GMWatch News Review archive

German translation of Monthly Review No. 43
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7793

Dutch translation of Monthly Review No. 43 http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7794

-----------------------------------------------------------
MONTHLY REVIEW No. 44 CONTENTS
------------------------------------------------------------

CONTAMINATION
GM BANS / RESTRICTIONS
GM APPLICATIONS / EXPANSION
DISCLOSURE OF SAFETY DATA
BIOFUELS
PHARMA CROPS
GM FAILURES
CORPORATE TAKEOVER
LABELLING
RESISTANCE
LOBBYWATCH
QUOTES OF THE MONTH
rBGH CONTROVERSY
BEE CRISIS
CAMPAIGNS OF THE MONTH

------------------------------------------------------------
CONTAMINATION
------------------------------------------------------------

+ UNAUTHORIZED GM IN RICE PROTEIN FOR ANIMAL FEED
Animal feed containing unauthorized GM in rice protein has been recalled after being imported into the UK, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Belgium. The discovery came when investigations in Cyprus showed that the GM line Bt63 had been found in rice protein concentrate imported from China.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7802

+ ILLEGAL GM MAIZE FOUND IN ROTTERDAM PORT
A type of GM maize which is illegal in Europe has been found in a consignment of maize pellets in the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7803

------------------------------------------------------------
GM BANS / RESTRICTIONS
------------------------------------------------------------

+ GREEKS BAN MORE GM CORN AND BLOCK CHINESE RICE
The Greek government has banned 16 types of GM corn from being imported into the country, bringing the total number of banned corn types to 47. Greece took the move despite an EU decision to accept the corn. The ministry also blocked the import of 88 tons of GM-contaminated Chinese rice.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7758

+ LANDMARK LAW BANS GMOs IN NEGROS OCCIDENTAL
The Philippines province of Negros Occidental has passed a landmark law that bans the entry of GM plants and animals.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7801

+ LEADING CYPRIOT POLITICIAN CALLS FOR TOTAL GM BAN
Demetris Christofias, President of the House of Representatives in Cyprus (the Cypriot parliament) has called for a total ban on GM foods.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7800

+ GERMAN COMPANY DENIED PERMIT TO GROW GM RAPESEED IN LITHUANIA
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7734

+ U.S. JUDGE MULLS MAKING ALFALFA BAN PERMANENT
A US judge questioned whether he should lift a ban on the sale and planting of Monsanto's GM alfalfa without a government study of the crop's potential impact. US District Court Judge Charles Breyer, who has already ruled that the government acted illegally in approving the GM alfalfa, issued the preliminary injunction in March and set April 27 as a date to consider whether to make it permanent.

"It is not the court's function to do an environmental impact study," Breyer said during the hearing. "The government ought to do it."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7804

+ SYNGENTA URGED TO RECONSIDER GM CORN SEED SALES
Syngenta's being urged by leading grain trade associations to reverse its plan to commercialize a new GM corn seed for planting this year because it has not obtained regulatory approval in Japan and other US export markets.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7728

+ MINNESOTA STOPS SALE OF SYNGENTA SEED
http://webstar.postbulletin.com/agrinews/288761354001384.bsp

------------------------------------------------------------
GM APPLICATIONS / EXPANSION
------------------------------------------------------------

+ UK: HONEY FEARS MAY SCUPPER GM POTATO TRIAL
Farmers neighbouring the East Yorkshire farm where BASF is to run one of two UK trials of GM potatoes are concerned about the threat that the GM trial poses to their borage crops due to bee keepers moving their hives away.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7780

+ UK: PLEA TO FARMER TO PULL OUT OF TRIAL
Following a successful protest rally, campaigners have asked the farmer in East Yorkshire on whose field the GM potatoes will be planted to pull out of the trial. Hedon Against GM Campaigner Lee-Ann Williams said: "We have been overwhelmed by the opposition to these trials. Neighbouring farmers, Graham Stuart MP, two local councils and the public don't want GM potatoes planted here."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7792
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7788

+ MONSANTO'S PLANS FOR HAWAII RISK OTHER CROPS
Monsanto has recently announced its purchase of thousands of acres in Central Oahu, Hawaii, to test GM crops. Critics of the plan point out that other crops will be contaminated.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7752

+ MONSANTO'S GM SOYA COMES TO CHILE
Monsanto's general director for Chile, Alfredo Villaseca, and Chile's minister of agriculture Alvaro Rojas, have jointly announced plans to introduce 20,000 hectares of GM soya into Chile between 2007 and 2010.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7730

+ PROPOSED LAWS TO RELEASE UNTESTED GMOs IN AUSTRALIA
The Australian government is seeking the power to fast track the release of untested GMOs into the environment under proposed new emergency response laws. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7798

+ GM WHEAT TRIAL MADNESS IN AUSTRALIA
Victoria's Primary Industries Department wants to grow GM drought-tolerant wheat at two sites totaling nearly 10 acres.

GM WATCH comment: After the export meltdown that's hit the US rice industry as a direct result of contamination from GM trials, and with even Monsanto having backed off GM wheat because of the massive opposition of the global food industry, is nearly 10 acres of GM wheat trials what Australian farmers need? This still more the case when conventional plant breeding is already starting to deliver the goods on the drought and salinity tolerance that pro-GM lobbyists claim only GM can provide.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7772

Scientists make non-GM salt-tolerant wheat breakthrough:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7766

------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLOSURE OF SAFETY DATA
------------------------------------------------------------

+ INDIAN GOVT REFUSES TO DIVULGE GM FIELD TRIAL RESULTS
The Indian government has, despite a Supreme Court order, avoided mentioning the "implications and biological results" of field trials of GM crops. In fact, it has questioned the competence of the court to decide matters of "science and technology".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7785

+ INDIA: GOVERNMENT FORCED TO DISCLOSE SAFETY DATA ON GM CROPS
India's Central Information Commission (CIC) has ordered the department of biotechnology to disclose toxicity and allergenicity data on GM food crops that are being field-tested across the country. In a far-reaching decision, the head of CIC, Wajahat Habibullah, directed the government to make public within 10 working days all the relevant data on GM brinjal, okra, mustard and rice which have been approved for trials.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7757

The order came on appeal after a request for toxicity, allergenicity and other relevant data was rejected by the Dept of Biotechnology on the grounds that disclosure could harm commercial interests.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7725

+ INDIA: APPEAL EXPOSES LACK OF SAFETY DATA
The appeal to India's Central Information Commission (CIC) was filed by Divya Raghunandan of Greenpeace. Divya drew attention to an extraordinary admission made by the government. The government said that the data on GM rice, okra and mustard was "under development" and "yet to be evaluated", even though it has already approved multi-location field trials for these crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7757

------------------------------------------------------------
BIOFUELS
------------------------------------------------------------

+ GUATEMALA REJECTS U.S. ETHANOL PLAN
The US-promoted plan of growing crops to produce ethanol would bring a world food catastrophe, say Guatemala's leaders and farmers.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7730

+ EU BIOTECH STRATEGY PUSHES BIOFUELS
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7749

------------------------------------------------------------
PHARMA CROPS
------------------------------------------------------------

+ HOW TO CONFINE THE PLANTS OF THE FUTURE?
Superb article on the problem of containing pharma/industrial GM crops:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7738

+ GM PHARMA RICE NOT THE SOLUTION TO DIARRHOEA
Ventria's GM pharmaceutical rice is not a safe or cost-effective solution for infants suffering from diarrhea, concludes a report by the Center for Food Safety, as the US Dept of Agriculture considers whether to allow planting of the rice in Kansas this spring.

Bill Freese of the Center for Food Safety said, "What developing countries need most is clean water and basic sanitation facilities to prevent diarrhea, and improved access to existing oral rehydration solutions to treat it. Even if Ventria's rice-grown drugs eventually prove to be safe, they would be expensive, and divert funding from existing, cost-effective solutions that aren't adequately funded."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7790

------------------------------------------------------------
GM FAILURES
------------------------------------------------------------

+ BT COTTON A TOTAL FIASCO - FARMERS' LEADER
"Bt cotton proved to be a total fiasco," says Indian farmers' leader, Krishan Bir Chaudhary: "Thousands and thousands of farmers have already committed suicide, and there seems to be no end to this tragic situation." Chaudhary is executive chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, a large farmers' organization connected to India's ruling Congress Party.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7735

+ BT COTTON AND FARM SUICIDES
More on Bt cotton failure by India's multi-award winning development journalist, P Sainath.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7737

+ DISEASE INCREASING IN GM COTTON IN OZ
There's a rising incidence of cotton bunchy top (CBT) disease in Australia in fields where Roundup Ready cotton had been planted.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7774

------------------------------------------------------------
CORPORATE TAKEOVER
------------------------------------------------------------

+ EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO SUPPORT FAILING GM CROP SECTOR
The European Commission intends to promote GM crops in Europe, even though it admits that the European public does not want to eat GM foods. The European Commission's review of the EU's Biotech Strategy calls for increased financial and political support for biotechnology - including GM crops - while acknowledging the poor performance of the GM crop sector and widespread public opposition. But research published last month by Friends of the Earth Europe shows environmentally friendly farming will create more jobs and make the EU more competitive than if it grows GM crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7749

+ DOCUMENTS SHOW S. KOREAN GOVT LYING OVER TRADEOFF WITH U.S. ON GMOs
The South Korean government has denied that it had to give ground on GMO acceptance in order to secure a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US. It even denies that the US demanded concessions on GM in return for some opening up of its textile market to Korea. But government documents show this is precisely what happened.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7743
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7763

+ INDIA: GM BODY FLOUTING THE LAW, SAYS OFFICIAL REPORT
The genetic engineering approval committee or GEAC (India's apex GM regulator), is flagrantly disregarding the law, says a report from the India's Planning Commission Task Force on Biodiversity & Genetically Modified Organisms. The Planning Commission is an official body chaired by the Indian prime minister. The report finds substantial problems with India's regulation of GMOs, implying that as it currently operates it could pose "immense danger to the environment of this country and the health of its people".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7741

EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7742

FULL REPORT
http://www.genecampaign.org/homefiles/Task%20ForceWG%20reportAgbio-GMOs29.pdf

+ PEW-USDA REPORT INTENDED TO WEAKEN GM REGULATION
A new joint report on GM crops from the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology and the US Dept of Agriculture aims to weaken the already lax regulation of GM crops in the USA.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7721

+ FARMER REJECTS GM CROPS SUPPORT CLAIM
Australia's Victorian Farmers Federation is pushing for a state government moratorium on GM crops to be lifted on the grounds that most farmers would support a resumption of testing. But farmer Geoff Carracher from the Network of Concerned Farmers said, "As far as I know there's been no questionnaire sent out to people, there's been no independent survey done of farmers to see whether they have changed their attitudes from between 70-80% of those who said they wanted a moratorium."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7753

+ FACULTY SENATE SHOWDOWN OVER UC-BP PACT
Concerns continue to grow about the proposed BP-Berkeley biofuels deal and the impact of the increasing reliance on corporate funds, and the secrecy shrouding patent-directed research, on academic freedom, faculty hiring, etc.
http://www.stopbp-berkeley.org/

+ TIME TO RENAME UC BERKELEY
It's time to rename UC Berkeley, says a telling article. Possible suggestions include University of British Petroleum or (preserving the UCB acronym) University of Corrupt Boneheads.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7806

------------------------------------------------------------
LABELLING
------------------------------------------------------------

+ GM FOODS MUST BE LABELLED: MALAYSIA TO U.S.
A long-awaited law to make the labelling of GM products mandatory is expected to be finally passed in the Malaysian parliament this month and come into force by the end of the year. But it has lead to a breakdown in trade talks with the US.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7764
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7771

+ QUEBEC: NGOs DEMAND LABELLING
A coalition of consumer, environmental and farmers' groups are urgingtheGovernment of Quebec to implement mandatory labelling of GMOs. Surveys show most Canadians in favour of mandatory labelling.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7796

------------------------------------------------------------
RESISTANCE
------------------------------------------------------------

+ POLAND COUNTERE-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7805

+ INDIA: 6.5 MILLION FARMERS WANT TO JOIN LAWSUIT AGAINST GMOs
There's been another major development in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) brought by Aruna Rodrigues and co-petitioners before India's Supreme Court. Over 6.5 million farmers from every state in India are asking the Supreme Court to let them join the case before the court, saying GM crops risk irreversibly damaging India's farmland and biodiversity.

This new move follows the application filed by the Association of the Rice Millers and Exporters in India, who want a GM moratorium to protect the rights of farmers and consumers to grow and consume GM-free crops, as well as to ensure that exports don't suffer because of GM contamination.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7739 http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7746

+ PROTEST AT ICRISAT AGAINST GMOs
As a part of the International Month of Opposition to GM, about 300 women farmers, led by the Andhra Pradesh Coalition in Defence of Diversity and the Deccan Development, formed a human chain in front of the International Crop Research Institute (ICRISAT) in Andhra Pradesh, India denouncing ICRISAT for its corporate-backed pro-GM research agenda. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7747

+ IRRI TOLD TO GET OUT OF ASIA
"IRRI out of Asia!" This was the call of more than 1,000 Filipino farmers who marched in front of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) headquarters to protest its 47th anniversary and to culminate the successful Asia-wide Week of Rice Action (WORA) led by Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP). Sarojeni Rengam, PAN AP's executive director, said, "We are telling IRRI to get lost, to get out and be with farmers and not TNCs like Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer. We don't want GE crops, especially rice. ... We can't allow IRRI to take over."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7732

+ ASIAN PEASANTS AND SCIENTISTS: NO TO GM RICE, YES TO LAND REFORM
As part of the Week of Rice Action in the Philippines, peasants and scientists celebrated Asia's treasured rice culture with a strong statement: NO to genetic engineering; YES to land reform.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7731

+ KOREAN, VIETNAMESE AGENT ORANGE VICTIMS UNITE
South Korean and Vietnamese veterans of the Vietnam War are now fighting together to get compensation from the US makers of Agent Orange, like Dow and Monsanto.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7744

+ ZAMBIA TAKES STEPS TOWARD BIOSAFETY LAW
Zambian policymakers have adopted a biosafety bill that paves the way for legislation to deal with issues surrounding GMOs. Saviour Chishimba, chairperson of the Education, Science and Technology Committee said, "The bill is aimed at ensuring that Zambia remains a GMO free country."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7754

+ WEST AFRICA: CIVIL SOCIETY REJECTS ECOWAS PLAN FOR BIOTECH
The planned introduction of GM crops by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ministers into the region at the instigation of the US and its agencies, notably USAID, has been rejected by a coalition of civil society organizations at a conference in Accra, Ghana.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7740

+ SOUTH AFRICA: JUDGMENT RESERVED IN BIOWATCH COSTS APPEAL
Judgment has been reserved in the appeal case in which Biowatch South Africa is appealing against an earlier court order to pay the legal costs of Monsanto. The costs order, which raised legal eyebrows, was made against Biowatch during its successful application to force the Dept of Agriculture to provide access to information on the basis for GM approvals. At the appeal, Biowatch counsel Richard Moultrie said Dunn had not considered that it was a non-profit body acting in the public interest.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200704250902.html
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7775

+ NEW ZEALAND: DEMONSTRATORS DISRUPT GM HEARING
Anti-GM protesters who blew whistles and made speeches disrupted a three-day Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) hearing in Christchurch on planned GM brassica trials. ERMA has never turned down a GM field trial application
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7751

+ GM ALFALFA WILL DEVASTATE ORGANIC DAIRY INDUSTRY
America's largest and oldest cooperative of organic farmers is joining the Center for Food Safety in a fight against the sale of Monsanto's GM alfalfa seed. Said Organic Valley CEO George Siemon, "The organic dairy industry is now at approximately $1.4 billion in sales. GM alfalfa drift would severely impact the market for our farmers' products."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7768

+ TRIBES SEEK LIMIT ON WILD RICE ENGINEERING
Native American tribal officials and supporters of sustainable agriculture have introduced a new bill to the legislature in hopes of heading off genetic engineering of one of the Ojibwe culture's most sacred foods - wild rice.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7777

------------------------------------------------------------
LOBBYWATCH
------------------------------------------------------------

+UK: RESEARCHERS CLAIM NEGATIVE EFFECT OF GM SUGAR BEET CAN BE MITIGATED
Leaving 2 rows of sugar beet in every 100 unsprayed would mitigate the adverse effects of GM herbicide-tolerant sugar beet on food for farmland birds shown in the UK Government's farmscale trials, claim scientists at Broom's Barn research centre.

GM WATCH comment: What would the incentive be for farmers attracted to a "weed free" technology to bother leaving rows unsprayed, and then to leave the resultant weeds to set seed?
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7776

+ INTERVIEW WITH MONBIOT ON THE LM GROUP
We've just published on our LobbyWatch website a powerful interview with George Monbiot about the LM network - a political group active in the UK and Germany that engages in infiltration of media organizations and science-related lobby groups in order to promote its own agenda. It's well worth reading in full.

Its publication is timely in the light of the controversy following the broadcast of Martin Durkin's documentary, 'The Great Global Warming Swindle'. This controversy has led to considerable focus not just on Durkin's dubious past record as a documentary film-maker (including a notorious documentary on GM) but also on his close links to the environmentalist-hating LM network.

More comment and the Monbiot interview at http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7748

More on the LM group by a science editor: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7789

+ DURKIN ROW, SCIENCE AND THE MEDIA
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7799

+ COMPLAINT ABOUT SCIENCE MEDIA CENTRE AND THE LM GROUP
LobbyWatch has made available a carefully referenced complaint to the board of the Science Media Centre (SMC) by the investigative journalist Andy Rowell. Rowell raises concerns about the role of the SMC's director, Fiona Fox, in the light not just of her long-term involvement with the GM-loving climate-sceptical 'LM' group but of the SMC's lack of proactivity in combating climate change denial - something that stands in marked contrast with the SMC's record on a number of other issues, such as GM crops. The complaint also contains some startling extracts from a leaked internal document of the LM group that was authored by Fox.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7761

+ SCIENCE MEDIA CENTRE PUSHES PERSONAL OPINIONS AS SCIENCE
Peter Melchett, in a great piece for the Guardian website, points out that the SMC, whose director is part of the LM group, was behind some recent much-reported claims that only GM and intensive farming can feed the world and that organic farming isn't up to the task. Melchett also points out that the SMC is presenting guesswork and personal prejudice as science.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7767
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7769

------------------------------------------------------------
QUOTES OF THE MONTH
------------------------------------------------------------

+ SCIENCE FOR SALE
A UC Davis professor speaking about the impact on academic colleagues of the lucrative "consulting" contracts, patent royalties etc. that accompanied the last biotech revolution in the universities: "It's like the invasion of the body snatchers. You take one look in their eyes and realize they are gone." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7770

+ GM SCIENTISTS PUSH GM TO SAVE CAREERS, SAYS BIOTECHNOLOGIST
Biotechnologist Dr Elvira Dommisse, who worked on the early stages of Crop and Food's GM experiments in New Zealand:

"New Zealand has invested quite heavily in it. As a scientist, once you narrow down into GE your skills are very much in that area, you can't just say, 'I don't like this area any more, I'll zip over to plant breeding instead'.

"You have to try to push it - 'we have got this GE stuff, what are we going to do with it now? We have to keep getting our salaries for the next 10 years, get funding that will keep this project going'. If you can get a 10-year bloc of funding, you are home and hosed."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7760

+ "BLAIR'S BRITAIN MAKES ME SICK" - MEACHER
From an article in the UK's Sunday Telegraph about Blair's former environment minister, Michael Meacher:

A new class, the "mega rich", had been given unprecedented power and access to government by Mr Blair, who was himself obsessed by money, he [Meacher] claimed. ...

[Meacher said,] "Tony's natural mates are his big business friends. He feels comfortable with them, he admires and respects them and he gets a good response from them. They are only too glad to have someone in power whom they can do direct deals with." ...

The Prime Minister, said Mr Meacher, had also ridden roughshod over Parliament. "It would be hard to say this is a genuine parliamentary democracy. The framework is there but the decisions are fixed at private meetings between the Prime Minister and the power brokers in society, the financial houses, industry and the media."

Hitting out at the influence of Lord Sainsbury, Blair's former science minister, with whom Meachersparred over the issue of genetically modified crops, Mr Meacher said: "People say that is why I was sacked. Lord Sainsbury was appointed by Blair. Blair himself is also pro-GM. Lord Sainsbury provided a lot of money to the Labour Party and he was clearly involved in a lot of GM research. This all mixed in with the Government's objectives."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7781

------------------------------------------------------------
rBGH CONTROVERSY
------------------------------------------------------------

+ MONSANTO WANTS FEDS TO SILENCE DAIRIES OVER GM CATTLE DRUG
Monsanto has asked the US government to prevent dairies advertising products as being free from its GM dairy hormone rBGH. There's an excellent roundup of the growing controversy over rBGH in the US at:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7727

+ CONSUMERS WANT rBGH-FREE MILK TO BE LABELLED, POLL SHOWS
Eighty percent of US consumers want milk produced without Monsanto's rBGH to be labelled as such, according to a poll. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7736

+ PUSZTAI REVIEWS EPSTEIN'S "WHAT'S IN YOUR MILK?"
Dr Arpad Pusztai's review of Dr Samuel Epstein's new book on the fraud of rBGH, 'What's In Your Milk?' ("Every trick in the book by the industry is illustrated ..."), is at http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7745

------------------------------------------------------------
BEE CRISIS
------------------------------------------------------------

+ BEE DIE-OFF UPDATE
The Sierra Club Genetic Engineering Committee is asking for scientific investigation into whether GM crops are responsible for the massive die-off of bees in the US and other countries, named "Colony Collapse Disorder".
http://www.sierraclub.org/biotech/whatsnew/whatsnew2007-04-07.asp

It seems some researchers have "set aside for now" the possibility that the cause could be bees feeding from Bt corn, because the symptoms typically associated with toxins, such as blood poisoning, are not showing up in the affected bees. But this may be short-sighted, as the effects of Bt corn may manifest in other ways.

Researchers have emphasized that feeding supplements produced from GM crops, such as high-fructose corn syrup, need to be studied.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7795

------------------------------------------------------------
CAMPAIGNS OF THE MONTH
------------------------------------------------------------

+ TAKE ACTION ON THE LOSS OF HONEYBEES!
Asking for the science to be done
http://www.sierraclub.org/biotech/whatsnew/whatsnew_2007-04-07.asp

+ GM SPUDS IN THE UK - GET ACTIVE!
Oppose BASF's plans to trial GM potatoes in the UK http://www.mutatoes.org/take-action.php

+ SIGN THE MILLION-SIGNATURE PETITION AGAINST GM RICE
Go to the 'Week of Rice Action' - WORA - webpage and sign on to show your support via http://www.panap.net

+ BERKELEY: DON'T SIGN THE BP DEAL!
Sign the petition at
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/147963846

+ SIGN GLOBAL APPEAL AGAINST PATENTS ON SEEDS
http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=39

+ HELP STOP POLAND'S GMO ACT
Please ask Polish Parliamentarians and Senators to reject the proposed new GMO Act, which allows for the planting of commercial GM crops in GM-free zones.
http://icppc.pl/pl/gmo/open_letter.php