NOFA/Massachusetts Social Action Center

Genetic Engineering News

October, 2008
compiled by Jack Kittredge
NOFA/Mass Social Action Coordinator

US: Secret Approval, No Labeling For GM Animals
Consumer groups have issued statements in response to the US FDA's September 18th release of a draft guidance outlining the approval process for GM animals. Regulation of GE animals is handled somewhat differently from GE plants because the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act defines a drug as "an article (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals." The recombinant DNA used to engineer an animal is intended to affect the animal's structure or function, so is considered a drug and is thus under the FDA's regulatory authority. The Center for Food Safety calls the proposed FDA rules "seriously flawed". The new proposal uses a secret approval process wherein no one other than FDA reviewers can see the data submitted before final approval. And FDA maintains that GM animals should not be labeled. Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at the Consumers Union, said: "It is incomprehensible to us that FDA does not view these animals as different from their conventional counterparts. Consumers have a right to know if the ham, bacon or pork chops they are buying come from pigs that have been engineered with mouse genes."
sources: ?http://wistechnology.com/articles/5041/, Reuters, Sep 18, 2008

Court Ruling Protects Organic Farm From Pesticide Drift
A Santa Cruz County jury has found that the unintended contamination of organic crops caused by pesticides evaporating after application violated the rights of the organic crop grower. The ruling is the result of a case filed in May 2007 by Jacobs Farm against pesticide application company Western Farm Service, Inc. The lawsuit claimed that Western Farm Service sprayed the toxic pesticides chlorpyrifos, diazinon and dimethoate on crops near Jacobs (organic) Farm, and that those chemicals contaminated their dill, sage, and rosemary. The jury*s finding for the plaintiff will help protect Jacobs Farm from future contamination from organophosphate pesticides. The jury found that Jacobs Farm was damaged in the sum of $1 million, and Judge Robert Atack ordered judgment in that amount against Western Farm Service. The court ruled that pesticide applications by Western Farm Service resulted in trespass of the pesticides onto Jacobs Farm and were legally determined to be a nuisance depriving Jacobs Farm of the right to use and enjoy the land, caused by negligence on the part of Western Farm Services.
source: http://www.cornucopia.org/2008/09/organic-farm-prevails-against-pesticide-spraying-company/

Scientists Uncover Bees' Ability to Spread Transgenes Over Several Kilometres
A study by scientists from the Nairobi-headquartered international research centre ICIPE, in collaboration with the French Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD), has established that bees have the potential to spread transgenes from GM crops to wild relatives over several kilometres. ? sources: http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=13820 ?http://www.physorg.com/news141290166.html

Bt Crops Negatively Impact Soil - Study
A new study investigated the effects of two Bt corn lines (Bt 11 and Bt 176) and their plant residues on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, a group of beneficial organisms important to soil fertility. The study found that both transgenic plants decreased AM's colonization and Bt 11 plant residues negatively affected AM establishment four months after their incorporation into the soil. ?
source: http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/34-Bt-crops-could-negatively-impact-soil-microorg anisms.html

Monsanto Profiteering Condemned By President of the UN General Assembly
The President of the General Assembly of the United Nations has condemned the profiteering by Monsanto in the food crisis. H. E. M. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann made his comments at the opening of the High-level Event on the Millennium Development Goals at the UN in New York. ??Brockmann said, "It is clear that the world food crisis is increasing social tensions and bringing about a significant rise in extreme poverty.... The World Bank has concluded that 75 per cent of the increase in food prices stems from the production of biofuels and factors related to rapidly growing demand for biofuels.... The essential purpose of food, which is to nourish people, has been subordinated to the economic aims of a handful of multinational corporations that monopolize all aspects of food production, from seeds to major distribution chains, and they have been the prime beneficiaries of the world crisis. A look at the figures for 2007, when the world food crisis began, shows that corporations such as Monsanto and Cargill, which control the cereals market, saw their profits increase by 45 and 60 per cent, respectively; the leading chemical fertiliser companies, such as Mosaic Corporation, a subsidiary of Cargill, doubled their profits in a single year."
source: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14843.cfm

Obama: Engineering of Food Plants Has Brought 'Enormous Benefits'
It's not just his science advisors who are pro-biotech. Here is a recent quote: "Advances in the genetic engineering of plants have provided enormous benefits to American farmers. " - Barack Obama
source: Chicago Tribune 9/20/08

Former Monsanto Director Advising Obama
The Obama campaign has revealed its five main science advisors. Two have ties to the biotech industry: Sharon Long, Monsanto board of directors, 2002-2007; and Gilbert Omenn, Amgen director, 1987-present. ?Long served on Monsanto's board for 5 1/2 years, from February 2002 to October 2007. According to a Monsanto press release, "During her tenure on the board, she served as chairperson of the Science and Technology Committee and as a member of the Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility Committee." Long resigned early from a term that expired in 2010, the resignation coinciding with an academic sabbatical. Non-executive members of Monsanto's board are paid $150,000/year.
sources: http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/9/18/123340/083 http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/obama-campaign.html
More on Obama, GM, and ethanol: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/us/politics/23ethanol.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1220529657-rq5Kdj0rDcKR+q5MQ1k2Vw ?http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=40 ?http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/09/03/rnc-farming-agriculture-biz-beltway-cx_jz_0903rnc-farm.html

Contributor Quotes From Food Ethics Magazine
"There have been large numbers of animal studies...[that] are generally neither peer-reviewed by independent professional toxicologists nor published in scientific literature; moreover, they are often conducted by the very companies who are applying for permission to market the foods that they are testing." ?-- Dr Peter Lund, senior lecturer in molecular genetics, cell biology and biotechnology at the University of Birmingham, and member of the Government's Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes ??"If some people are allowed to choose to grow, sell and consume GM foods, soon nobody will be able to choose food, or a biosphere, free of GM. It's a one way choice, like the introduction of rabbits or cane toads to Australia; once it's made, it can't be reversed." ?-- Roger Levett, specialist in sustainable development policy
source: http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/29-GM-foods-the-wrong-debate.html

GM Crops Not The Moral Choice
Those who use the moral argument to claim that we need GM crops to feed a growing population present no evidence for their stance, writes Father Sean ?McDonagh of the Columbans in a letter to the Irish Farmers Journal -- in ?fact, the evidence points in the opposite direction. McDonagh cites the ?report by Aaron deGrassi of the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex ?University on GM cotton, maize and sweet potatoes developed for Africa. The ?report found that conventional breeding and ecological management produced a ?far higher yield, at a fraction of the cost of GM.
source: http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/37-Are-biotech-crops-a-moral-choice.html

Two Governments Call For Ireland To Become A GM-Free Zone
Agriculture ministers from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland ?have confirmed their plans for the island of Ireland to be declared a ?GM-free zone. This follows similar calls by the Assemblies of Scotland and ?Wales. In a section of his speech at the Terra Madre Ireland 2008 conference ?on food and farming policy, Minister, Trevor Sargent, drew rousing applause ?from the audience when he said: "The whole GM debate is ... at the heart of ?sustainability and the empowerment of people to grow food. If that power is ?taken away -- and the corporate spin is certainly very strong in the ?direction of some kind of silver bullet being available through GM -- we'll ?have gone beyond the point from which it's very difficult to come back."
source: http://www.gmwatch.eu/archives/39-Two-governments-call-for-Ireland-to-become-a-GM-free-zone.html

BASF May Cut and Run From Europe
BASF says it may abandon research into GM crops for the European market should it fail to get approval for its GM Amflora potato.
source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aCGKeh_e3LrM&refer=germany

Food Firms Launch GM-Free Grain Group
Brazilian soy producers and processors have launched an association, Abrange, which will guarantee grains and feeds free of GMOs to meet demand in Europe.
source: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssHealthcareNews/idUSN0927664920080909

EU Fails to Approve GM Soyabean
EU biotech experts disagreed on whether to authorize imports of a GM soybean made by Monsanto, leaving the final decision to EU farm ministers. source: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE48S5H020080929

EU States Should Be Able to Stop GM Crops - Germany
Germany wants EU member states to have the power to block GM crops in their countries, agriculture minister Horst Seehofer said. ?
source: http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/09/03/afx5383694.html

Activists Damage GM Fields in Germany
Five GM fields in Germany were sabotaged by activists in three weeks source: http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20080813090939740

GM-Free Dairy Breakthrough in Dutch Firm
The Dutch dairy company Campina says it has committed to a new feed scheme for one of its leading German dairy brands as part of a wider commitment to removing GMOs from its products. Campina says that only non-GM grains sourced from within Germany and the EU will be used to feed cattle supplying its Landliebe brand of milk. ? source: http://www.foodnavigator.com/Publications/Food-Beverage-Nutrition/DairyReporter/ Industry-markets/Campina-brand-claims-GM-free-breakthrough

UK: Celtic Revolt Against Westminster Over GM Crops
UK government ministers are facing an unprecedented Celtic revolt from their Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts as they launch a new campaign to plant GM crops in Britain. All three devolved governments have declared themselves implacably opposed to any GM crops in their territory, setting the scene for one of their sharpest-ever confrontations with Westminster. And their opposition is likely to have an impact throughout Europe, sapping the UK's hitherto obdurate support for the introduction of the technology throughout the Continent. sources: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/celtic-revolt-against-west minster-over-gm-crops-944768.html ?http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2446130.0.scotland_urges_ukwide_ban_on_gm_crops.php

U.S. Pressures Japan to Accept GMOs
Dr Nina Fedoroff, the science and technology adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, is visiting Tokyo to seek Japan's "help to promote the safety of genetically modified crops among Japanese consumers," as a way to "ease the global food crisis". ??Time after time, Japanese citizens have demonstrated in the streets of Tokyo to protest against imports of GM foods. South Korean citizens share the same concerns, making waves with large demonstrations in Seoul, and joining events in Japan. ?
source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/saying-no-to-gm-foods.php

Amid Milk Scare, China's Elite Eat Organic Only
While China grapples with its latest tainted food crisis -- contaminated milk -- the political elite are served the choicest, safest delicacies. They get hormone-free beef from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, organic tea from the foothills of Tibet and rice watered by melted mountain snow. And it's all supplied by a special government outfit that provides all-organic goods including rice free of GM contamination (Chinese rice has become contaminated during GM field trials in China).
source: http://www.gmfreeireland.org/news/index.php

GM Foods Will Be Labeled In South Africa
South Africa's Department of Trade and Industry handed down a ruling September 16 for mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods. The decision came after a clause to this effect, which had been removed from the draft Consumer Protection Bill last year, was reinstated. The Department of Trade and Industry's labeling laws have not gone unopposed. Both the Department of Agriculture and Department of Health have opposed mandatory labeling saying it would send out a confusing signal to consumers. Mariam Mayet of the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) commented that "government has embarked upon the first step towards regulating agribusiness involved with GMOs. Not only have consumers been given a choice to reject GM foods, now, GM food can also be tracked from farm to fork in order to hold Monsanto and others liable when we discover that something has gone wrong."
source: SAFeAGE press release, September 17, 2008

S.A. Farmers Oppose GM Potatoes
The proposed commercial release of a genetically modified (GM) spud in South Africa has become something of a hot potato as farmers and some major food giants say they will not use them. Potato SA, which represents potato farmers, has written to the department of agriculture saying the potential costs, particularly of consumer backlash and possible loss of exports, outweigh the potential benefits. This is the first time organized agriculture has opposed the introduction of a GM crop in South Africa. The submission is in response to a permit application by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), which has been working with Michigan State University to develop tuber moth-resistant potatoes with funding from USAid. Owen Porteus, managing director of McCain Foods, the biggest producer of frozen potato products globally, said all the company's products were GM-free. "We're very much driven by consumer needs and they don't want GM."
source: Business Report, September 17 2008, http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=14&art_id=vn20080917054736313C486568 EDITED

This page was last modified on October 07, 2008 at 6:55:59 AM.