German firm cancels
Thai fruit salad over GMO fears
Agence France Presse, September 3, 2004 (Thailand)

A German food distributor has cancelled orders of Thai fruit cocktail products out of fears they may contain genetically modified papaya.
The apparent stop order has hit as Thailand grapples with accusations that government trials of genetically modified papaya have contaminated northern farms and as the government backpedals over plans to broaden trials of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
"As far as I know one Thai company ... was facing a ban of its fruit salad because it includes papaya, and papaya was one of the fruits Thailand has been conducting GMO tests on," Wanlop Pichpongsa, director of the Top Organic Product and Supply, told AFP. "I think the ban was a precautionary measure by (the German) importers but it took everybody by surprise as it came so suddenly," Wanlop, an opponent of GMO production in Thailand, said.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/092004/01.html

Public concern over GM foods increases
Agence France Presse, September 3, 2004 (UK)

More and more Britons are worried about genetically modified foods, a poll for a consumer rights magazine published suggests.
Sixty-one percent of those polled for Which? magazine said they were concerned about the use of GM material in food production, up [from] 56 percent two years ago. The survey of almost 1,000 people saw a 13 percentage point rise in the number of people who said they tried to avoid GM food and ingredients, up from 45 percent in 2002 to 58 percent.
Just over 25 percent backed the growing of GM crops in Britain, down from 32 percent two years ago. However, there was a rise, from 28 percent to 33 percent, in the number of people satisfied manufacturers are removing GM from their food.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/092004/02.html

Destruction of experimental GM coffee
AFP, September 1, 2004 (Guyana) - translation

The only experimental culture of genetically modified coffee, planted in Guyana, was destroyed by unknown individuals, as reported Wednesday by the CIRAD (Center for international co-operation in agronomic research for development).
The director of the CIRAD of Guyana, Philippe Godon, was quoted as saying that "1,700 plants of coffee were destroyed on a 1.8 hectare plot."
The experimental field has been planted for four years in the forest of the Combi Point, in Sinnamary. Until now it had not been subject to an action of this type. "It is a considerable loss because it was first of its type worldwide", remarked Jacques Meunier, scientific director of CIRAD.
This test was intended to study the resistance of the coffee genetically modified to the "leaf miner", a parasite which is causing increasing damage, especially in Brazil. Also being studied were possible environmental impacts, such as the diffusion of pollen, or the impact on the bees and their honey.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/092004/03.html

Thai cabinet overturns GM seed approval
Reuters, August 31, 2004 (Thailand)

Thailand's cabinet has upheld a ban on planting genetically modified organism (GMO) crops, overturning a decision by a panel chaired by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Eleven days ago, Thaksin's committee approved open-field trials of genetically modified seed alongside non-GMO plants, effectively lifting a three-year-old ban on such uses.
GM crops of papayas, chillies, and eggplants are currently planted in isolated government fields, and imports of genetically modified soybeans and maize are legal for animal feedstock and other commercial uses, officials said.
Opponents have criticized the government's security on existing fields, saying the strains of modified plants have spread outside the test areas.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/092004/04.html

Starlink corn settlement to include interest
Associated Press, August 23, 2004 (USA)

US farmers will be paid interest on the $110 million settlement with makers and distributors of genetically altered corn that was mistakenly introduced into the food supply. Attorney General Jon Bruning's office helped clarify that the settlement included 4% interest after farmers expressed concern about delays in getting their money. The interest began accruing on Sept. 24, 2002, Bruning said.
Payments from the settlement could begin soon after a court hearing on Sept. 2 for farmers who did not grow StarLink corn but suffered from a consumer backlash when it was revealed that it had gotten into the food supply.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/092004/05.html

Monsanto ripped over wheat experiments
CNews, August 17, 2004 (Canada)

Field trials of GM wheat are still being conducted in Canada by multinational biotech giant Monsanto despite a pledge in May [to] "discontinue breeding and field-level research" into wheat resistant to the popular herbicide Roundup.
In a letter to Greenpeace, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed that 16 Monsanto trials of Roundup Ready wheat are continuing "to allow researchers to complete their research." Greenpeace said Monsanto should have torn up the fields as it said it would.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/092004/06.html

WTO ruling delayed in trans-Atlantic food row
Reuters, August 27, 2004 (Switzerland)

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has put off a decision on whether the European Union broke trade rules by not allowing imports of genetically modified foods.
WTO judges had initially been expected to issue a ruling in September or October, but officials said that it had been pushed back until the end of March to let the judges question scientists. [This] was seen as a victory for the EU, which had pressed for their views to be heard, while the US and its allies had argued this was unnecessary.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/092004/07.html

USDA "highjacked" by corporate interests
Associated Press, July 23, 2004 (USA)

The US Department of Agriculture has shifted from being a people's agency to an agency for corporate agriculture, a new report by a coalition of agriculture leaders charges.
The report, titled, "USDA Inc.: How Agribusiness has hijacked regulatory policy at the US Department of Agriculture," was commissioned by the Agribusiness Accountability Initiative, a network of family farm and public interest groups.
The report calls the USDA "one of the strongest proponents" of GM foods, even though many farmers have been vehement in their opposition. The report charges that the USDA support can be directly attributed to top-ranking USDA officials having ties to biotechnology companies.
"These industry-linked appointees have helped to implement policies that undermine the regulatory mission of USDA in favor of the bottom-line interests of a few economically powerful companies," the report states.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/092004/08.html

Greens' GE corn worries spark data check
NZ Herald, September 3, 2004 (New Zealand)

Green Party safety concerns have prompted Transtasman food regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand to check the original data from a trial conducted on GE corn it approved last year for consumption.
French newspaper Le Monde reported in April that a 90-day feeding trial by Monsanto showed differences in rats fed MON863, compared with those fed conventional corn. They included [a] significant rise in males' white blood cells [and] in blood sugar in females, [and] more abnormalities such as degeneration or inflammation in male rat kidneys.
A spokesman for the French agency Commission du Genie Biomoleculaire (which) turned down approval, told Le Monde: "What struck me in this file is the number of abnormalities." Its decision was subsequently overturned by the European Food Safety Authority.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/092004/09.html

Judge: reveal locations of biopharm crops
ENS, August 6, 2004 (Hawaii)

The US Agriculture Department must disclose the locations of experimental crops genetically modified to grow pharmaceuticals. Chief Judge David Ezra agreed with the plaintiff, Center for Food Safety, represented by the public interest law firm Earthjustice, that the locations of the biopharm crops is not confidential proprietary business information.
Hawaii has more than 4,000 field test sites for GE crops, more than anywhere else in the world, including more than two dozen tests of biopharm crops, Earthjustice says.
Earthjustice argued that none of these biopharm crops has been approved for human or animal consumption, or even for general release into the environment. Yet the USDA allows these tests to be conducted in open fields, conceals the trials' locations from the public, and in most cases refuses to disclose the substances being grown.
Full item: http://www.GEinfo.org.nz/092004/10.html