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WEEKLY WATCH number 89 (9/9/2004)

from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Staggerring news this week from Hawaii where independent laboratory testing is showing massive levels of GM contamination from the world's first commercially planted GM tree - the papaya.

Nearly 20,000 papaya seeds from across the Big Island, 80% of which came from organic farms and the rest from backyard gardens or wild trees, showed **a GM contamination level of 50%**. (see FOCUS ON THE AMERICAS)

GM-contaminated papaya are also reported to have turned up recently in Thailand, with Thailand losing huge export orders as a result. Thailand also seems to have managed to effectively give away its papaya strains, which have been genetically engineered and patented by American corporations including Monsanto. (see THAILAND LATEST)

Meanwhile, the unelected European Commission has forced through approvals of 17 GM seeds against the wishes of many member states, even though many of these states do not have rules on coexistence to deal with the contamination issues already besetting Hawaii and Thailand. As a spokesperson for GMO-Free Hawaii has pointed out, "coexistence of traditional and GMO crops is impossible."

The Commission's action surely makes it a candidate for regime change, although even this discredited body couldn't manage to agree on allowable GM contamination levels. This is great news as many EU countries have zero tolerance policies on GM contamination which will continue to operate.

Interestingly, regardless of whatever the Commission tries to do to appease the industry and its US backers, a report this week from the Commission itself shows that GM research in member countries has gone into "steep decline" and that EU rules are doing nothing to halt that. (New EU rules fail to halt fall in GM research)
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4319

The other good news is that GM pharma crops appear to be on the run in the US although this will doubtless mean more industry projects decamping for the Third World. The joke is that while such crops raise the spectre of nightmarish food contamination, experts are saying there's very little evidence that theyare actually likely to work (see GM MEDICINES).

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

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CONTENTS
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FOCUS ON EUROPE
FOCUS ON THE AMERICAS
THAILAND LATEST
OTHER NEWS FROM ASIA
GM MEDICINES
LOBBYWATCH
FOOD SAFETY
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
DONATIONS

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FOCUS ON EUROPE
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+ FRENCH POLICE TEAR-GAS ANTI-GM DEMONSTRATORS
Tear gas and batons were used against anti-GM protestors in Auch, France on 5 September. The protestors (600 according to the protestors, 400 according to police), led by women and children, were trying to get into a field of GM maize in the village of Solomiac in the Gers region, but were stopped by large numbers of gendarmes and soldiers who barricaded the field. Ten people were briefly detained including the French farmer Jose Bove.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4300

+ SWISS EXPERTS SAY BETTER ANSWERS THAN GM
A Swiss government advisory committee has said not enough research had been carried out into the impact of genetic engineering. The Ethics Committee on Non-Human Technology called for closer coordination of state-funded research programmes to help improve the provision of food for people in developing countries but warned against giving any special preference to GM, saying better solutions were available.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4318

+ UK: SHOPPERS WANT GM-FREE ANIMAL FEED
Shoppers are not only concerned about GM ingredients in food; the recent Consumers Association survey shows that the vast majority - 68 per cent - want manufacturers to go one step further and make sure meat and dairy products have no links with the GM process, ie that their production has involved only non-GM animal feed.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4307

+ EU PUTS 17 GM VARIETIES ON SEED LIST BUT STALLS ON CONTAMINATION TOLERANCES
The EU added the first GM strains to its common seed catalogue on 8 September, opening the way - theoretically at least - for farmers across the continent to plant them. At the same time, the European Commission put off a decision on new labelling rules for seeds amid bitter differences over how much stray GM material could be tolerated in packages of conventional strains before it must be labeled.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4314

+ FOE URGES EU GOVTS TO BAN GM SEEDS
Friends of the Earth has called on governments to use EU law to ban the seed varieties, which are in any case a type designed for pest problems that don't affect all member states. Spokesperson Geert Ritsema said, "The European member states must step in where the Commission has failed and ban these GM seeds."

Commenting on the decision not to discuss seed contamination, Ritsema continued: "Friends of the Earth welcomes this decision and believes that the Commission now has a golden opportunity to bring out better proposals that will protect people and the environment. Public safety must come before the financial interests of the biotechnology industry."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4312

+ 'CO-EXISTENCE' RULES NOT IN PLACE
Most countries have no proper rules on how farmers should separate organic, conventional and GMO crops to minimise cross-contamination. "Allowing widespread growing of GM crops before countries have had the chance to put in measures to protect consumers and the environment is a reckless move that could lead to the widespread contamination of Europe's food, farming and environment," said Geert Ritsema, GMO campaigner at Friends of the Earth.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4301

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FOCUS ON THE AMERICAS
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+ OUTRAGED FARMERS DUMP GM-CONTAMINATED PAPAYAS AT UNIV OF HAWAII
Independent laboratory testing results reveal widespread contamination from the world's first commercially planted GM tree, the papaya, on Oahu, the Big Island, and Kauai. Contamination was also found in the stock of non-GM seeds being sold commercially by the University of Hawaii.

Farmers, health professionals, concerned citizens, and University of Hawaii scientists joined GMO-Free Hawaii in announcing the shocking results of their research at the University of Hawaii, which created and released the GMO papaya. Dozens of outraged farmers, consumers and backyard growers brought their contaminated papayas back to the university to underscore their demand that UH provide a plan for cleaning up papaya contamination. The campaign also called for liability protection for local growers and the prevention of GMO contamination of other Hawaiian commodity crops.

Nearly 20,000 papaya seeds from across the Big Island, 80% of which came from organic farms and the rest from backyard gardens or wild trees, showed a GM contamination level of 50%.

A spokesperson from GMO-Free Hawaii said, "Papaya contamination is a case study in the threat that GMO contamination presents to local agriculture. It is now obvious that coexistence of traditional and GMO crops is impossible."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4315

+ FRIO WON'T SEE GM PHARMA CORN
ProdiGene has abandoned its efforts to plant GM pharmaceutical corn in Frio County, Texas. The company was seeking pe

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