from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all,
We have another glorious victory this week as Monsanto has dropped plans to commercialise its Roundup Ready wheat globally (see our lead item below) and has pulled its GM canola project out of Australia. Meanwhile, support for GM in the Indian State of Andrha Pradesh has contributed to an electoral rout for the Chief Minister's Party.
This really is a week to celebrate and I urge you all not to let slip this new chance to point out to any doubting-Thomas friends ("I dunno why you bother, nothing makes any difference") that we HAVE made a difference and will continue to do so.
Last time I got this comment, I decided to go through every campaign I've ever been involved in, however peripherally. I realised we'd won every single one - eventually. Sometimes it took weeks, in one case fifteen years, with miserable setbacks along the way. But in the end, the people prevailed. It didn't have anything to do with any unusual expertise on our part, just the fact that we didn't give up. It's vital for our task of building a better world that more people wake up to - and take back - their power.
With Monsanto's withdrawal from wheat and the closure of many other biotech firms (see US), the question arises as to where the industry is headed. The answer at the moment seems to be that it is disappearing up its own oversized bottom in the form of endless inter-industry lawsuits (GLOBAL HIGHLIGHTS). It's one way of making a buck if no one wants to buy your products, but it's hardly sustainable in the long-term as without markets there won't be any more money to shake down.
You'll be tickled to hear that for the industry, the breaking news is so bad at the moment that Prakash's pro-GM AgBioView list is having terrible trouble finding suitable stories to spin. Many recent stories have been notable by their absence, or appear only days after they break and buried well down the list.
One indication of Prakash's desperation was seen in today's daily bulletin, which featured the story of the former James Bond star, Roger Moore, saying GM corn should be used for food aid in Zambia if farmers promised not to plant it.
"GM maize can be solution to Zambia's hunger", ran the headline over an article dated "May 13 2004". Anyone following the link given to this article would discover, however, that it was actually undated. http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/720/class000100003/hwz95954.ht m In fact, this story is 2 years old! This can be seen on the Monsanto UK site where exactly the same article is reprodued "copyright 2002". http://www.monsanto.co.uk/news/ukshowlib.phtml?uid=6805 As we all know, Zambia stayed GM-free, fed its people and now has a surplus of non-GM corn.
Claire This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.ngin.org.uk / www.gmwatch.org
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CONTENTS
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STORY OF THE WEEK: MONSANTO DROPS GM WHEAT
INDUSTRY: DOG DAYS & DOG FIGHTS!
NEW RESEARCH RAISES ALARM
INDIA, KENYA AND INDONESIA
AUSTRALIA: HARVEST OF OPPOSITION
NEW ZEALAND: HARVEST FEARS
UK, ITALY & ARGENTINA: LET'S CUT OUT GM FEED
OTHER NEWS
DONATIONS
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK
SUBSCRIPTIONS
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STORY OF THE WEEK: MONSANTO DROPS GM WHEAT
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+ MONSANTO DROPS GM WHEAT - "WORLDWIDE VICTORY FOR CONSUMERS"
Monsanto, has announced that it is stopping all further efforts to commercialise its controversial GM wheat. Monsanto has faced worldwide opposition from farmers, food manufacturers and consumers.
Monsanto has failed to get GM crops approved for import or cultivation in the EU for the past six years because of consumer and farmer concerns about the safety of GMOs. It announced its withdrawal from GM wheat in the EU last year when the cereals division was put up for sale.
Major wheat buyers such as the Italian miller Grandi Molini have rejected GM wheat stating that "we will not only avoid buying GM wheat, but we will probably be forced to completely avoid importing from those countries/regions where it is known that GM wheat is grown." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3441
+ WHAT MONSANTO SAID...
... the company is deferring all further efforts to introduce Roundup Ready wheat, until such time that other wheat biotechnology traits are introduced. This decision was reached after a comprehensive review of Monsanto's research investment portfolio and extensive consultation with customers in the wheat industry.
"As a result of our portfolio review and dialogue with wheat industry leaders, we recognize the business opportunities with Roundup Ready spring wheat are less attractive relative to Monsanto's other commercial priorities," said Carl Casale, executive vice president of Monsanto. http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/layout/investor/news&events/2004/05-10-04.a sp
+ WHAT THE MEDIA SAID
The story of Monsanto's retreat on GM wheat was reported around the world - see url below for links to individual articles.
There's wide coverage in the US where the Washington Post describes Monsanto's decision to scrap GM wheat as "the biggest defeat yet for advocates of agricultural biotechnology -- and a victory for skeptics who said the company was trying to foist on the world a crop it did not want or need." (url below)
The New York Times says the company is "bowing to the concerns of American farmers that the crop would endanger billions of dollars of exports". It says, "The announcement indicates how difficult it is becoming to introduce genetic engineering into new crops beyond the four that have been genetically engineered for years - canola, corn, cotton and soybeans."
The NYT also reports that shares in Monsanto fell by more than a dollar yesterday and that the GM wheat retreat is just the latest "retrenchment for Monsanto. A few years ago, it said it would confine its research mainly to four main crops... It dropped genetically modified potatoes after fast-food companies said that they would not buy them. Last year, Monsanto dropped plans to try to use genetically modified crops to produce pharmaceuticals."
The NYT notes that where GM crops are being grown this is only because they are largely going into animal feed or processing. Gregory Jaffe, director of biotechnology programs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is quoted as saying, "It will be difficult to market biotech crops designed primarily for human consumption in the near future." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3443
In an article in the UK's Guardian, Sue Mayer from Genewatch commented: "This is amazing, extraordinary; the company has been bullish about this great new flagship product and insisting it would be marketed across the world. This is a huge step down. They must have feared a terrible backlash from farmers who would have boycotted their other products."
The article goes on to say, "Although wheat is only one of the world's staple food crops, it is the most valuable for a seed seller because it is grown in the richest regions of the world, Europe and America, where profit margins are the greatest." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3445
+ THE END FOR GM FOOD?
Sue Mayer asks in another Guardian article if Monsanto's withdrawal of GM wheat is the end for GM food. Her answer is both yes, and no: "while the amount of GM food produced will be restricted, the use of GM feed for animals is likely to continue or increase as a largely 'invisible' use over which people have little influence in terms of consumer purchasing power. It is also likely that there will be attempts to use GM crops for non-food uses - including as sources of biofuels, industrial chemicals or for amenity grasses."
She goes on to point out that the developing world is "likely to form the immediate focus of the biotechnology industry's market aspirations. Pushing GM cotton into India as a bridgehead into the vast cotton markets of Asia was one step. South Africa is being used as the way into the African continent. In these countries, it is the voices of small farmers which are more often raised in protest, concerned about the effects on food security that arise from the monopolisation of seed by multinational corporations." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3465
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INDUSTRY: DOG DAYS & DOG FIGHTS!
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+ AGBIOTECH'S SILICON VALLEY SHUTS DOWN
As Bayer pulls its maize in the UK, Monsanto pulls GM wheat globally plus its canola in Australia, even in the US a pattern of closures and shrinkage is hitting biotech.
Excerpts: Epicyte Pharmaceutical, one of the last vestiges of the San Diego biotechnology community's attempt to become an agricultural biotech stronghold, has closed...
In 1999, Stephen Briggs, the head of the San Diego-based Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute, which was building a major research campus here, predicted San Diego could become the "Silicon Valley of agricultural biotech."
...A consumer backlash against genetically-modified food, along with high-profile industry blunders, helped nip investor enthusiasm in the bio-engineered bud.
...In 2000, the Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute was folded into Switzerland's Syngenta.
In 2002, Syngenta closed the La Jolla unit... Other San Diego agricultural biotechs also disappeared. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3461
+ SYNGENTA BATTLES MONSANTO
With Monsanto weakened by news of its retreat on GM wheat and with its share price suffering, Syngenta went for the jugular. St. Louis-based Monsanto had said that with its huge GM wheat investment going down the tubes, it was pinning part of its near-term growth on its GM corn products. But Switzerland-based Syngenta moved quickly to announce that it is going to challenge Monsanto on its home turf by targeting its GM corn market.
Syngenta said it planned to try to loosen Monsanto's grip on the North American market. The world's biggest agrochemicals company said it was acquiring the rights to a glyphosate-tolerance technology for treating corn from Bayer CropScience The technology, known as GA21, is used by Monsanto in some of its Roundup Ready corn seed products
Syngenta said it not only planned to break Monsanto's monopoly but would be selling its own GM corn in North America by 2005.
Syngenta said a recent North Carolina federal district court decision affirmed Bayer's ownership rights to the technology.
+ MONSANTO SUES SYNGENTA
Monsanto reacted equally aggressively, accusing Syngenta AG of patent infringement. Monsanto is looking to block the rival agribusiness giant's use of the GA21 technology for producing GM corn. It filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in Delaware, involving what Monsanto called its "fundamental technique" used in producing glyphosate-tolerant plants, namely corn.
In filing suit, Monsanto wants a federal judge to permanently bar Syngenta from marketing GA21 corn, arguing that Syngenta's doing so would violate a Monsanto patent. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3500
+ SYNGENTA BUYS ASTRAZENECA'S ADVANTA SEEDS
AstraZeneca and Royal Cosun, its Dutch partner, have reached an agreement to sell their Advanta seeds business for Euros 400m (GBP280m). Syngenta is buying Advanta with Fox Paine, an investment group that moved into seeds last year.
Advanta is the world's fifth-biggest seeds group. The purchase is part of Syngenta's plan to fight Monsanto for a share of its US market. it's said, "The developments should reinforce Syngenta's position in the big US corn market." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3500
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NEW RESEARCH RAISES ALARM
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+ 'JUNK' DNA REVEALS VITAL ROLE
Far from being merely 'junk' DNA, as some scientists claimed, the bits of the genome that do not code for any protein may well fulfil a vital role. [Yes, I know it's obvious to us, but it apparently wasn't to many of those who drive science policy.] The latest theory, published in Nature, is that they may control the activity of genes. The implications for genetic engineering also seem obvious! http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3442
+ CONTAMINATION FOUND IN GM REFUGES
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines on the planting of non-transgenic "refuges" - areas in which a non-transgenic crop is grown to allow survival of susceptible insects adjacent to GM crops - could actually increase the risk of pests acquiring resistance to the GM crops, according to a report published in the May 10 online edition of PNAS. http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0400546101v1
The results would also "throw away" the idea of using GM and non-GM mixed seeds in developing countries as an alternate solution for land-hungry refuges not available to small-scale Third World farmers, according to Charles F. Chilcutt and Bruce E. Tabashnik, authors of the report. Such a mixed method was thought to create "mini-refuges" among the GM crop.
Along with six non-transgenic commercial hybrids, the authors studied six transgenic hybrids producing the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin Cry1 pesticide.
"If growers planted wall-to-wall corn that had Bt [bred in], we would expect that [insect] resistance would evolve rapidly," said Tabashnik, professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Arizona. The use of refuges "can slow resistance down considerably," he said.
However, regulations governing the planting of refuges had never been tested, according to Chilcutt. "No one really went into the idea of what will happen if you plant the non-Bt refuge too close to the Bt crop. And I'm not sure why that is," he said.
The authors found that low to moderate levels of Bt toxin were detectable in ears of non-transgenic maize growing up to 31 meters away from the GM crop. At least 43% of the levels found in the transgenic crop were found in the closest planted rows, with levels decreasing with distance, which implies that pollen-mediated transgene flow from Bt maize caused contamination of non-Bt maize refuge plants, the authors say.
Pests eating the kernels of the contaminated refuge plants would not be exposed to the very high level of Bt toxin found in the transgenic crop, but to an intermediate level, said Ian Denholm, head of the Division of Plant and Invertebrate Ecology at Rothamsted Research, UK.
Said Denholm, who was not involved in the study, "...because they may encounter conditions under which they can survive [in the contaminated refuge], the potential risk of resistance developing to an appreciable frequency in the pest population is definitely increased." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3501
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INDIA, KENYA AND INDONESIA
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+ ELECTORAL ROUT FOLLOWING GM COTTON FAILURE
The failure of Monsanto's Bt cotton in India has helped rout the pro-GM ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Andhra Pradesh.
According to Y S R Reddy, who is expected to become a minister in the new government, "Of the 4,000 farmers who are known to have committed suicide in the last few years, 3,000 were from Andhra Pradesh."
According to IPS news, "Mass suicides by farmers in the state, many of them cotton growers who had experimented disastrously with genetically modified seeds supplied by large multinationals, were frequently cited by Congress party workers to blunt the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'India Shining' motto during the election." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3464
Devinder Sharma points out that small and marginal farmers in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh, in tandem with the State's many landless labourers, have given their devastating electoralverdict on the anti-poor "economic reforms" there, which included the introduction of GM crops. These plans, known as the Vision 2020 programme, have been heavily backed by the World Bank together with the UK Government's Department for International Development (DfID). http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3460
The controversial GBP65m DFID aid programme to support Vision 2020 in AndhraPradesh - a programme which critics allege will help push 20 million subsistence farmers off their land - was assessed by a citizens' jury with'scenario workshops' (or 'prajapeertu'), conducted by social scientists among poor farmers and landless labourers in Andhra Pradesh. Their verdict was a unanimous rejection of the Vision 2020 programme.
Andhra Pradesh's farmers and labourers appear to have now delivered that verdict all over again, sweeping AP's Chief Minister away in a tidal wave of discontent.
For more on DfID, the prajapeertu etc.http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=175
+ MONSANTO'S CATALOGUE OF HORRORS IN INDIA
Indian documentary film maker Pavitra Chalam delivered a hard-hitting report on GMOs in India at the Convergence Festival in Dublin two weeks ago. The full text of the talk (with references) has been made available with permission via Ireland's excellent Planorganic website - www.planorganic.com.
Planorganic's editor notes that Pavitra exposes a "catalogue of horrors". It's a catalogue that includes the industry's "doctored reports" and the "financial ruin of growers". http://www.planorganic.com/news&comment.htm
Excerpt from Pavitra's talk: In June 2002, about 55,000 cotton farmers decided to grow Bt cotton, which was developed by inserting a gene of bacteria into the plant's genome to enable it to resist bollworm, a major pest for cotton.
In the first few months the farmers were delighted with the crop since it grew fast and looked healthy. Most satisfying was that the leaves were not being eaten by worms.
Unfortunately, in the fourth month, the Bt cotton stopped growing and producing new buds while the existing cotton bolls did not get any bigger. The crop then wilted and dried up at the peak bolling stage. This was accompanied by leaf-drooping and shedding. There was also bursting of immature bolls and heavy infestation of bollworm. In the state of Andhra Pradesh 79% of the crop was lost. In Madhya Pradesh 100% of the crop was lost. In Maharastra, the Bt crop has failed across 30,000 hectares. In Gujarat,it was completely destroyed by the bollworm.
Subsequently, about 200 farmers committed suicide. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3460
+ SUMAN SAHAI ON GM REGULATIONS IN INDIA
Gene Campaign's Dr Suman Sahai has commented on the much-criticised Swaminathan panel's recommendations for rejigging GM regulations in India. She points out that segregating GM and non-GM crops by zone will not work. She also criticises the suggestion from the Agriculture Ministry that once a gene has been tested in one variety, say cotton, it need not undergo tests in any other crop like cauliflower, or rice or potato. As the same transgene can produce very different effects depending on what plant it is inserted into, this suggestion is at best unscientific and at worst dangerous. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3444
+ BROKEN PROMISES IN INDIA, KENYA AND INDONESIA
Will GM crops really help developing countries? In an excellent article for ISIS, Lim Li Ching looks at some telling examples in Kenya, Indonesia and India in her article Broken Promises. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/BrokenPromises.php
The following excerpt is about the failed GM sweet potato project in Kenya (read it and weep at the numb-skulled stupidity of some highly educated people):
"...the researchers had erred in concentrating on resistance to an American strain of the virus. In any case, the GM sweet potato introduced in Kenya did not address the crop's major problem " weevils" and the virus in question was only one small factor among many that constrain production. Furthermore, there are virus-resistant local varieties that farmers already use. In short, the GM sweet potato does little to address Kenyan farmers' needs."
And this one is about the failure of Bt cotton in India:
"In Andhra Pradesh, farmers experienced economic losses overall, due to the higher price of Bt cottonseed, little savings in pesticide use and lower total yields [22]. Non-Bt plants were productive for two months longer than Bt cotton, allowing non-Bt farmers to reap an average harvest of 6.9 quintals per acre, compared to the 4.5 quintals per acre average harvest of farmers who planted Bt cotton, who suffered a net 35% decrease in the yield per acre. Pesticide use showed marginal differences, as while there was some reduction in the incidence of bollworm, there was an increase in sucking pests on Bt cotton. Bt farmers also had to pay considerably more for Bt seeds and for labour costs. Moreover, Bt cotton fetched a lower price in the market, due to its smaller boll size and staple length.
"Overall, a non-Bt farmer obtained Rs 6 663 more per acre than the Bt farmer. The study further revealed that 71% of Bt farmers experienced losses compared with only 18% of non-Bt farmers. And 50.7% of the Bt farmers surveyed categorically said that they would not plant Bt cotton again." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3502
+ ILLEGAL GM SEED IN NORTHERN INDIA
Ashok Sharma reports how Bt cotton is penetrating northern India by illegal means propelled by a wave of industry hype. This is exactly how they forced regulatory acceptance on southern India, and a similar process has occurred in Brazil, forcing President Lula's hand.
Monsanto's hype couldn't be more disgraceful, not only in terms of what's known (see above) about farmers experience with this crop but also in terms of the most recent credible research which shows Bt cotton has failed economically for the second year running in Andhra Pradesh. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3502
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AUSTRALIA: HARVEST OF OPPOSITION
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+ MONSANTO TO CLOSE GM CANOLA PROGRAM
The Grains Council of Australia says Monsanto will shut down its program to introduce GM canola to Australia. Grains Council president Keith Perrett says moratoria on commercial crops in most states have ended the company's investment: "[It's] finished, because if you're investing your money somewhere and you could see no chance of getting a return on that investment you wouldn't continue to put money down the spout." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3466
+ FARMERS HIT OUT AT GM SEEDS BUNGLE
One thousand GM canola seeds were planted in western Victoria after being sent by mistake to the Department of Primary Industries by a Canadian seed producer, state government documents show. By the time the bungle was discovered, the seeds had sprouted to the three-leaf stage. They were immediately pulled from the ground by department staff and destroyed amid concerns that they might contaminate surrounding crops.
One of the families whose farm was used by the department was astonished when told it was growing GM plants, which is banned in Victoria and most other states. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3436
"...the [biotech industry's] objective is to contaminate, and a short time ago Dale Adolphe, the head of the Canadian Seed Growers Association, which sells Monsanto's seeds, said: 'There is so much opposition in the world to any further releases of GM crops that the only way that remains to go ahead with them is to contaminate.' It's a hell of a thing to say. He admitted: 'The way we do this is to take people's choice away.'" - Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3417
+ GM CROPS REAP HARVEST OF OPPOSITION
Aborigine farmers in the West Kimberley region have closed the door on a proposed genetically modified cotton industry for Broome, and told the West Australian Government they will no longer talk to industry backers.
Twenty-five Aboriginal elders declared a "no cotton on country" policy in Broome, in a clear ultimatum to the Gallop Government. In delivering their 'no cotton' message, elders from the Karajarri, Yawuru and Nyingina-Mangala indigenous groups said it was "a unanimous decision by the law bosses of this country".
"The country and the water that's underneath is more important. We'd like to think that talk of cotton is over," said Yawuru spokesman Neil McKenzie. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3499
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NEW ZEALAND: HARVEST FEARS
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+ HARVEST FEARS AS MAF STARTS SEARCH FOR LOST SEED
Thousands of GM maize plants may have been harvested in the country's biggest accidental release of GM-contaminated seed. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has seized hundreds of bags of maize seed and is searching for missing bags from a consignment containing GM seeds. The ministry said yesterday that some of the seed could already have been harvested.
The GM "construct" in seeds which went to grain and seed wholesalers was LibertyLink T25, grown in the US and Canada for stock feed. Growing GM-contaminated seed of any kind is illegal in New Zealand unless it is approved by the Government's Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma). http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3463
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UK, ITALY, ARGENTINA: LET'S CUT OUT GM FEED
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+ ITALIAN PORT BLOCKADE OVER GM SOY
Greenpeace paralyzed Italian ports this week in protest at GM feed being brought into the country http://www.terradaily.com/2004/040510162318.1rnqs61k.html See also: Greenpeace Uncovers Warehouse Full of Transgenic Soya Environment News (subscription) - May 11, 2004 http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2004/2004-05-11-01.asp
In a marathon action in Chioggia, Italy there were three days of protest until Italian police intervened to end the blockade of the Panama-registered bulk carrier, Keoyang Majesty, which is carrying 40,000 thousands tons of Argentine Genetically Engineered (GE) Soya.
Daniela Montalto, a GE campaigner from Argentina, protesting in Italy, commented, "What remains of the native forest lands are being converted for GE soya production, it is time to stop this environmental and social nightmare in Argentina."
For more on the disastrous impact of GM soy in Argentina read the Argentinian agronomist Adolfo Boy's new paper for the Edmonds Institute, "Argentina in the wake og GM soy". This is available as a single print copy free of charge (sent by post).
Boy examines how his country - "once the bread basket of the world" - was transformed into what he calls "a 'Republiqueta', a lousy little country just producing soybeans." Boy shows how even the claim of lower cost production "turned out to be a lie". Research shows traditional seed can be cultivated more cheaply but the GM seed is propelled forward on a wave of cheap Chinese glyphosate and pirated seed.
To make enquiries about complimentary copies of Boy's paper: e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
See also: Special soya cycle flash animation: http://weblog.greenpeace.org/ge/flash.html
+ UK DAIRY FARMS URGED TO CUT OUT GM FEED
The British dairy industry, which imports hundreds of thousands of tonnes of GM soya and maize for cattle feed every year, could go completely GM-free for less than 1p extra per litre of milk, according to a study by Greenpeace.
Switching to GM-free animal feed would not only be politically and socially popular, says the report, but would reduce dependency on imports and stimulate better farming. But any extra costs should be borne by the major supermarkets almost all of whose own-brand milk comes from cows fed on GM feed imported from the US and Argentina, it says.
The report, produced with the rural campaign group Farm, urges farmers to give their cows non-GM soya and other imported feed and, in time, to move to growing lupins and other high protein crops for home-grown food.
The idea is endorsed by Michael Eavis, a Somerset dairy farmer and the organiser of the Glastonbury festival. He said: "My cows no longer eat GM feed. It was easy to make the switch because there are non-GM alternatives. And if there was more demand, GM-free feed would become more mainstream." http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3498
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OTHER NEWS
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+ GLOBAL ACTIONS AGAINST GM - GREENPEACE
See http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3437
+ CONSUMER ADVOCATES URGE CODEX TO ACCEPT LABELING OF GM FOODS
Consumers International (CI), the global federation of consumer organisations, will strongly endorse the labelling of GM foods at the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Labelling in Montreal from 10-14 May.
Julian Edwards, CI's Director-General is heavily critical of the lack of progress made by the Committee on the issue of GM labelling. He comments: "For ten years the Committee has been procrastinating on this issue. A small group of governments, led by the US, refuse to recognise that responding to consumer interests is the main purpose the Codex committee should be serving. The continuing impasse is created entirely by producer and trade concerns.
"Meanwhile the world is moving on and making the committee irrelevant. Many countries have now put comprehensive mandatory labeling requirements firmly in place - most recently the EU and Brazil. These countries will not accept a Codex ruling that effectively outlaws what they have already implemented. So the decisions that labeling must be allowed have already been taken. It is high time those who have been opposing labeling in Codex recognised this fact. A sensible text, which allows flexibility for countries to define how they want to do their own labeling, was drawn up several years ago. Let's just get on and adopt it!" http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3439
+ DEMAND TO THE UN FORUM ON FORESTS: BAN GM TREES
Global Justice Ecology Project and the Stop GE Trees Campaign, both based in the US, are working with organizations including The Corner House of the UK, The Union of Ecoforestry from Finland, and World Rainforest Movement of Uruguay, to pressure the United Nations to oppose the use of GM trees in carbon offset forestry plantations developed under the Kyoto Protocol, and to ban their commercial development.
On 11 May petitions signed by renowned scientists such as Dr. David Suzuki, more than 160 organizations including The Sierra Club, and Friends of the Earth International as well as over 1,500 individuals will be presented to the UN in Geneva backing these demands. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3440
+ RIFKIN ON WHY THE EU'S PRECAUTIONARY STANCE IS INFURIATING THE US
US activist and author Jeremy Rifkin writes in the Guardian that the EU plans new regulations for scientific risk-taking, based on the principle of sustainable development - and US big business is furious.
Excerpt: Recently, a congressional committee released emails between the United States and Europe about the future of scientific research, technology innovation and entrepreneurial risk-taking. At issue is a proposed EU directive that would force companies to prove chemical products introduced into the marketplace are safe before being granted permission to market them. Existing laws allow most chemical-based products to be introduced without prior assurances by the company of their safety. The result is that 99% of the total chemicals sold in Europe have not passed through any environmental and health testing review process.
Under the proposed EU standards, companies would be required to register and test for the safety of more than 30,000 chemicals at an estimated cost of nearly Euros 6bn (£4bn) to the industry. The new proposed standard is called Reach - regulations, evolution and authorisation of chemicals.
The American chemical industry is furious. The US says the EU chemical regulations threaten the export of over $20bn in chemicals the US sells to Europe each year. According to the released White House and state department emails, the US government, in collaboration with the American chemical industry, has been putting unprecedented pressure on key European governments to waylay the proposed regulations. Even secretary of state Colin Powell has intervened. US strong-arm tactics appear to have paid off. Tony Blair, Gerhard Schroder and Jacques Chirac have all urged the European commission to water the proposed Reach regulations and have partially succeeded. When the final proposal was introduced last October, it was a much weaker version of the original legislation.
...
At the heart of the precautionary principle is a radical divergence in the way Europe has come to perceive risks compared to the US. In Europe, intellectuals are increasingly debating the question of the great shift from a risk-taking age to a risk-prevention era. That debate is virtually non-existent among American intellectuals. Risks of all kinds are now global in scale, open-ended in duration, incalculable in their consequences, and not compensational. Acid rain, the tear in the Earth's ozone layer, and the spread of virtual and biological viruses, are among the new genre of man-made threats. No one can escape their potential effects. When everyone is vulnerable, and all can be lost, then traditional notions of calculating and pooling risks become virtually meaningless. This is what European academics call a risk society.
The EU hopes that by integrating the precautionary principle into international treaties and multilateral agreements, it will become the unchallenged standard by which governments oversee and regulate science and technology. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3462
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HEADLINES OF THE WEEK: from the GMWATCH archive
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13/5/2004 Dairy farms urged to cut out GM feed
13/5/2004 GM crops reap harvest of opposition in Australia
13/5/2004 GM refuges contaminated / "Resistance found in GM refuges"
13/5/2004 Illegal GM penetrating northern India / Broken promises
13/5/2004 Monsanto Sues Syngenta / Syngenta buys AstraZeneca's Advanta / Syngenta to battle Monsanto over corn
12/5/2004 Agbiotech's Silicon Valley shuts down
12/5/2004 Electoral rout following GM cotton disaster in India
12/5/2004 Harvest fears as MAF starts search for lost seed
12/5/2004 Is this the end for GM food?
12/5/2004 Monsanto shutting down GM programme in Australia
12/5/2004 Monsanto's catalogue of horrors in India / Angry farmers give their verdict
12/5/2004 Take care or die - A precautionary tale
11/5/2004 'Junk' DNA reveals vital role - discovery just 'tip of the iceberg'
11/5/2004 Monsanto abandons worldwide GM wheat project
11/5/2004 Monsanto's share price hammered / US and global coverage
11/5/2004 Suman Sahai on GM regulation in India
10/5/2004 Ban GM Trees, UN told
10/5/2004 Codex must accept GM labelling say consumer advocates
10/5/2004 Global actions against GM
10/5/2004 Monsanto drop GM wheat!
10/5/2004 Monsanto's retreat - "Worldwide victory for consumers"
9/5/2004 Farmers hit out at GM seeds bungle
7/5/2004 More on PR outfit's demise
7/5/2004 Secret German GM crop trials revealed / More on Taverne
7/5/2004 THE WEEKLY WATCH number 71 - and monthly review
7/5/2004 WFP accused of igniting controversy over GM food aid - CI joins African NGOs in GM food aid protest
FOR THE COMPLETE GMWATCH ARCHIVE: http://www.gmwatch.org/archive.asp