EU ministers uphold right to ban GMOs
Reuters, June 24, 2005 (EU)

EU environment ministers dealt a blow to efforts to get more GMO crops grown in Europe as they agreed to uphold eight national bans on GM maize and rapeseed.
The vote was a sharp rebuff for the European Union's executive Commission, which had wanted the ministers to endorse an order to lift the bans within 20 days.
It also played into the hands of the US, Canada and Argentina, whose suit at the World Trade Organisation alleges that EU biotech policy harms trade and is not founded on science. The WTO is now expected to issue its initial ruling on the GMO case in early October, postponed from August, officials say.
"A very large majority, 22 member states, rejected proposals to lift these national bans. We were able to give a clear message to the European Commission," Luxembourg Environment Minister Lucien Lux told a news conference.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/072005/01.html

Research of labels on altered products
Philadelphia Inquirer, June 23, 2005 (USA)

US food manufacturers have long opposed labeling foods that contain GM ingredients. The fear that consumers would interpret the label as a warning [appears] well-founded. After meetings with focus groups, researchers concluded that many consumers would avoid buying products if they knew they contained genetically engineered ingredients.
Because food manufacturers do not label the modified foods, consumers "feel like they are being deceived," said Diane M. Phillips, an associate professor of marketing and coauthor of the research paper on food labels.
The industry does not consider such information relevant to consumers.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/072005/02.html

Biotechnology loses billions a year
The Associated Press, June 1, 2005 (USA)

The biotechnology industry lost a combined $6.4 billion last year, according to a new report from Ernst & Young. The industry's total accrued loss since its birth in Silicon Valley in the mid-1970s is more than $45 billion.
The 93-page report mostly was upbeat: federal regulators approved 20 new biotech drugs last year, and 230 medicines and other related products are on the market. Ernst & Young is optimistic that biotech will become profitable by 2009, pointing to 365 drugs in the final stages of development compared with 290 in 2003.
Biotechnology remains a money-losing niche industry of 1,400 companies employing about 183,000 workers nationwide. By contrast, Wal-Mart employs 1.7 million workers, and its annual revenue rivals the entire biotech industry's annual sales.
"It's essentially a casino," said economist Joseph Cortright, who co-wrote a report critical of biotechnology's ability to drive a region's economic growth. For every success such as Genentech and Amgen, there are dozens of failures. He says local government officials who promise companies all sorts of incentives to relocate are ignoring the industry's financials. "The mistake people make is confusing really cool science with something that is going to have significant economic impact".
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/072005/03.html

Angolan position on GM grain clarified
Angola Peace Monitor, January 26, 2005 (Angola)

The Angolan government has formally confirmed the ban on importing GM grain into the country. The decision was made last April to put the country in line with other countries in the Southern African Development Community.
[It] states that the only acceptable GM grain allowed in the country will be food aid, which must be milled before distribution. This is to ensure that seeds are not planted which could lead to GM strains growing unregulated.
There are two arguments put forward for the ban. Firstly, the government does not have the capacity to regulate the growing of GM crops. The second argument is that if Angola is unable to guarantee its crops are GM free, it will be detrimental in the future to exports to markets in Europe.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/072005/04.html

GM rice forges ahead in China amid concerns
Nature Biotechnology 23, 637, June 2005 (China)

Recently published results of field trials of GM rice in China bring the country one step closer to approval of commercial varieties. However, observers warn that without proper regulatory oversight and agricultural management, GM rice cultivation poses a potential environmental time bomb. Compounding those fears, illegal planting of unapproved varieties of GM rice has been reported. Local authorities have allegedly punished people responsible for the leak. The potential for negative coverage was such that the Chinese government banned all media coverage until further notice.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/072005/05.html

Grain exporters test for illegal Bt-10 corn
Reuters, June 14, 2005 (Japan)

Some US grain exporters have begun testing their corn shipments to Japan for an unapproved biotech variety that was detected in two cargoes and has slowed the pace of sales. Tests are being done voluntarily by the companies to ensure valuable Japanese importers stay on their clients' list.
An exporter said Japanese demand for US corn has dropped after two consignments were found to contain the unapproved variety. "We didn't sell them a pound last week."
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/072005/06.html

Agreement on Aarhus coverage of GMOs
Bridges Trade BioRes, Vol. 5 No. 11, June 10, 2005 (EU)

The second meeting of the UN Economic Commission for Europe Aarhus Convention agreed to extend the public's legal right to participate in environmental decision-making.
The Parties to the Convention would be required to inform and consult the public in decision-making on the deliberate release and placing on the market of GMOs. Authorities would be expected to take submit[ted] comments into account. The decision taken should be publicly available together with the information, reasons and considerations upon which it is based. Parties could not withhold as confidential information on the intended uses or assessment of environmental risk.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/072005/07.html

Insects develop resistance to [GM] crops
Newswise, June 21, 2005 (USA)

Cornell University researchers found that after 26 generations of the insect living in the greenhouse with single-gene and dual-gene plants housed together, all the plants were eventually damaged by the insects, because over time, greater numbers of insects developed resistance to the plants' toxins. However, in the same two-year time frame, all or almost all of the insects died when exposed to pyramided plants alone.
"It's easier for an insect to develop resistance to a single toxin," said Shelton. "If an insect gets a jump on one toxin, then it becomes more rapidly resistant to that same toxin in a dual-gene plant. And when one line of defense starts to fail, it puts more pressure on the second toxin in a pyramided plant to control the insect," Shelton added.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/072005/08.html

Argentina to fight Monsanto in court
Associated Press, July 1, 2005 (Argentina)

Argentina is suspending talks with Monsanto over a payment system allow[ing] the company to collect royalties on the pervasive use of its soybean seeds. Monsanto has never been able to patent the seeds in Argentina, ma[king] it hard for the company to get farmers to pay for the right to use the seeds.
Discuss[ing] lawsuits recently filed by Monsanto in Denmark over the shipment of Argentine soybean products to the country, Agriculture Secretary Miguel Campos said "Monsanto has shown that it continues to be a national embarrassment,", adding that the lawsuits have already harmed Argentina's farmers and exporters.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/072005/09.html

Current GM foods seem healthy
but caution necessary: WHO
Agence France Presse, June 23, 2005

GM foods currently on the market are unlikely to present new risks for humans, the UN's health agency said while urging a more cautious approach to future GM products.
"That's not the same as saying that GM foods are safe, because... it implies future GM foods are also automatically safe. And that is not the case," the World Health Organisation's top food safety official Juergen Schlundt underlined.
The WHO insisted that procedures for checking new food products and GMOs needed to be adapted regularly to fast-paced change in the biotechnology industry.
In addition, food control systems in most countries were underfunded and many, especially in developing countries, had "major problems". Those included flaws in tracing the exact origin of foodstuffs back through the production chain.
"A trace back system is important for food safety no matter which issue, and it will be able to cover GM foods and longer term effects," Schlundt told journalists.
Public perceptions, social and ethical concerns about the costs and benefits of GM foods, and intellectual property rights issues must also be taken more seriously, it added.
The study acknowledged gaps in current knowledge, notably over the issue of food allergies.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/072005/10.html