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2009-12-18 |

Monsanto promises to allow use of RR1 soybeans after patent expires in 2014

Facing antitrust scrutiny over its practices in the biotechnology seed business, Monsanto has said it will not stand in the way of farmers eventually using lower cost alternatives to its genetically modified soybeans. In 2014, the patent for Monsanto’s Roundup soybean seeds will expire, the first expiration on a widely used bioengineered crop. In letters to seed companies and farm groups this week, Monsanto said that it would allow farmers to continue to grow its hugely popular Roundup Ready 1 soybeans even after the patent protecting the technology expires in 2014.

2009-12-18 |

U.S. farmer trio launches petition against GE wheat

Three Waterville wheat growers have formed a committee and launched a petition drive against genetically modified wheat. They are concerned that if GMO wheat gets started in the region it could torpedo sales to Japan, the largest consumer of north-central Washington wheat.

2009-12-18 |

Biosecurity bill to prohibit GMO food production in Turkey submitted to Parliament

The Ministry of Agriculture submitted a biosecurity bill to Parliament on Wednesday in a bid to set rules and regulations for genetically modified organisms, which have caused nationwide controversy over the past several months. The bill prohibits the production of foods containing GMOs in Turkey and makes it mandatory to secure permission from the ministry to transport these products through Turkey.

2009-12-18 |

Lantmannen Cerealia (Sweden) withdraws linseed products on GMO discovery

Lantmännen Cerealia has withdrawn some crushed linseed products manufactured under the GoGreen brand in Sweden after finding traces of a genetically modified linseed. ”Lantmännen Cerealia has given instructions to its dealers to immediately stop sales of the product. Consumers who have purchased GoGreen crushed linseed with best-before date 01.09.2010 are asked to contact Lantmännen Cerealia”.

2009-12-18 |

GM canola trace level readings from GrainCorp site in Victoria (Australia) confusing

GM levels of one per cent, theoretically just over the adventitious presence (AP) levels of 0.9pc set by the Australian Oilseeds Federation (AOF) for standards for non-GM canola were found in samples at GrainCorp’s sites at Dunolly, in Central Victoria and Lillimur, in the west Wimmera. However, as these tests were found in 500-tonne running grade samples done by GrainCorp, and the bins storing the canola held 2000 tonnes, and the other three 500 tonne samples done in the same bin tested negative for GM presence, it took the AP levels back down to 0.25pc, well below the AOF’s 0.9pc prescribed standards for presence of GM material.

2009-12-18 |

Prosecution of New Zealand institute considered over GM breach

MAF Biosecurity is considering whether to prosecute the Plant & Food Research Institute after genetically modified plants were found growing outside a containment glasshouse at Lincoln. The two suspect Arabidopsis thaliana plants belong to a small, widespread weed species commonly used in plant science as a research tool and teaching aid.

2009-12-17 |

Pfizer deal signals a move into treating rare diseases

Pfizer said Tuesday that it had licensed the worldwide rights to a treatment for Gaucher disease, a rare genetic disorder, from Protalix Biotherapeutics, an Israeli biotechnology company. The deal signals the start of an effort by Pfizer to enter the business of selling ultra-expensive drugs for ultra-rare diseases, a market that big pharmaceutical companies once largely ignored.

2009-12-17 |

U.S. Department of Agriculture allows schools to serve rBGH-free and organic milk

Great news! We just won our campaign to make sure schools can source organic milk or rBGH-Free milk! We’ve been working over the last year to pressure Congress and the USDA to make it clear that schools can purchase better milk for their students. The USDA got the message and has made it clear schools have the choice.

2009-12-17 |

Canadian researcher claims GE ”crops are probably the most environmentally beneficial crop technology being used in agriculture today’

Paul Nicholson, a spokesperson for La Via Campesina, an international peasant movement, said technologies such as GM crops have had extensive negative impacts on peasants and the environment. [...] ”I would have to categorically say that that’s a lie,” said Stuart Smyth, a research associate with the University of Saskatchewan’s agriculture college. [...] ”That data we’ve gathered on Western Canada certainly suggests that genetically modified crops are probably the most environmentally beneficial crop technology being used in agriculture today,” he said.

2009-12-17 |

Gates Foundation joins global crop research network CGIAR

International agricultural development research is set to receive a major boost with the announcement that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will formally join the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). [...] More specifically, the foundation backed the controversial mega-programme approach and called for mega-programmes on rice and wheat, as well as a focus on gender issues across such programmes. The Gates Foundation’s decision is being seen as an endorsement of the reform process.

2009-12-17 |

How Monsanto’s Bt brinjal was cleared in India

The Coalition for GM-free India alleged the expert committee that cleared the genetically modified brinjal for commercial cultivation in the country was neither impartial nor thorough. [...] What gave grounds for the allegation is the fact that over a period of time a third of the committee members have been in some way associated with either the seed company Mahyco that developed Bt brinjal or pro-Mahyco organizations.

2009-12-17 |

Bt brinjal is safe, declare biotechnology scientists

Scientists [...] said the genetically modified vegetable was not only safe for consumption but also more profitable for the farmers. Scientists from across the country are taking part in the seminar which has been jointly organised by the All India Crop Biotechnology Association, Environment Resource Research Centre at Thiruvananthapuram, and Foundation for Biotechnology Awareness and Education at Bangalore.

2009-12-16 |

The need for Monsanto’s GE crops intensifies in Uganda

”How soon will this cotton be out for farmers? What is needed to have this cotton as early as possible?” Those were general queries thrown to scientists in Kasese District, moments after farmers finished touring the two-type genetically-modified cotton (GM cotton) varieties, which have shown early indicators of withstanding herbicides and bollworms, currently being tested in a confined field trail (CFT) at Mubuku Prisons Farm.

2009-12-16 |

U.S. agrobiotech companies complain about lax Indian seed IPR

American farmers and food product maker lose millions of dollars each year in lost sales to India because of high tariffs and non-tariff measures, which raise the cost or prohibit agricultural exports to the country, an official US report has said. [...] Indian IPR policies are reportedly of importance to the US seed firms operating in the Asian nation India, but the American firms in most other agricultural sectors do not identify IPR as a significant trade or investment barrier.

2009-12-16 |

Monsanto attempts new model to take on ’free’ farming in India

The world’s largest seed and farm input company, Monsanto, is scouting for a new business model. While BT cotton seeds have to be bought every year, farmers can save soya, rice and wheat seeds. This poses a tricky problem. Executive vice-president (strategy) and chief financial officer Carl Casale tells ET why collaboration may be the best way to make sure the $12-billion giant gets paid for its new products in India.

2009-12-16 |

Seed behemoth Monsanto stumbles into antitrust and other troubles

Even as it bombards the airwaves and magazine ad pages to tout its commitment to ”sustainable agriculture,” GMO seed giant Monsanto has been having a rough go on the PR front of late. [...] Monsanto’s dominance over the GMO seed market—and thus over U.S. corn, soy, and cotton production—has become so intense and obvious that ”U.S. Department of Justice lawyers are seeking documents and interviewing company employees about its marketing practices,” AP reports.

2009-12-16 |

Amid Monsanto’s antitrust troubles, another study questions the health effects of GMOs

The researchers also found ”clear negative impact” on their livers of rats fed all three kinds of GMO corn. They added that it’s impossible to tell, based on the data, whether the damage was caused by the specific genes introduced to the corn, or—more troubling still—if the very process of genetic modification creates a toxic effect. And they call for more research.

2009-12-16 |

Monsanto tops poll of firms accused over climate change

MONSANTO, THE US multinational chiefly known for its aggressive marketing of genetically modified (GM) crops, has emerged as the surprising winner of the ”Angry Mermaid” awards for business lobbyists against taking action on climate change. Presented here yesterday by author and activist Naomi Klein, the premier award went to Monsanto in a poll conducted mainly on the internet. It won 37 per cent of the 10,000 votes cast. The runners-up were Royal Dutch Shell and the American Petroleum Institute.

2009-12-15 |

Libby (USA) uses IPR laws to refuse access to waste pumpkins for soup kitchens

Libby spokeswoman Roz O’Hearn said the corporation would not consider allowing its pumpkins to be picked for food pantries or soup kitchens. ”This is our own proprietary seed. We lease the land from farmers, and we would not grant access to the fields,” O’Hearn said, explaining that the wet weather this autumn prevented the corporation’s heavy harvest equipment from entering fields. ”This is our own Libby Select Dickinson Pumpkin. It’s proprietary seed.”

2009-12-15 |

UK Professor advises Africa to ”move out of agriculture” to adaptation to climate change

In Africa, rejection of genetically modified crops threatens to provoke mass hunger, [Paul Colliers, an Africa specialist at Oxford University] said. He urged Africa to move toward industrialisation as a crucial adaptation to climate change. ”Africa should move out of agriculture,” [...] Mali’s ambassador to Denmark, however, dismissed Colliers’ suggestion, saying ”the Africa he talks about ... is not the Africa we are living in”.

2009-12-15 |

Industrial South African farmer on good soils profits from GE crops

Khuto has an eighth-grade education and lived most of his life under the hated apartheid system in South Africa. [...] Khuto drove a truck and then owned a tax business before getting into agriculture 10 years ago with a few cattle. He now owns 350 hectares, about 875 acres [...] conducting his own trial of conventional and biotech seed to see which one gives a better return.

2009-12-15 |

Improving biotech reporting through ISAAA media training in Africa - it pays off

Media educators from ten journalism and mass communication institutions in the Eastern Africa region took part in a training workshop this week to help them better report on biotechnology and biofuels using radio as a case study. The training workshop was organized by ISAAA AfriCenter in collaboration with the School of Journalism and Mass Communications of the University of Nairobi with financial support from UNESCO.

2009-12-15 |

Nigerian civil society groups oppose Biosafety Bill

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria and 37 civil society groups, have flayed the bill for an Act to provide for the management of biosafety which is currently undergoing public hearing in the National Assembly. [...] The groups expressed worry that the general tone of the bill is clearly set for the introduction of GMOs for direct use as food, feed and industrial processing rather than allow Nigerians decide whether they want GMO or not.

2009-12-15 |

Bulgaria Parliament set to ease laws on GM crop cultivation

Bulgarian environmentalists protested against the proposed removal of the bans on the cultivation of GMOs. The Bulgarian Parliament is set to allow a much wider use of genetically modified crops in the country, after the Commission for Environment and Water approved a change in the law on GMOs. After a lengthy debate the Parliamentary Commission decided to harmonize the legislation on GMOs with the EU requirements.

2009-12-14 |

Confidential contracts on Monsanto's licence practices leaked

Confidential contracts detailing Monsanto Co.’s business practices reveal how the world’s biggest seed developer is squeezing competitors, controlling smaller seed companies and protecting its dominance over the multibillion-dollar market for genetically altered crops, an Associated Press investigation has found. [...] Declining competition in the seed business could lead to price hikes that ripple out to every family’s dinner table.

2009-12-14 |

Monsanto to purchase Chesterfield Village Research Center from Pfizer

Monsanto Company and Pfizer Inc today announced that they have entered into an agreement for Monsanto to acquire Pfizer’s Chesterfield Village Research Center located in Chesterfield, Mo. Under the terms of the agreement, Monsanto will acquire the property from Pfizer for $435 million to be paid over time, and Pfizer will continue to have operations at Chesterfield Village through a lease agreement, primarily performing Biotherapeutic Pharmaceutical research.

2009-12-14 |

Roundup Ready alfalfa appeal made to U.S. Supreme Court

Forage Genetics International, Monsanto and two alfalfa growers have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of Roundup Ready alfalfa. They believe ”the lower courts were wrong to ban planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa while the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is conducting additional environmental reviews.”

2009-12-14 |

SmartStax corn receives import approvals for South Korea and Taiwan

Two more key regulatory milestones have been reached for the 2010 commercial launch of SmartStax™, the corn industry’s eagerly anticipated seed trait combination. U.S. and Canadian corn farmers are now two steps closer to being able to plant the most comprehensive insect and weed control product in the industry, allowing them to significantly reduce their refuge acres. Monsanto Company and Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, announced today that they have received import regulatory approvals from Korea and Taiwan for corn grain produced from SmartStax™.

2009-12-14 |

Brazilian farmers turn to GM soybeans, Bt corn

The 2009-10 planting of genetically modified seeds exceeded the cultivation of conventional crops in Brazil, shows a country-wide survey conducted by RPC Crop Expedition PRC. Industry leaders in Rio Grande do Sul, Parana and Mato Grosso state, the largest producing regions, say the transgenic seeds will take 67.4% of the Brazilian soybean area in the 2009/2010 crop. Already the Bt corn, technology that controls Fall Armyworm, occupies 39.5% of the area.

2009-12-14 |

Mexico lifts restrictions on U.S. rice

After nearly three weeks of intensive work by USA Rice Federation members, staff and administration officials in Washington and Mexico City, officials from Mexico’s Ministry of Health informed the U.S. Embassy that holds and testing requirements on milled rice imported from three U .S. suppliers have been lifted. The announcement was made following contact by U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual with the Minister of Health; an announcement by Mexico of negative tests results for unspecified mycotoxins and genetically modified traits on samples of U.S. milled rice; and after extensive technical and market information was provided to Mexican officials.

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GENET-news is providing a daily news service on a range of topics regarding genetic engineering. We are screening the worldwide English news, press releases and other publications to provide you with a strategic selection of information. GENET-news enables you to stay informed about all aspects of the global controversy around GE technologies and GE organisms. You can subscribe by  email.

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