from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all,

I recently suggested that if the GM industry were compelled to make public all data on the GMOs put forward for approval, it would create a noose for its own neck. So I was gladdened to hear that in South Africa, which the industry has set up as the back door into the entire African continent, an NGO is taking the government to court to force the release of data. As well as the court case, there have also been several public protests in South Africa this week - see FOCUS ON AFRICA.

This is all part of the fantastic job people in South Africa are doing to challenge the biotech industry's take-over of their country's regulatory system and their agriculture. The law should be on the their side, so we await next week's judgement with great interest.

It seems that everywhere this hazardous technology gets a toe-hold it is in dubious circumstances and the results are protests and problems – see, for instance, this  week's reports from the PHILIPPINES, INDONESIA, INDIA…

Finally, don't miss a story from the USA (US: RESISTANCE GROWS AS OPPRESSION HARDENS AND CONTAMINATION SPREADS), which, if accurate, is seriously shocking. The story tells how an activist artist specialising in work critical of GM had to report the sudden death of his wife from a heart attack. He ended up being arrested and illegally detained under the ill-begotten and much-abused Patriot Act. His art materials (which included a perfectly legal GM testing kit) and computer, and even his wife's body, were taken into the custody of the FBI. The Feds apparently are unable to tell the difference between art materials and bioterror weapons.

Please note our important CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK.

Claire    [email protected]
www.ngin.org.uk / www.gmwatch.org
 
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CONTENTS
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FOCUS ON AFRICA
EURO-VICTORIES OF THE WEEK
FOOD SAFETY
US: RESISTANCE GROWS AS OPPRESSION HARDENS AND CONTAMINATION SPREADS
FAO REPORT
PHILIPPINES: MORE PROTESTS AGAINST MONSANTO
INDIA: VISION 2020 BOOTED OUT?
WTO
NEW ZEALAND CAMPAIGN VICTORY
CANADA: PATENT LAW DECISION NOW IN
INDONESIA: NEW CORRUPTION ENQUIRY
DESPERATE GM PLUG OF THE WEEK
BIOTECH: DIGGING ITS HOLE DEEPER EVERY YEAR
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
REASSURING QUOTE OF THE WEEK
DONATIONS
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK
SUBSCRIPTIONS

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FOCUS ON AFRICA
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 + SOUTH AFRICAN COURT CASE SEEKS TO MAKE GM INFORMATION PUBLIC
The NGO Biowatch is currently taking the South African Government to court, over access to information on GM crops in South Africa.

For years, the NGO has been trying to get access to the safety data and information on which GMOs are being imported, tested, grown and released, which it says the public has the right to know.  But the registrar of genetic resources has consistently stalled, claiming that the data is confidential business information.

Now Biowatch has taken their demand to the Pretoria High Court, where the Registrar of Genetic Resources, the Executive Council for Genetically Modified Organisms and the minister of agriculture have been joined by biotech companies Monsanto and Delta Pine Land, and seed company Stoneville Pedigreed, who are seeking to prevent the information about their products being made public.

The case started on Monday, and has been accompanied by protests from the public, demanding their right to know about GMOs in their food.

Under questioning, the respondents admitted that Biowatch was entitled to most of the information it sought, but tried to claim that the amount of information being requested was too much for understaffed Registrar of Genetic Resources to deal with. To which the judge replied: "The effect of (this argument) is that because a particular state organ is understaffed people are going to be denied their Constitutional Rights to access information."

The judge said that his decision would probably not be made until the end of next week. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3625

More articles and press releases: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1531701,00.html http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=14&art_id=qw1085574064320B216&set_id =1 http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=14&art_id=vn20040527124427690C156030 &set_id=1

+ GMO PROTESTERS TURN PARLIAMENT INTO CEREAL
The main entrance leading to Parliament was turned into a cereal when protesters campaigning against GMOs emptied a bag of yellow maize and milk to highlight their concerns.

The protest, organised by the Environmental Justice Network Forum (EJNF), was in support of Biowatch. Biowatch, an NGO, is currently involved in litigation in the Pretoria High Court on the lack of information from the government on the licensing and production of GMOs in South Africa.

"We are surprised at the position the South African government is taking with GMOs. It is not an Afro-centric position," said ENJF Western Cape co-ordinator Thabang Ngcozela, referring to other African countries who have taken a stance against GMOs.

Ngcozela accused the government of underhand tactics, by taking advantage of the majority of people who were ignorant of GMOs. "Not many people know about GMOs, and the government is taking advantage of them, by example, not labelling GMO products," he said. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3625

Pictures of the protest are at http://wfeet.za.net/indymedia/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album02

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EURO-VICTORIES OF THE WEEK
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+ EU: CONSUMER RESISTANCE PUTS GM CORN ON HOLD Despite the European Commission's recent authorisation of the GM corn Bt-11, the producer, Syngenta, has announced that it will not commercialise it for the time being due to strong consumer resistance.

Syngenta cited the resistance of the European food industry to add GM corn to their product range. André Goig of Syngenta said that the food industry had clearly announced that they would not commercialise GM maize.

He stated that Syngenta was now trying to secure EU approval to cultivate Bt-11 for animal feed, saying that farmers were more likely to accept the product. However, this also would only be commercialised if and when clients were interested in using the maize. http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=3612 Syngenta not to market BT11 in the EU Food Ingredients First, Netherlands - May 27, 2004 http://www.foodingredientsfirst.com/newsmaker_article.asp?idNewsM