

"I do not want to see a situation where our State and Federal governments have to spend millions of dollars to help our farmers because they cannot sell their GM crops."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7126

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ASIA
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+ GREENPEACE JAPAN LAUNCHES TRUE FOOD GUIDE
Japanese consumers overwhelmingly wish to avoid GM foods but Japan's lax labelling laws do not promote a proper choice. But Greenpeace Japan has launched a True Food guide to assist consumers and pressurize recalcitrant food companies to deliver what consumers want.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7112

+ MONSANTO ACCOUNTS PROBE ORDERED IN INDIA
Already facing the charge of selling Bt cotton seeds at exorbitant prices, Monsanto now appears to be heading towards more trouble with the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) ordering a fresh probe into the accounts of its Indian arm - Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech Ltd.

Sources at the Ministry of Company Affairs confirmed that they have been receiving complaints related to MMBL accounts, which alleged that the US-based parent company was receiving more funds than its entitlements.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7107

+ BT COTTON CAUSING MASSIVE FINANCIAL LOSSES IN ANDHRA PRADESH
Bt cotton crops are wilting on over 250,000 acres of Bt cotton in Warangal District, translating into a loss of over US $12 million for farmers. This is the finding of a fact finding team consisting of scientists, farmers, academicians and civil society groups which visited Warangal.

The farmers were using Bt seeds from diverse seed companies. All these crops were severely affected by the wilt, especially on red soils, most of which are owned by poor small farmers. The farmers in these villages have been growing cotton for over three decades and have vast experience in understanding the behaviour of cotton crops. It was their unanimous opinion that they had never seen the type and extent of wilt they are witnessing this season on Bt cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7115

+ INDIA'S REGULATORS GUILTY OF LAXITY AND APATHY - TIMES OF INDIA
A powerful editorial from the Times of India says India's regulators "have been guilty in equal measure of unconscionable laxity and apathy":

"For instance, trial crops must be destroyed but shockingly, farmers are selling under-trial GM brinjal and okra in the open market, and there is precious little the regulators are doing about it.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7109

+ HAS THE BT COTTON BUBBLE BURST?
Cotton farmers around the country are following Andhra Pradesh's lead in skipping both pesticides and Bt seeds. And there are no pests. Why? There are 28 predators of the American bollworm, cotton's main enemy. If you stop spraying pesticides, these beneficial insects devour the bollworm, writes Devinder Sharma in an article for India Together.

EXCERPT:
The question I am often asked is as to what is the alternative [to Bt cotton]. My answer is very simple: Follow the two-pronged strategy. First, ban the use of chemical pesticides on cotton (which incidentally consumes 55 per cent of the total pesticides applied). This will result in a restoration of the ecological balance, minimise the insect attack, and result in a safer environment. Secondly, stop cultivating GM cotton varieties. Not only will it reduce drastically the cost of production, it will also mean that the farmer is pulled out from the death trap.

Farmers in several parts of the country are following this approach. In more than 4,500 hectares in Andhra Pradesh, farmers are reaping a higher harvest without growing Bt varieties or using pesticides. And there are no pests. Why? If you stop spraying pesticides, beneficial insects take over. In case of cotton, there are 28 predators of the American bollworm in the same field. When the farmer stops using pesticides, these beneficial insects survive and devour the bollworm. With indiscriminate pesticides applications, these predators are the first one to be killed.

Hundreds of farmers in Tamilnadu, Punjab, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have taken the route to sustainable cotton production, and emerged free of the clutches of the seed and agribusiness companies.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7103

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AFRICA
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+ CAN THE POOR HELP GM CROPS? IMPORTANT NEW STUDY
A paper critical of South Africa's experiment with growing GM cotton in the Makhatini Flats has been published in the Review of African Political Economy.

EXCERPT:
We suggest that, in the light of current evidence, the considerable favourable attention accorded the Makhathini cotton farmers is indicative not of the appropriateness of the technology, but a symptom of a development policy and life science industry which is keen for the technology to succeed. We argue that the adoption of GM cotton in the Makhathini area is symptomatic not of an endorsement of GM technology, nor a step on the road to regenerating the agricultural sector, but rather a sign of the profound lack of choice facing farmers in the region.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7111

+ CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
Click here to help defend Africa from GM vines:
http://www.gmwatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=87&page=1

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THE AMERICAS
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+ UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATOR THREATENS TO CUT FUNDING OF GM REGULATION CRITIC
Hector Valenzuela is a specialist in the UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at Manoa, Hawaii who spoken out for stricter regulation of GMOs. A memo sent by a University of Hawaii administrator and subsequently leaked reveals that the administrator was threatening to cut off his funding. Happily, it looks as if the withdrawal of funding was finally rescinded.

The memo contains the following highly revealing sentence: "It [his public criticism of the regulation of GMOs] is insulting to our organization and to several of our clients." Now, who would they be?

EXTRACT from the memo:
"If Hector shows up here Tuesday (as advertised) for GMO-free Maui's presentation of the "Pandora's Box" movie to lead the Q & A session with Lorrin Pang, then there will be no support of any kind out of this office to assist any workshop, activity or any other endeavor with which he is affiliated . . . It would be insane for me to assist him in Maui County - hiding behind a guise of free-speech on personal time . . . if he shows up to spew his intellectual vitriol on Tuesday (or any other time if it is for the same purpose), no assistance in any form will be provided from here on activities to which he is related. . . . It is insulting to our organization and to several of our clients. . . . There are enough nut jobs here without helping a CTAHR-grown one." [CTHAR is the UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at Manoa].
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7113

+ VERMONT AG SECRETARY BACKS MILK HORMONE BAN
Vermont Agriculture Secretary Steve Kerr has added his voice to the growing chorus urging Vermont farmers to stop giving their dairy cows Monsanto's GM hormone rbST.

Kerr, speaking to the Vermont Dairy Industry Association's annual meeting in Burlington on Thursday, said it makes sense for Vermont's dairy farmers to stop using rbST, especially after the two largest milk processors in New England have said they no longer will accept milk from cows given the synthetic hormone.

Last month, both Dean Foods and H.P. Hood Inc., said consumer demand was growing substantially for organic milk and at the same their customers were demanding milk be hormone-free.

The cattle drug rbST was Monsanto's first GM product in the American market place.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7104

+ BEGINNING OF THE END FOR rbST
EXCERPT from article with this title from Burlington Free Press: Before this summer, demand for rbST-free milk amounted to about 15 percent of the total volume of DMS milk sold to fluid processors for drinking milk, Wickham said. By next summer, Wickham anticipates demand could jump to "the higher side of 50 percent."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7107

+ "GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE TO rBST"
Comment from Rick North, Project Director - Campaign For Safe Food:

Until this weekend, I've never seen anyone from the government at any level make a public statement against rBGH. From the New York Times, this is from Stephen Taylor, New Hampshire commissioner of agriculture, who is a dairy farmer himself:

"It's like steroids for athletes." He said he had tried the hormone but it put stress on his cows and made them thinner. Last month, his wife signed an affidavit, requested by Agri-Mark, a big New England co-op, certifying that the couple's 80-cow farm does not use the hormone. "A lot of people in the dairy industry say goodbye and good riddance to BST," he said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7116

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EUROPE
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+ DEFRA AIRBRUSHES GARDENERS IN GM PROPOSALS
Gardeners and beekeepers will not be told if GM crops are to be grown near by their land or hives if the UK agriculture ministry Defra's proposals for growing GM crops in England are accepted.

In a consultation paper issued in the summer, Defra proposed that landowners within certain distances will be legally required to be informed if a GM crop is to be grown.

However, "Defra's proposals are not intended to cover the situation where:
***GM crops may cross-pollinate plants grown in allotments or domestic gardens intended for private consumption"; and
***"Defra does not propose any specific action in relation to the coexistence of GM crops and commercial honey production".

Defra has decided to exclude an estimated 500,000 allotment holders and vegetable gardeners from the list of land owners who will legally be required to be informed if a GM crop is planned near by because their produce is for private consumption and will not be placed on the market.

HAVE YOUR SAY, GO TO: http://www.stopgmcontamination.org
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7108
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