from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all,

This week we've been coughing and spluttering through the smoke generated by a multitude of pants on fire. Monsanto has (again) been caught lying about the performance of its Bt cotton in India. The UN World Food Programme is pretending that USAID never forced GM food aid on countries with food shortages (HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK - GLOBAL).

And the Bush cabal and its friends at Disney are desperate to prevent Michael Moore from telling the truth about the cosy relationship between the Bushes and the Bin Ladens. Inconvenient truth is a problem that Disney and biomedical giant Eli Lilly believe they have a solution for (see WEIRD-BUT-TRUE STORY OF THE WEEK: THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF GOV. JEB BUSH).

Watch out for an important CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK.

Claire    [email protected] www.ngin.org.uk / www.gmwatch.org

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CONTENTS
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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
LOBBYWATCH
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
WEIRD-BUT-TRUE STORY OF THE WEEK
THE REST OF THE MONTH'S TOP STORIES
DONATIONS
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK
SUBSCRIPTIONS

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
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GLOBAL
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+ GM ACTIONS WORLDWIDE
See news of Greenpeace actions against GE in Brazil, Spain, Australia, Germany, Brussels, Austria, Switzerland, Argentina and Chile at http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3411 And check out: http://weblog.greenpeace.org/ge/

+ GM PLASTICS AND GOLF COURSES AREN'T SAFE EITHER
Consumers don't want to eat GM products, so researchers are looking for non-food ways to use the crops. But cottons, golf courses and plastics aren't safe either, warns Sue Mayer of GeneWatch UK in an article in the Guardian coinciding with a new GeneWatch report. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3425

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INDIA
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+ NEW STUDY SHOWS MONSANTO LIED FOR SECOND YEAR ABOUT GM COTTON
An important and detailed study by agricultural scientists of GM cotton farming in Andhra Pradesh exposes Monsanto's latest lies over Bt cotton cultivation in India.

Monsanto's recent study claims big increases in yield, huge reductions in pesticide use, and big profits for Bt farmers. However, Monsanto's study was conducted by a marketing agency, which contacted farmers through questionnaires just once. By contrast, in a new study by the AP Coalition in Defense of Diversity (APCIDD), authors Dr Abdul Qayoom, former Joint Director of Agriculture in Andhra Pradesh, and Mr Sakkari Kiran of the Permaculture Institute of India worked with farmers continuously, contacting them every 15 days. This study shows Monsanto's Bt cotton was economically outperformed by non-GM cotton.

Indeed, the new APCIDD study shows the full extent of Monsanto's hype. Monsanto has claimed four times more than the actual reduction in pesticide use, 12 times more yield and 100 times more profit!

The results of the study show that even in a year with favourable weather the reduction in pesticide consumption by Bt farmers and the marginal improvement in yield, were not enough to offset the fact that Bt seeds cost 230% more than Non-Bt hybrids. This means the total investments for Bt were 8% higher than for the cultivation of non-Bt cotton, while net profits from Bt were 9% lower than profits from Non-Bt hybrids. In other words, the benefit/cost ratio was clearly in favour of Non-Bt hybrids.

The latest APCIDD study is consistent with the results of independent studies on the first year of GM cotton production in India, which revealed Monsanto's Bt cotton performed extraordinarily badly. http://www.mindfully.org/GE/2003/India-Bt-Cotton-Failure8feb03.htm

Will the Indian government, which ignored the clear evidence from the previous year, compensate farmers who cannot afford to suffer these losses? Sadly, the government appears to be gearing up to allow the powerful industrial lobby to dismantle the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (GEAC) and hand over control to an industry-dominated committee in the name of fast-track approval - see below http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3405

For more on the Indian government's proposals to dismantle GEAC and bring in fast-track approval of GMOs: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3406

+ INDUSTRY'S REGULATORY COUP
The FAST-TRACK proposals come from a committee set up under Green Revolution scientist MS Swaminathan. Swaminathan's committee in turn emerged from a forum on regulatory development set up by the GM giant Syngenta. Syngenta's forum established many of the principles behind the proposals and Syngenta is working to make these a model for regulation in the Third World.

Syngenta prides itself on operating far more subtly than Monsanto. It has described its approach to GM crop regulation as one of "latch lifting" - finding creative means to undermine resistance to approval of its GM products.

Swaminathan is the perfect collaborator for such a project. Unlike Norman Borlaug or CS Prakash, he is not a crude propagandist for GM crops but has a more sophisticated stance, creating the facade of an unthreatening, ecologically sensitive biotech "domesticated" to local conditions - a more acceptable face for the introduction of GMOs into the Third World.

However, his record is controversial, with his Green Revolution standing accused of neglecting high yielding indigenous varieties of rice in favour of chemical-dependent varieties, leading to declines in productivity from such crops: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20001016/agro.htm#2 http://www.cseindia.org/html/dte/dte20011015/dte_analy.htm Swaminathan also claimed to have created a new high-yielding variety that led to accusations of fraud.

+ SWAMINATHAN PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS FLAYED
The Swaminathan panel's recommendations for watering down India's GM regulations have been criticised by NGOs and scientists Drs Suman Sahai (Gene Campaign) and Vandana Shiva. They want the regulations