GENET-news

2010-03-10 | permalink

EFSA launches public consultation on guidance for environmental risk assessment of GM plants

EFSA has launched a public consultation on the revised guidance of its GMO Panel for the environmental risk assessment of GM plants. EFSA provided updated guidance for assessing the impact of GM plants on the environment and held discussions with stakeholders and Member States as part of this work. Together with new, strengthened requirements in terms of data generation, collection and analysis, this guidance also contains a revised section on the evaluation of possible effects on non-target organisms.

2010-03-10 | permalink

Is Europe finally ready for genetically modified foods?

It’s hard to work up an appetite when other diners brand what you’re about to eat ”Frankenstein food.” For many Europeans, that evocative label has told them all they need to know about genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Opponents of GM foods have managed to paint them as the freakish products of a dangerous technology created by hubristic scientists. But the European Union may have reached a tipping point in its awkward relationship with GMOs.

2010-03-10 | permalink

Parliament agrees to extend GMO-free status of Swiss agriculture

A moratorium on genetically engineered plants and animals in Swiss agriculture has been extended by three years. The Senate on Wednesday agreed – in line with the House of Representatives - the final details of an amended law which will be valid up to November 2013.

2010-03-10 | permalink

Seven U.S. state attorneys general investigate Monsanto's monopoly practices

At least seven U.S. state attorneys general are investigating whether Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed producer, has abused its market power to lock out competitors and raise prices.

Iowa and Illinois, whose antitrust probes Monsanto disclosed previously, have joined with Ohio, Texas, Virginia and two other states in a working group coordinating the inquiries, according to investigators, farmers and seed dealers. They declined to identify the sixth and seventh states.

2010-03-10 | permalink

Legal setback for Monsanto in European-Argentine soy dispute

U.S. biotech giant Monsanto’s EU patent on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds should not extend to cover imports of processed soybean meal into the 27-nation bloc, an adviser to Europe’s top court said. The opinion from Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi must still be confirmed by the European Court of Justice in a final ruling. But it is a setback for Monsanto in its legal battle to secure royalty payments on the use of its seeds.

2010-03-10 | permalink

Vatican: No official OK for GE crops

L’Osservatore Romano clarified in an article for today’s edition that some reports have suggested a hypothetical Vatican approval of the GM potato. ”There has been talk of an explicit ’yes’ to the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture, confusing once again personal commentaries of ecclesiastics with ’official’ statements attributed to the Holy See or the Church,” L’Osservatore Romano explained.

2010-03-09 | permalink

Peru postpones debate on GMO law

Peru postponed the debate on the Regulations for Transgenics, due to the general opposition of most Peruvians to genetically modified products, reports Semana Económica. Peru’s Environment Minister, Antonio Brack, told [...] that Cusco and Ayacucho have declared themselves ”transgenics-free,” and Huanuco will do so too, in the near future.

2010-03-09 | permalink

New head of Brazilian biosafety commission is a fervent GE crop promoter

Paiva’s commitment to promoting GM crops is such that he once told the media one of the advantages of Monsanto’s soya is that people could even drink the pesticide sprayed on the crop without dying. He also opposes food labelling and claims that the precautionary principle is actually no more than a ’principle of obstruction.’

2010-03-09 | permalink

African Cotton Association to discuss Bt cotton introduction at Cameroon meeting

The African Cotton Association will meet 11-13 March in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with participants from 22 countries expected to attend. [... Cameroon’s Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana] spoke of the need to consider the introduction of genetically-modified cotton to improve the commodity’s yield.

2010-03-09 | permalink

Philippines fast-tracks Bt brinjal approval based on Indian documents

While Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh doesn’t trust the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee’s green flag to Bt brinjal, Philippines has relied on the very same results to fast-track its own process to grant approval to the crop. [...] ”Our decision to use the Indian dossier is a testament to the quality of your biosafety framework and to the work of your Genetic Engineering Approval Committee,” [Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro] said.

2010-03-09 | permalink

No Bt brinjal till independent studies clears safety says Indian Government

The government today said a moratorium on Bt brinjal has been imposed till independent scientific studies establish its safety to the satisfaction of both the public and professionals. ”The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) in consultation with eminent scientists would draw up fresh protocols for specific tests to establish safety of the genetically-tweaked vegetable,” environment minister Jairam Ramesh said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

2010-03-09 | permalink

By accepting Bt cotton’s susceptibility to pests, Monsanto befools India

This was surely an interesting week. There was hardly a day when we didn’t see remarkable efforts -- across the spectrum -- to take the people for a simple ride. [...] Any size of media campaigns wouldn’t have yielded them the desired results. Instead of spending millions on advertisements, Monsanto has done it through smart media management. You will now see farmers making a beeline for Bollgard-II. Monsanto will now see its cash registers ringing.

2010-03-08 | permalink

Authorities in Bangladesh urged to be careful about GM foods

Authorities should be careful about genetically modified foods, as such foods could be cause of various health problems, including accelerated aging, immune dysfunction, insulin disorders, organ damage and reproductive disruption, said environmentalists. Fearing environmental disasters, they also said that the genetically modified foods and crops in the country would change the genetic characters of the indigenous species of crops and plants, reports UNB.

2010-03-08 | permalink

Farmers vs. Hollywood: Corn farmers launch online campaign against Food Inc. Oscar nomination

The corn industry is lashing out at an Oscar-nominated documentary that has grossed out grocery shoppers, saying [Food, Inc.] is unfair to many of the nation’s farmers and shouldn’t win. [...] ”If we don’t shoot down their arguments with credible and truthful information, our reputation as America’s farmers will suffer significantly,” reads an [National Corn Growers Association] alert sent to member farmers this week.

2010-03-08 | permalink

U.S. court hearing ends with no ruling on sugar beet injunction

A hearing on a petition seeking a preliminary injunction that would block the production or planting of genetically modified sugar beet seeds has ended without the judge making a ruling. U.S. District Judge Jeffery White took the matter under advisement after a nearly two-hour hearing here this morning. White did not say when he would announce a decision.

2010-03-08 | permalink

Malta Greens see red as Dalli approves GM potatoes

”The Commission has decided today to authorise the cultivation of a Genetically Modified potato, known as Amflora, and which is intended for use in the production of starch for the paper industry, as well as the use of its starch by-products as feed,” Dalli said at a press conference yesterday aimed at reassuring Europe’s many GM sceptics.

2010-03-08 | permalink

Romanian Court decides that seeds for cultivation may not be contaminated with GMOs

„Practically, these Decrees were opening the gates for GMO contamination in the fields and in the food chain, by the certification of contaminates seeds as non-GMOs. The farmers wouldn’t have had the possibility to decide weather to cultivate GMOs or not. The decision of the Appeals Court Cluj is correct and we are happy to have interveened before too late. Following this decision we can say that we are a step closer to to respecting the right to health care and a healthy environment.” declares, Dan Craioveanu, vice-president of the Ecological Club Transylvania.

2010-03-08 | permalink

GMO has no chance in Bulgaria

The owners of cornfields polluted with GMO to be paid compensations

GMO cannot be cultivated in Bulgaria for experimental or commercial purposes – this will be the real-term effect of the GMO Act that will be passed on a second reading by the Parliamentary Committee for Environment next week.

2010-03-05 | permalink

Science against the rest of India: the new ”draconian” biotech bill

The surcharged debate over GM crops and food has blundered into ominous terrain. Do civil society and scientists have the right to question government decisions on deployment of GM crops and foods? If a new draft bill for setting up a national biotechnology regulatory body goes through Parliament in its present form, exercising this right could be at the protesters’ peril. In plainspeak, that’s imprisonment for a minimum of six months and a fine to boot.

2010-03-05 | permalink

Setback for Bt cotton in India; bollworm develops resistance

In a setback for genetically engineered cotton, Monsanto, innovator of the strain, confirmed what sceptics had said might well happen, that the pests it was supposed to resist better than natural cotton would also innovate. The company confirmed today that the pink bollworm, the damaging pest against which the genetically modified variety had been successful, had developed resistance to the protein in question, in parts of Gujarat.

2010-03-05 | permalink

Indian non-GM soymeal opens European doors

Indian soymeal exporters could see sales to the European Union surge to 3 million tonnes in the next three years from a standing start as the 27-nation block seeks more non-GM varieties, a leading exporter said on Tuesday. As Brazil and Argentina increasingly grow genetically modified soybeans, India has an opportunity to become a leading exporter of non-GM meals made of non-GM soy seeds, said Girish Matlani, managing director of Sonic Biochem, India’s biggest exporter of soy products.

2010-03-05 | permalink

Indian Council for Agricultural Research complains about Syngenta’s restrictions on Golden Rice research

Indian Council for Agricultural Research [...] writing to Syngenta and the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board to allow it unfettered freedom to go about the research in India. [...] ”We too have received the technology. But the Board is too cautious. The stringent regulatory mechanism is taking too much time. If we are allowed to select our own material, it will speed up the conduct of field trials and safety tests,” Prof Datta said.

2010-03-05 | permalink

Indian scientists develop new Bt brinjal, Bt rice and other GE crops

Currently under controlled field trials - the second stage of strict examination of any transgenic seed - genetically modified (GM) drought trait rice would take at least 8 years for commercialisation in India, said

GM rice has already completed polyhouse test - the crop grown under lock and key - successfully which is the first stage of examination. [...] By 2010-11, the test will enter into open field trials under strict government control which will run at least for two years.

2010-03-05 | permalink

India’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee may propose safety check for Bt brinjal

India’s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee is likely to propose an extended test to determine the safety of genetically modified brinjal, said a person associated with the apex body to clear GM crops. The test involves feeding rats with Bt brinjal, a GM variety, for 180 days, compared with the current 90 days. This is likely to extend the period of evaluation for safety by a year.

2010-03-04 | permalink

Safety concerns in China - Warnings of long-term risks arising from genetic engineering of rice

”Scientists cannot predict all possible threats of harm GM technology may pose to human beings. It’s probably too soon to really know if GM crops are a good idea,” said Yuan Longping, who has been dubbed the Father of Hybrid Rice in China. ”Rice is the most important staple food for the Chinese people. We firmly oppose the technology being put into mass production, and its commercialization in a rush, as health risks have not yet been ruled out,” Fang [Greenpeace China] said.

2010-03-04 | permalink

No GM grain seeds for mass cultivation approved says Chinese ministry

In response to allegations that ”the ministry had given green light to imports of genetically modified seeds and allowed massive-scale domestic cultivation,” the ministry told the Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday that although it has already authorized the imports of four genetically modified crops of cotton, soybeans, corn and canola as raw materials for trial, the ministry has not yet ratified any genetically modified food crop seeds to be imported for cultivation.

2010-03-04 | permalink

People in Bangladesh and Africa would have starved without GE crops, says EP President

the European Parliament President said before the official guests, MPs and representatives of diplomatic missions that if there were no GMOs people in many countries, like Bangladesh and Africa, would have starved. [...] ”It is hard to say no the GMOs. It is not possible for us to contradict,” Buzek noted.

2010-03-04 | permalink

Two sides to count GE crop success

JOSEPH Stalin is credited with saying: ”It’s not important how people vote; it’s how you count the votes that matters”. That thought came to mind after getting two takes on a report on the state of GM cropping worldwide in 2009, compiled by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Crops.

2010-03-04 | permalink

No GM grain seeds for mass cultivation approved says Chinese ministry

In response to allegations that ”the ministry had given green light to imports of genetically modified seeds and allowed massive-scale domestic cultivation,” the ministry told the Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday that although it has already authorized the imports of four genetically modified crops of cotton, soybeans, corn and canola as raw materials for trial, the ministry has not yet ratified any genetically modified food crop seeds to be imported for cultivation.

2010-03-04 | permalink

FAO condemned for shameless promotion of GMOs

We the undersigned civil society organizations are appalled at the decision of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to sponsor a technical conference on agricultural biotechnology [...] taking place as the Mexican government moves to introduce genetically engineered maize in field trials, threatening the center of origin of maize and its most important center of diversity with irreversible contamination, a move being fought vocally and vigorously by Mexican civil society, indigenous peoples, campesinos, and all those who stand in defense of maize and its history in Mexico.

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