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20.11.2008

EU on track to grant quick approval for Monsanto soybean

European Union governments late Wednesday couldn’t agree on whether to allow Monsanto Co. to import a new genetically modified soybean, sending the decision back to the European Commission, the E.U.’s executive arm, where it is likely to be approved. [...] That is encouraging for some in the industry who have long complained that the E.U.’s system is unnecessarily slow. ”It’s moved faster than is usual in our industry,” said Nathalie Moll of EuropaBio, the lobbying group for the biotech industry in the E.U., ”but that’s the speed it should move at.”

12.11.2008

Critical analysis of EFSA’s opinion on MON863 hybrids

Decreased organ weight were observed in all studies including heart, kidney, thyroid/parathyroid, epididymes and other (not specified) organs. Most of these differences are described as ”statistically significant different”. Changes in blood included lower numbers of red blood cells, increased corpuscular hemoglobin for one hybrid and a decrease in another, increased blood urea nitrogen, changes in basophile counts, and an increased neutrophil count. Other changes included higher feed consumptions of animals: Female rats fed with a small amounts of MON863xMON810 and rats fed high amounts of MON863xNK603 consumed more feed then the control groups.

12.11.2008

Monsanto’s statement on safety allegations related to transgenic maize NK603 X MON 810

the scientific community refrains from making any substantive conclusions based on a preliminary report. The gold standard for communication of scientific results is a thorough peer review by qualified experts. The Greenpeace press statement is inconsistent with over a decade of reputable, peer-reviewed, scientific studies, including multi-generational studies, which demonstrate and confirm the safety of GM crops. ”These products have been proven to be safe. This report does not provide any basis to conclude otherwise,” said Jerry Hjelle, Ph.D., Vice President of Monsanto’s regulatory group.

11.11.2008

Austrian study shows fertility problems in mice fed with Monsanto’s NK603xMON810 Bt maize

A study published today by the Austrian government identified serious health threats of genetically engineered (GE) crops. In one of the very few long-term feeding studies ever conducted with GE crops, the fertility of mice fed with GE maize was found to be severely impaired, with fewer offspring being produced than by mice fed on natural crops. Considering the severity of the potential threat to human health and reproduction, Greenpeace is demanding a recall of all GE food and crops from the market, worldwide.

11.11.2008

Austrian study shows fertility problems in mice fed with Monsanto’s NK603xMON810 Bt maize

The fertility of mice which have been fed with genetically modified maize NK603xMON810 of the U.S. agro-multi Monsanto is impaired significantly. This is the results of a long-term study published by the Austrian Ministry of Health in Vienna today. In contrast to mice fed with conventional maize, the treated animals gave birth to less and weaker offspring. Greenpeace calls for an immediate moratorium on genetically modified crops in the EU.

03.11.2008

Fears hay-cutting will lead to escape of GM canola in Australia

There are worries that the hay from genetically modified canola may contain seeds that will escape and grow. A lack of rain has forced some farmers to cut their crops, instead of harvesting for oilseeds. Fodder dealers may purchase the hay and then sell it to farmers who are unaware where the product came from. Alex Schaap, general manager of biosecurity at the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, says he didn’t expect segregation issues in the first year of GM canola in NSW and Victoria.

03.11.2008

Europe’s animal feed is running dry, warn importers

The European livestock industry could run out of animal feed in less than 18 months owing to the EU’s ”unworkable” approach to genetically modified (GM) crops, feed importers have warned. The EU is now so out of kilter with the rest of the world with its zero tolerance stance on imports of feedstocks containing unauthorised GM materials that sourcing ’legal’ feed could become almost impossible by 2010, according to the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC).

03.11.2008

EU panel OKs 2 genetically modified corn products

The European Union’s food safety agency approved two genetically modified corns Friday, putting renewed pressure on EU nations to drop their objections to the use of biotech crops. Scientists at the Parma, Italy-based European Food Safety Authority, or EFSA gave clearance to a Bt-11 corn seed made by Switzerland’s Syngenta AG and the 1507 corn made by the U.S.-based Pioneer Hi-Bred and Dow Agrosciences. [...] The EU agency also said a French ban on another GM corn product, produced by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto Co., was unjustified.

31.10.2008

Maize contaminated with transgenics in Chile

The Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA) at the University of Chile has detected genetically modified organisms in four samples of conventional maize grown near fields where transgenic maize seeds are being produced for export. ”These results are extremely serious. The question is, who will take responsibility? Who will pay for this contamination?” María Isabel Manzur of the non-governmental Sustainable Societies Foundation (FSS), which along with the Sustainable Chile Programme contracted INTA to analyse 30 maize samples, told IPS.

29.10.2008

Nebraska Univeristy (USA) may have role in convincing EU to embrace GE crops

Europeans may be on the verge of reassessing their long-held resistance to genetically modified crops, and Nebraska could play a role in that shift, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln plant geneticist said. Sally MacKenzie, who directs UNL’s Center for Plant Science Innovation, recently returned from trip to Brussels, Belgium, as part of a delegation led by Gov. Dave Heineman. The trip came at the invitation of Neil Parish, chairman of the European Union’s agriculture committee, who visited Nebraska last spring.

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