from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Following his death on Wednesday, there's a lot of attention on Francis Crick, co-discoverer with James Watson of the double helix structure of DNA and arguably the father of molecular biology. For many around the world, though, Crick's remarkable scientific insights have been overtaken by a corporate juggernaut intent on pushing products based on the crude unproven technology of genetic engineering.

The consequences echo around the globe. There is growing controversy, for instance, in South Africa over its lax biosafety system, constructed with the 'help' of industry figures. This system has been fast-tracking in a succession of GM crops and now seems set to allow the growing of GM potatoes similar to those that bombed in the US, as well as crops engineered to contain an HIV/AIDS drug. (see FOCUS ON AFRICA)

In India a massive industry campaign is underway to weaken its regulatory system so that GMOs can be fast-tracked in in a similar way. The latest part of this industry campaign is a big GM promotional conference, "Ushering in the Second Green Revolution". And who will pay the price? As we noted last week, 900 farmers have killed themselves in India in just the last 2 months - victims of the first green revolution. (see FOCUS ON ASIA)

In Europe, all eyes are on the unelected European Commission, which has a habit of approving GM crops rejected by the member countries! Given the duplicity and unaccountability of this body, it's no accident that the UK's new Euro Commissioner will be Peter Mandelsohn, a man famous only for spin and for having to resign twice from the UK government in discreditable circumstances.

For those in the UK, don't miss an important CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK, an attempt to restore some level of honesty to the government's consultation on GM "co-existence". Please take action. Campaigners focusing on such consultations enjoy a strong history of success in shaming the government into doing the right thing.

And finally, there have been two important reports this week questioning GM food safety - one from the US National Academy of Sciences and the other from India's premier medical research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). As one commentator has pointed out, these type of safety reviews should have been conducted in the early 1990s, before we were all turned into guinea pigs! (see FOOD SAFETY)

Claire [email protected]
www.lobbywatch.org / www.gmwatch.org

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CONTENTS
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FOCUS ON ASIA
FOCUS ON AFRICA
FOOD SAFETY
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
EURO-NEWS
US
OTHER GLOBAL NEWS
LOBBYWATCH
CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF SCIENCE
PATENTS ON LIFE
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK - UK
DONATIONS

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FOCUS ON ASIA
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+ INDUSTRY ASSAULT ON INDIA - FAST-TRACKING CAMPAIGN CONTINUES, BIG PRO-GM CONFERENCE COMING
PV Satheesh of the Deccan Development Society has warned how, unperturbed by the problems already inflicted on the country by GM cotton, "the powerful industrial lobby in India has been instrumental in a process that might completely dismantle the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and hand over the control to an industry dominated committee in the name of a fast track approval".

As part of the biotech industry's campaign to weaken India's regulatory system, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) will hold a big GM promotional - an "International Conference on Agricultural Biotechnology" entitled "Ushering in the Second Green Revolution" at Federation House, New Delhi, Aug 10-12, 2004.

FICCI is operating in partnership with:
(1) The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Application (ISAAA) - a U.S.-based, GM promotion and 'transfer' agency whose board has contained leading biotech industry executives and which enjoys multi-million dollar funding from Bayer, Cargill, Dow, Monsanto, Novartis, Pioneer, Syngenta, in addition to funding from the Rockefeller Foundation and Western governmental funding agencies.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=66&page=I
and
(2) The MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) headed by the green revolution scientist, MS Swaminathan, who has been in charge of a government task force set up to revise India's regulatory system. Swaminathan has a disturbing talent for dressing up the industry's agenda in the rhetoric of village India, women's empowerment, etc.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4179

The main conference organisers, FICCI, has already stated that it wants to see the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee's powers curtailed by "changes in rules relating to production and handling of micro-organisms, cells and genetically modified organisms (GMOs)." The conference is intended to deliberate on such changes as well as being a GM promotional.

The biotech lobby's main concern is over what they see as stagnation in the GM crop sector in India. Shantu Shantaram spells it out with his complaint, "all we have is one stupid Bt cotton to talk about." India's prominence within the developing world makes what the biotech lobby sees as the slow introduction of GM crops into India particularly frustrating.

Significantly, Shantaram, who is a frequent spokesman on these issues, presents himself simply as "Dr Shantu Shantaram, Biologistics International USA". In fact, Dr Shantaram is an employee of GM giant Syngenta.

Go to a Syngenta website like that of Syngenta Canada and the message is loud and clear:

"Welcome! We're Syngenta. Syngenta is the world's leading agribusiness company".
http://www.syngenta.ca/

But when it comes to Syngenta's man Shantharam, the message is non-existent!

At Syngenta, Shantaram developed the corporation's PR strategies for biotech projects, including Golden Rice. Prior to that he worked for the US Department of Agriculture. Biologistics International is Shantaram's "consulting firm" on biosafety. No doubt he will be putting that expertise to good use to help India usher in its "Second Green Revolution".

Much of the drive to reform India's regulatory system has its roots in a forum on regulatory development set up by Syngenta, in which MS Swaminathan took a prominent part. Syngenta's forum established many of the principles behind the proposals for regulatory reform now being brought forward.

The aim seems clear: to weaken India's regulatory system and then use it as a blueprint to sell to other Asian countries - just as South Africa's fast-track system is now being promoted as a model for the entire continent.

See:
Ushering in the Second Green Revolution - International conference in New Delhi
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4179
Clipping the wings of India's regulators
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4183
Industry asault on India
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4193

+ THAILAND: GM PAPAYA SCANDAL - MAJOR FOOD CROP CONTAMINATED
Packages of papaya seeds being sold by the Department of Agriculture's research station in the province of Khon Kaen have tested positive for GM seeds. "This is potentially one of the worst cases of genetic contamination of a major food crop in Asia as this station is one of the largest suppliers of papaya seeds in the country," said Varoonvarn Svangsopakul, Greenpeace's GE campaigner in Southeast Asia.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4182

Greenpeace Southeast Asia identified one of the f