GMWatch News Review archive

from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

Important news from almost every continent this week. Look out, in particular, for an incisive new article from Dr Ignacio Chapela and John Garcia entitled, "A New Chapter in Biotech History is not Written in English".

They write, "For English-speakers, the history of the transgenic transformation of the Biosphere is 'going underground', and the battles of resistance are slipping out of record in a multitude of tongues, just as the transgenic infiltration of the environment moves from the familiar maize, soybean, canola and cotton and into the innumerable species of real-existing biology..."

Chapela and Garcia look at what is currently happening in Mexico and how it is part of the planned "transgenization of the developing world". (THE AMERICAS)

LORD OF THE SEEDS was The Economist's headline this week, reporting Monsanto's billion dollar acquisition of seed company SEMINIS (COMPANY NEWS).

And a new ActionAid report shows how the power of multinational companies like Monsanto threatens the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of poor farmers and undermines basic rights.
(NEW ACTIONAID REPORT).

And funny how the Royal Society suffers from selective blindness. When it comes to climate change, they can spot "a lobby of professional sceptics" in the form of the Scientific Alliance. But when it comes to GM, they are eager to support such lobbyists in their pro-GM stance and never dream of questioning their motives or funding. We have the lowdown. (LOBBYWATCH)

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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LOBBYWATCH
COMPANY NEWS
EUROPE
THE AMERICAS
AFRICA
ASIA
NEW ACTIONAID REPORT
FAO BIOTECH FORUM

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LOBBYWATCH
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+ ROYAL SOCIETY PRESIDENT WARNS AGAINST GM-SUPPORTING LOBBY GROUP
President of the UK Royal Society Bob May has warned in The Guardian about lobbyists targeting the UK to promote scepticism over climate change. May says a "a lobby of professional sceptics who opposed action to tackle climate change" is turning its attention to Britain because of its high profile in the debate.

This is an interesting development, because the Royal Society has been only too happy to work hand in glove with such lobbyists over the GM issue.

The lobby group identified by the Guardian as the centre of concern - the Scientific Alliance - has an "advisory forum" stuffed full of avidly pro-GM scientists.

In fact, advisor to the Scientific Alliance, Prof Anthony Trewavas, is not only a Fellow of the Royal Society but has been listed by the RS in its media directory for journalists wishing to check out their science stories.

Like Trewavas, several of the Scientific Alliance's advisors are also advisors to the lobby group Sense About Science with which the Royal Society and a number of its leading Fellows have had extremely close relations.

A list of some of the Scientific Alliance's advisors with links to their GM WATCH profiles, or profiles of the organisations to which they connect, is at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4840
They include Profs Vivian Moses, Anthony Trewavas, and Michael Wilson.

+ MONSANTO'S GM FARMERS ON PARADE
The following comes from Bernardo V. Lopez's (Upshot) column in the Philippine publication Business World (20 January):

THE GMO FARMER
The Filipino farmer who spoke in support of GMOs in San Francisco and who hit the front page news was given a junket and a host of other benefits by the GMO multinationals. Talk of costly but effective PR. They can afford it. But people are not born yesterday. They know.
***
Bernie Lopez is almost certainly referring to Edwin Paraluman who was used recently by the industry-backed GM lobby group ISAAA in its annual media fest about GM crop expansion around the globe. Paraluman turns up with surprising regularity. Last autumn, he popped up supporting GMOs at the conference: "Feeding the World: The Moral Imperative of Biotechnology", held in the Gregorian University in Rome. Father Sean McDonagh, who was there, commented:

"One of the farmers, Mr Edwin Y. Paraluman, is from Mindanao. I was interested to hear his fulsome praise for GE crops which he is growing in the vicinity of General Santos City. I lived with T'boli people in that area for over 12 years and I never heard of SARGEN, the non-government organisation which Mr Paraluman chairs... I am familiar with many farming organisations in the Philippines... It is legitimate to ask why some of the numerous independent farmers' organizations in the Philippines were not asked to send representatives to the Conference?"
More of Monsanto's farmers: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4826

+ LORD SAINSBURY SUCCESSOR ANOTHER INDUSTRY CRONY
Anyone who thought that Tony Blair could never outdo his choice of an unelected biotech investor and food industrialist as his Science Minister, will be reassured to know that the man tipped to be Lord Sainsbury's successor is Lord Drayson, the former head of the BioIndustry Association (Motto: "Promoting UK Biotechnology").

And just as the Sainsbury-Blair relationship has brought allegations of corruption and cronyism, the Drayson-Blair relationship has also been mired in accusations of sleaze.

In September 1997 Sainsbury gave Labour its biggest ever single donation. On October 3 1997 he was made a life peer by Blair and a year later Minister for Science.

The former head of the Bioindustry Association, Paul Drayson, is also a Labour Party donor. And Drayson has been given a peerage by Blair in highly controversial circumstances.

The controversy began when Drayson, previously an admirer of Mrs Thatcher, made a substantial donation to Labour while the government was deciding who should be awarded a smallpox vaccine contract. Drayson gave a further donation of half a million pounds to Labour just six weeks after the PM made him Lord Drayson.

Controversially, the Blair government awarded Drayson's company, PowderJect, the smallpox vaccine contract without any competition.

It is said that after meetings between Drayson's BioIndustry Association and a Treasury minister, Blair's Chancellor (Gordon Brown) uncharacteristically approved a tax reform which would save Drayson's company an immediate GBP2m on its tax bill.

After selling his company for a very considerable profit, Lord Drayson described himself as "a very successful guy through my own hard work"!

Drayson's company, while he still headed it, was a financial supporter of the pro-GM Science Media Centre - a pet project of Lord Sainsbury's. PowderJect's support for the SMC dried up following Drayson's departure. Drayson has also served on a working party of the controversial pro-GM lobby-group Sense About Science.

While Drayson was the head of the BioIndustry Association, it proposed sweeping new restrictions on the right to protest. The introduction of such legislation would make it difficult to legally conduct a boycott or protest against a corporation.

In explaining the reason for the legislation Drayson, said his vision was for the UK to be the life sciences hub of Europe, and the bridge between the Europe and the States
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4824

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COMPANY NEWS
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+ MONSANTO BUYS SEMINIS FOR USD 1.4 BILLION
Monsanto has paid USD 1.4 billion (GBP 745 million) buy vegetable and fruit seed company Seminis. Monsanto will also assume about $400 million in debt. Monsanto said genetic modifications to Seminis' fruits and vegetable lines were an option over the long term. The deal aims to speed up Monsanto's move into the seed market and extend its reach further into Europe and Asia, where Seminis does a large part of its business. The economist's headline was LORDS OF THE SEEDS.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4827

+ INVESTORS CHALLENGE MONSANTO OVER GM RISKS
A shareholder resolution asks Monsanto to report on impacts related to its GM products. Shareholders see untested and under-reported environmental impacts as the biggest risk.

"Major market rejection and sudden business strategy reversals raise doubt that Monsanto is properly evaluating the risks of its genetically engineered products," said Michael Passoff.

Some of the major business strategy reversals that took investors by surprise include: Monsanto's decision to not commercialize GM wheat despite spending $60 million on it in 2004 alone; the cancellation of plans to develop pharmaceutical crops; forsaking its operations in Argentina despite 90 percent market penetration of GM soya; and suspending investment in GM canola in Australia.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4819

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EUROPE
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+ ITALY: GM LAW PASSES LOWER HOUSE
The Alemmano GMO decree was passed by Italy's Lower House with amendments which will make it even harder for GM crops to be grown in Italy. The decree makes use of a loophole in EU legislation that will allow Italy to implement its own policy on co-existence of transgenic, conventional and organic crops. About 70% of Italy's regions have said they will block the sale and use of GM crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4830

+ CONFERENCE DEFENDS GM-FREE REGIONS
The regions of Europe should be given the final say on the growing of GMOs in their area, a major European conference has concluded. The conference in Berlin heard that with over 100 regional and 3500 sub-regional areas now declaring themselves GMO-free, it was time for European law to be changed to protect such areas from the cultivation of GM crops. READ THE MANIFESTO...
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4829

+ GM POLICY SHIFT
Newly installed European Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has signaled a shift in European Union policies toward GM crops, saying that she believes the EU should issue guidelines for acceptable distances between GM and non-GM crops.

Currently, the EU leaves it up to member states to regulate sowing of GM crops so they do not contaminate adjacent non-GM fields with GM pollen. Coexistence of GM and non-GM farm fields is so controversial in several EU nations, including Germany, that Fischer Boel's predecessor, Franz Fischler, simply avoided the issue.

Fischer Boel said that GM and non-GM fields must be separated to avoid GM contamination. However, she said: "Regulations must not be so hard that the producers of GM crops have no chance to come to market."

Some German political observers saw Fischer Boel's comments as a veiled reference to Germany's new strict GM law, which holds planters of GM crops liable for economic damages to adjacent non-GM fields even if they followed planting instructions and other regulations.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4838

+ GREENPEACE, BOVE PROTEST AGAINST GM SOY ON HIGH SEAS
On 25 January the Greenpeace ship Esperanza intercepted the bulk carrier Golden Lion off the coast of Portugal. The Golden Lion is transporting 30,000 tons of GM soy from Argentina to France. On board the Esperanza are representatives of the French farmers movement Confederation Paysanne (part of Via Campesina) and the Les Faucheurs Volontaires d'OGM activist collective.

"This GMO shipment should never have been sent to Europe, and we call on the French public to go to the port in Lorient on Friday to take part in a peaceful protest against GE soy entering the French food chain," says Arnaud Apoteker. "Millions of tons of GE soy are imported each year to feed cattle, hogs and poultry in Europe. This is a slap in face for all European citizens who have rejected GMOs in their food.

"Cutting down rainforests and threatening the home of jaguars and pumas only to produce animal feed for European factory farming is downright crazy," says Apoteker. "I don't think any food producer or retailer in Europe can defend forests being destroyed to produce animal feed used to make their food products, and we expect the food industry to move swiftly to protect their reputation among consumers."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4832

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THE AMERICAS
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+ VAST MAJORITY OF CANADIANS SUSPICIOUS OF GM FOODS
Roughly 90 per cent of people surveyed for Health Canada last year said they were concerned about the long-term risks of GM foods. "Almost all Canadians (92 per cent) indicate some level of concern with the long-term risks these products might cause for human health," says a commentary by Pollara Inc., the public opinion research firm that did the survey for the government body.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4835

+ MEXICO A GATEWAY TO LATIN AMERICA AND BEYOND
In an important new article Ignacio Chapela and John Garcia spell out the significance of the biotech battle in Mexico.

They write that "Mexico conjoins a series of characteristics which make it more than a mere test-case; this country has become a major gateway for the transgenization of the developing world. Since the discovery of widespread contamination of corn with transgenic DNA in this, the very cradle of maize, a source of diversity for the world's second most important crop, the struggle over the Mexican beach-head has represented the "worst-case scenario" for the uncontrolled release of transgenics into the environment."

They emphasise that, "This is why this battle has been fought so ardently not only by campesinos and indigenous people who see their very existence under deadly threat, but also by the biotech industry activists, who see in this struggle a prize too important to lose."
READ ON!
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4841

+ CHAPELA TREATED WRONGLY, SAY SCIENTISTS
Scientists for Global Responsibility, an organisation which represents around 600 British scientists, has written a letter to the UC Berkeley Chancellor protesting against the university's treatment of Dr Ignacio Chapela. Chapela was denied tenure after criticizing the university's deal with a GM company and publishing research showing GM contamination of Mexican maize.

EXCERPT:
Dr Chapela, like others who have made scientific discoveries that cast doubt on the wisdom of applying genetic modification to the plants we eat, has been the victim of a campaign originating in the GM industry, which stands to lose billions of dollars in investment and profits if GM falls into disrepute. Since the GM industry is supported by governments (which hope to capitalise on a booming GM industry) and certain vociferous scientists (many of whom enjoy generous funding resulting from the GM work), it has become risky to speak out on this issue.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4837

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AFRICA
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+ ANGOLA BANS GM IMPORTS
Angola has banned the import of all GMOs except for food aid destined to feed its hungry which must be milled to avoid planting of GM seed grain.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4828

+ US REDUCES FOOD AID TO ANGOLA AFTER GM BAN
Following Angola's ban on imports of GMOs, the US has reduced its food aid to the country. The ban allows GM food aid imports but those coming in the form of grains or seeds must be milled upon their arrival and before distribution. Prior to the ban, large amounts of Angola's maize food aid was distributed unmilled.

"Some donors have already expressed their intention to reduce donations (since the ban) because of the extra costs the milling would imply," World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman Cristovao Simao said.

But in fact that only donor identified as doing so is the US, which Simao said had already reduced its donations. The US had planned to donate 19,000 tonnes of US maize to Angola when the intention to introduce the ban was announced in early 2004, but this had then been reduced to just 14,000 tonnes of sorghum.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4833

+ WFP SHOULD PRESSURE U.S., NOT ANGOLA
The Gaia Foundation says the WFP should look for solutions that seek to source GM-free or milled food aid, rather than making countries that ask for GM-free food look like difficult customers. UN spokesman Cristovao Simao however, says that the WFP has been calling for more GM-free food to be sourced, and for donors to give cash for local and regional sourcing. These requests should be supported, and show that the US, which only donates its own surplus GM food instead of money, is the real source of the problem. The WFP and other countries should direct their pressure to the US, instead of Angola.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4839

+ DOW FIELD TRIALS OF GM MAIZE BLOCKED
The African Centre for Biosafety has stopped Dow Agrosciences from using land in South Africa to field test its GM maize TC 1507. In its objections the ACB raised questions as to "the veracity of the information supplied by Dow".

According to the papers submitted by Dow in support of its application, the purpose of the field trial was to "gather information to substantiate EU registrations." Indeed, the European Commission is expected to consider Dow's application for safety approval of Dow's GM maize TC 1507 during 2005.

The ACB expressed outrage at the attempts by Dow to further its commercial interests, namely obtaining EU registrations, and utilising the land of South Africa as its experimental "guinea pig." ACB said it appeared that Dow may have provided incorrect information to the competent authorities of Argentina, Spain and the Netherlands in order to obtain approvals in those countries for its GM maize TC 1507.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4831

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ASIA
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+ THAILAND: GOVERNOR SAYS GM RICE NOT NEEDED
The governor of one of Thailand's most important rice-growing provinces today called on agriculturalists to shift towards organic farming methods, while insisting that Thailand have no need for GM rice.

Mr Kasemsak Saenphot warned of the need to build up defences against the possibility of GM rice coming to Thailand on a commercial scale. He noted that several Thai farmers had already turned to sustainable methods of rice cultivation which did not employ chemicals. The success of such projects indicated that GM rice was not necessary for Thailand, he said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4822

+ ASIA GM TRIAL (1): PHILIPPINES
The Philippines is testing for the first time this year GM Bt cotton in a hope to revive a vanishing cotton industry and hopefully save $86 million in yearly cotton imports. The Cotton Development Authority (CODA) has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (Philrice) for the Bt cotton testing.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4825

+ ASIA GM TRIAL (2): BANGLADESH
The Bangladesh Agriculture Ministry says it hopes to release a version of vitamin A-enriched 'Golden Rice' to farmers if ongoing research is successful.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4825

What's striking about the initiatives above is that they are both driven by Rice Research Institutes. In the Philippines, it's the Philippine Rice Research Institute (Philrice) who are taking the lead in trying to introduce Bt cotton. In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute is working on a local variety of Golden Rice, a GM rice which contains small amounts of a precursor of vitamin A.

Both institutes are part of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which has offices in 11 different countries and a research headquarters in the Philippines. IRRI describes itself as an "autonomous, nonprofit institution" but its annual reports show grants from corporations like Monsanto, Union Carbide, Bayer, Cyanamid, Hoechst, OccidentalChemical, Ciba Geigy (later part of Novartis Seeds which is now part of Syngenta), Upjohn and Chevron Chemical, among others.
FOR A PROFILE OF IRRI AND ITS PLANS TO PUSH GMOS ACROSS ASIA: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4825

+ BT COTTON TOXIFICATION
Vandana Shiva writes that Bt cotton is about toxification of agriculture:

Bt Cotton is itself a toxic product. It induces genes from bacteria to produce toxins in plants to control the bollworm. The bollworm is however being more efficiently controlled by toxic Coke and Pepsi than by Monsanto Bt Cotton as reported by farmers. The only function of genetic engineering toxic genes into plant is failing. READ ON...
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4834

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NEW ACTIONAID REPORT
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+ FOOD MULTINATIONALS THREATEN FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY
Multinational food companies are growing too big and powerful and are threatening the fight against poverty in developing countries, says a new report by development agency ActionAid.

The report - "Power hungry: six reasons to regulate global food corporations" - reveals that the activities of multinational food and agribusiness companies and their subsidiaries, such as Nestle, Monsanto, Parmalat, Syngenta and Unilever, threaten the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of poor farmers and undermine basic rights.

ActionAid's evidence from Brazil shows that 50,000 dairy farmers have been forced out of business, after a series of takeovers by Nestle and Parmalat. In India, an estimated 12,000 children worked last year on cotton seed farms supplying subsidiaries of Bayer, Monsanto, Syngenta and Unilever. Many children were also exposed to dangerous pesticides.

These cases provide condemning evidence of the impact of increasing corporate power within the global food chain. The statistics are alarming:

Julian Oram, policy officer from ActionAid. "Our research shows that the world's poorest farmers are in effect subsidising the world's largest food companies, and in many cases are paying with their health, livelihoods and basic rights."

You can download the new report from http://www.actionaid.org.uk/wps/content/documents/power_hungry.pdf
For excerpts from the report:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4836

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FAO BIOTECH FORUM
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+ TELLING QUOTES FROM FAO BIOTECH FORUM
Julie Newman of Network of Concerned Farmers has been monitoring the UN Food and Ag Organisation (FAO) Biotechnology Forum and gives a useful summary plus quotes from participants at
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4823

SAMPLE QUOTES:
Teacher of agricultural law from Canada: "To date, only fundamental human rights and the sovereign rights of states exist in international law (outside of treaties) to limit the rights of citizens within a country to govern themselves. Corporations and GMOs do not have those rights, so in a true democracy, their interests in regulating GMOs would never replace the interests of the people. So, my answer to the question of rural participation in decision-making regarding GMOs is that, without their voice, government regulation in the area is illegitimate."

International consultant on biotech affairs and management from USA: "Does the public really care? Or is that some self-appointed interlocutors make loud noises on behalf of the "public" and therefore, we all need to worry about it? What is the credibility of these interlocutors for articulating the 'public' views? I bet most of the public don't even understand or know what is it that all this squabbling about in biotechnology!"