GENET news: Feed

23.10.2008

Delays in GM authorisation costing EU livestock sector 2,500 million Euros

Delays in authorising GM traits in feed and a zero tolerance on non-authorised material has accounted for about 15% of the losses incurred by the livestock sector - some 2,500 million Euros in the past year, according to a report sent to European Commission President Dr José Manuel Barroso. The case study report, prepared by COCERAL, FEFAC and UECBV with UK input from the Agricultural Industries Confederation, recognises that the poor harvest in 2007 was a key problem, but the inability to import feedstuffs from around the world also had a significant impact.

22.10.2008

EU’s Vassiliou: no need to change GM zero tolerance

Europe’s food safety chief said on Thursday she did not believe there was any need to change the European Union’s ”zero tolerance” policy on unauthorised genetically modified material in food imports. [...] ”My cabinet advises me that there is no need at this point to change the zero tolerance because we have already approved one event, we are in the process of approving a second event.

21.10.2008

Critics say Western Australian 5 m GM canola buffer zone is too small

Growers of genetically modified canola will need to set up buffer zones of just 5m to keep the GM crops away from regular varieties if WA follows national industry guidelines, sparking fears of contamination if the State adopts the controversial technology. As the new State Government prepares for large scale trials of GM canola, possibly by next year, critics of the technology warned yesterday contamination of non-GM crops would be inevitable if industry was allowed to ”self-regulate” segregation. Network of Concerned Farmers spokeswoman Julie Newman said that as a result, farmers would not be able to promise consumers that their crops were entirely free of GM seed.

10.10.2008

Food Authority critic calls for regained control of regulation in New Zealand

The Sustainability Council is calling for New Zealand to regain control of its food safety regulation, by renegotiating a trans-Tasman agreement on food standards. The council says the national regulator, the Food Safety Authority (NZFSA), last year shopped for a more palatable assessment of the safety of a genetically-engineered maize after it received an unfavourable evaluation from state science company, Environmental Science and Research (ESR). ”New Zealand can, in theory, go its own way and decline approval for a particular new food,” said the council’s executive director, Simon Terry.

07.10.2008

UK certifier launches new sourcing standards for non-GE soy

UK food manufacturers can now source soy that is certified as Non-GM and Responsibly Produced, as two new standards have been developed in response to retailer demands. PAI Group, the certifier behind the new standards, has previously assessed soy for use in animal feed for its genetically-modified origins. This has allowed for processors of meat products to make declarations like ’from animals not fed on GMOs’ on the labels.

07.10.2008

US hopeful of agreement over GM crops - US Ambassador to EU

U.S. hopes to come to an agreement with the European Union over genetically modified crops, without the need to involve the World Trade Organization, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union said Tuesday. In an interview with Dow Jones, U.S. Ambassador Kristen Silverberg said the US ”continue to try to resolve” a dispute between the U.S. and the E.U. over Europe’s rules on genetically modified organisms without filing a complaint at the WTO and that there were ”ongoing conversations.”

06.10.2008

GMO authorisation procedure in the EU: The next reform?

The EU legal framework and the procedure for authorising genetically modified crops are being criticised and some member states have made various reform proposals. GMO Safety spoke to Maria Weimer, a PhD student at the European University Institute in Florence. Maria Weimer is a law graduate and has been researching the way the law deals with new technologies, scientific uncertainty and risks for years. She is currently completing her PhD at the European University Institute in Florence in which she is researching the application of the precautionary principle in the EU regulation of GMOs.

06.10.2008

Kenya government wants to impose GMOs ’by force’

The grand scheme to introduce genetically modified foods into Kenya seemed to shift into top gear after the Ministry of Agriculture launched a campaign last month to make the country appreciate them. First, Minister for Agriculture, William Ruto, who has on several occasions publicly expressed his support for the introduction of GM foods into the country, launched the National Biotechnology Awareness Strategy last month.

06.10.2008

Monsanto completes sale of rBST for $300M

Monsanto Co. said Thursday it has completed its $300 million sale of its Posilac cow growth hormone brand to drug maker Eli Lilly & Co. Posilac is an FDA-approved animal pharmaceutical used by U.S. dairy farmers to increase productivity. Posilac has never been a big part of Monsanto’s future growth plans, but the genetically engineered hormone has gotten significant attention because of concerns about its effect on human health.

03.10.2008

Dominican Republic to launch bio-tech, bio-security research project

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, in coordination with several local entities, will launch an 18-month project to bolster institutions for Biotechnology and Bio-security Research Capacities [...] designed for technicians, teachers and researchers who work in the detection of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and molecular markers, so the country gets the techniques to generate, validate, apply and transfer farming biotechnologies and bio-security management.

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