GMO-free europe

unfamiliar climates and be processed more easily into wood or paper once they are cut down. Super trees are the business of ArborGen, a South Carolina company that says improving the genetic makeup of purpose-grown trees - that is, trees grown for paper, wood or biofuels - will help conserve ”native forests in all their diversity and complexity for future generations.” Yes, ArborGen, like so many companies today, is painting itself green - although it has run into a buzzsaw of criticism from the likes of the Sierra Club.

• Fortune Magazine, USA (01.08.2007): A South Carolina biotech firm re-engineers trees

Monsanto Co. is set to release its first new strain of genetically engineered soybeans in more than a decade. The world’s largest biotech seed producer won regulatory approval for its new strain of Roundup Ready beans in the United States and Canada, the company announced Tuesday. The new beans - which have the brand name Roundup RReady2Yield - are slated to go on sale in limited U.S. markets in 2009 and begin nationwide distribution in 2010, said Monsanto spokeswoman Sara Duncan.

• Forbes, USA (31.07.2007): Monsanto to release new GMO soybeans
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch, USA (01.08.2007): Monsanto gets regulatory approval for Roundup Ready soybeans

AP Coalition in Defence of Diversity (APCDD), representing civil society groups against genetically modified crops, has challenged the recent Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)’s survey report on Bt cotton farming and termed it ”incredulous.” At a press conference here on Monday, P.V. Satheesh, convenor of the APCDD, said the survey was part of a huge campaign launched by the genetic engineering industry to bamboozle public opinion. The seed major, Monsanto has produced 29 short films to counter the APCDD’s film, ”A disaster in search of success: Bt cotton in global south”, he added.

• The Siasat Daily, India (31.07.2007): ASSOCHAM report on Bt cotton incredulous
• newKerala.com, India (30.07.2007): APCIDD asks govt to ban Bt Cotton seed sale
• GMWatch, UK (30.07.2007): Farmyard truths and industry lies
• Monsanto, USA (11.07.2007): Two studies show benefits of BT cotton in India

Capsules of insulin produced in genetically modified lettuce could hold the key to restoring the body’s ability to produce insulin and help millions of Americans who suffer from insulin-dependent diabetes, according to University of Central Florida biomedical researchers. Professor Henry Daniell’s research team genetically engineered tobacco plants with the insulin gene and then administered freeze-dried plant cells to five-week-old diabetic mice as a powder for eight weeks. By the end of the study, the diabetic mice had normal blood and urine sugar levels, and their cells were producing normal levels of insulin.

• University of Central Florida, USA (30.07.2007): Insulin grown in plants relieves diabetes in mice; UCF study holds promise for Humans

Genetically Modified (GM) food is not currently available in the local market even though current laws allow it to be sold on the condition that it receives prior approval and the product has labelling informing the public that it contains GM food. The government through a gazette notification announced in January that GM food cannot be brought into the country without obtaining prior approval and if any GM food is to be released to the market, it has to contain a label claiming that they have GM components in it. The penalty for non-compliance would be a Rs 10,000 fine, six month imprisonment, or both.

• The Sunday Times - Financial Times, Sri Lanka (29.07.2007): Laws in place in Jan but no GM food in the market

QATAR is planning to promulgate a law on food products with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in order to make the public aware of their existence. As a first step, the country has joined the Biosafety Protocol of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The next phase will be the setting up of a committee with representatives from various ministries and establishments, Ghanem Abdulla Mohamed, director of Wildlife Conservation at the Supreme Council for Environment and Natural Reserves (SCENR), told Gulf Times.

• Gulf Times, Qatar (30.07.2007): Plan to bring genetically modified food under law

Plum trees with resistance to plum pox (PPV), a virus that can devastate stone fruit, have moved a step closer to reality, according to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), which is leading the project. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which has regulatory authority over genetically engineered organisms, recently ”deregulated” HoneySweet, as the PPV-resistant plum tree is named. This means APHIS had determined that the tree is not a plant pest and that it will have no significant impact on other plants.

• USDA Agricultural Research Service, USA (25.07.2007): Plum-pox-resistant trees move forward

Scientists have genetically modified goats to make a drug in their milk that protects against deadly nerve agents such as sarin and VX. These poisons are known collectively as organophosphates - a group of chemicals that also includes some pesticides used in farming. So far, the GM goats have made almost 15kg of a drug which binds to and neutralises organophosphate molecules.

• British Broadcasting Corporation, UK (24.07.2007): Nerve gas antidote made by goats
• People’s Daily Online, China (24.07.2007): Cloned rabbit fine five months after birth

Environmental campaigners in Cyprus accused the government of yielding to American influence on Wednesday by refusing to endorse ground-breaking legislation forcing retailers to segregate GMO food. President Tassos Papadopoulos has referred the law, passed by parliament on June 14, to the Supreme Court, effectively freezing its application until the court convenes to assess its legality. That is not expected to occur before the autumn.

• Reuters (25.07.2007): Cyprus Greens angry at GMO law shelved

Central Government has recently confirmed that responsibility and costs fall onto local government and local land owners if genetically engineered crops contaminate natural crops or the environment and have to be cleaned up. A letter from the Minister for the Environment indicates that when or if contamination occurs it will be the person affected by the ”pollution” not the ”polluter” who will pay. These concerns have been raised by a group of councils worried about their vulnerability on behalf of ratepayers generally, as a result of the way Hazardous Substances and New Oganisms (HSNO) Act has been written.

• Whangarei District Council, New Zealand (24.07.2007): Responsiblity for GE clean ups would land on local government and local land owners

The Northern Territory Government is likely to thwart any recommendation that a special task force makes to grow genetically modified (GM) cotton in the Territory. The North Australia Land and Water Task Force met in Darwin to discuss expanding agriculture in Australia’s rain-rich north. One of the things it considered was genetically modified crops. The Territory Government banned cotton crops in 2002 and Chief Minister Clare Martin is making it clear genetically modified cotton will not be accepted now. ”We’re very clear, and the Territory community is very clear, we do not support genetically modified cotton,” she said. The task force is is due to present its final report in 2009.

• Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia (24.07.2007): NT Govt likely to veto any GM cotton plans

An agricultural researcher at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has developed a simple process to make allergen-free peanuts. The new process – believed to be a first for food science – could provide relief to millions of peanut allergy sufferers, and be an enormous boon to the entire peanut industry. Doug Speight of the N.C. A&T Office of Outreach and Technology Transfer said food companies are showing a strong interest in licensing the process, which does not degrade the taste or quality of treated peanuts, and might even render them easier to process for use as a food ingredient.

• EurekAlert, USA (23.07.2007): N.C. A&T food scientist develops process for allergen-free peanuts
• New Scientist, UK (06.06.2005): Fungus could make peanuts less allergenic

For the past 10 years, opponents of biotechnology-enhanced crops in Maine have claimed bragging rights over the fact that our state is the only one in the nation to have turned down applications for growing Bt corn -- corn modified to contain the natural pesticide bacillus thuriengensis. Though the close vote of the Board of Pesticides Control denying the applications in 1997 was officially because need for the corn had not been demonstrated, everyone close to the fray knew it was organized opposition, much of it from organic farmers, that shaped the outcome.

• Press Herald, USA (20.07.2007): Biotech-enhanced crops can co-exist

GETTING two for the price of one is always a good bargain. And according to a paper in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that is what Tomonori Nochi of the University of Tokyo and his colleagues have done. Using genetic engineering, they have overcome two of the limitations of vaccines. One is that they are heat-sensitive and thus have to be transported along a ”cold chain” of refrigerators to the clinics where they are used. The other is that, although they stimulate immune responses inside the body, they often fail to extend that protection to the outside, where it might prevent bacteria and viruses getting inside in the first place.

• The Economist, UK (14.06.2007): Vaccines - A new health food
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, USA (26.06.2007): Vaccines are for dinner
• Institute of Science in Society, UK (18.07.2007): GM Safflower with human pro-insulin
• in-Pharma Technologist, France (17.07.2007): Safflower seeds sowing a protein-producing future

The EU takes a minimum of 2.5 years and often much longer to complete new biotech trait authorisations, compared with an average of 15 months in the United States. If the situation is not improved imports of essential GM derived feed and food products may slow down considerably or come to a halt, as traders would be unwilling to assume the risk of having traces of EU non-authorised biotech crops detected in their shipments. This situation is projected to worsen as new biotech traits in maize and other key crops such as soybeans and oil seed rape (Canola) continue to gain wide acceptance in other parts of the world. As recent examples have shown, lack of approval in the EU has not deterred US maize growers from planting biotech crops once they have been approved in the US.

• EuropaBio, Belgium (18.07.2007): Economic impact of EU unapproved GMOs on Europe‘s feed and livestock production - Joint Industry reference document and Questions and Answers
• AllAboutFeed.net, Netherlands (19.07.2007): GMO zero tolerance devastating for EU feed industry

Still, perhaps the biggest hurdle for Amflora is the visceral popular reaction against genetically modified crops on a continent whose food culture is ancient and treasured. Amflora potatoes, likely to become the first genetically modified crop in the past decade to be approved for growth in Europe, have become the unlikely poster child in the angry debate over such products on the Continent. [...] ”I just don’t like the idea,” said Monika Stahl, 31, waiting for a bus with a sack of fresh vegetables in Mannheim, just 20 kilometers, or 12 miles, from the Amflora field. ”I worry about safe food and about the environment. I have children and worry about them.”

• International Herald Tribune, France (20.07.2007): Genetically altered potato raises opposition
• Environment News Servcie, USA (19.07.2007): Peru‘s ancient Inca capital bans transgenic potatoes

The NSW Farmers’ Association says farmers’ ability to choose whether they should access Genetically Modified technology convinced delegates to reinforce its policy in support of the removal of the current moratorium at Annual Conference today. President of the NSW Farmers’ Association Jock Laurie says the Government’s appointment of an independent panel to review the states Genetically Modified (GM) moratorium is a step in the right direction.

• New South Wales Farmers Association, Australia (17.07.2007): GM position clear
• New South Wales Farmers Association, Australia (17.07.2007): 2007 Annual Conference Policy Session Agenda - Grains - Genetic Modification
• Sydney Morning Herald, Australia (16.07.2007): GM crop moratorium in NSW to be reviewed
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia (17.07.2007): Conservation Council: Tread cautiously on GM crops
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia (17.07.2007): WA under pressure to fast-track review on GM crops

It is indeed unfortunate that while many of our overseas competitors have options for working smarter in some areas, we are restricted. The Victorian Government’s GM moratorium is holding our industry back. As farmers, we want choice. As an organisation, we want choice – coexistence.

• Victorian Farmers Federation, Australia (21.06.2007): Report of VFF Grains President and Executive Director - GM canola moratorium
• Victorian Farmers Federation, Australia (21.06.2007): Conference Agenda 2007
• Ranges Trader Mail, Australia (17.07.2007): Shire push against GM
• Yarra Range Shire Council, Australia (01.01.2006): The case against GMOs in the Shire of Yarra Range
• Victorian Farmers Federation, Australia (20.06.2007): UDV members cast their vote on GM

Biosecurity New Zealand is urging tropical fish collectors and breeders to help trace genetically modified fish that have been imported illegally. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) officers seized and destroyed 300 tropical fish in raids on two Christchurch pet shops and two private premises in Christchurch yesterday.

• The Press, New Zealand (19.07.2007): Biosecurity officers seize 300 GM fish in Christchurch
• Biosecurity New Zealand, New Zealand (19.07.2007): MAF Biosecurity New Zealand acts on GM aquarium fish in New Zealand

US imports of brewers’ grain and feed coming into England could face mandatory testing for contamination of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) under new proposals revealed yesterday by the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA). The new measures, which will undergo public consultation over the next three months, would repeal legislation agreed by the by the European Union just over four months ago. The legislation made random GMO testing voluntary for brewers and farmers.

• NutraIngredients, France (12.07.2007): Brewers face GMO testing