from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

As if the Syngenta illegal GM maize contamination weren't enough, now news has broken of another illegal contamination of the food supply - this time with GM rice from China. No GM rice has yet been approved anywhere in the world, yet this matters little to a GM industry out of control.

The global implications of the rice scandal coming on top of the illegal GM maize scandal in the US are clear. A global GM ban is the only way to protect the public and the environment. In the meantime, a ban on all affected imports is vital. (CONTAMINATION SCANDALS)

Positive news this week from India: the government has deferred a decision on renewing marketing licenses for three Monsanto seeds and fresh approval for nine others, following the widespread failure of Bt cotton (ASIA).

Finally, University of California scientist, Dr Ignacio Chapela, who has faced repeated victimisation because of the couragous way in which he has sought to expose the dire influence of the biotech industry on his university, on scientific enquiry, on public life and on the environment, is about to launch his long-awaited legal action against the administrators of the University of California. We salute Ignacio's tireless fight for justice. (CORPORATE TAKE-OVER OF SCIENCE)

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

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CONTENTS
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CONTAMINATION SCANDAL: GM RICE FROM CHINA
CONTAMINATION SCANDAL: SYNGENTA MAIZE
CORPORATE TAKE-OVER OF SCIENCE
ASIA
THE AMERICAS
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK: HELP VERMONT!

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CONTAMINATION SCANDAL:
GM RICE FROM CHINA
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+ ILLEGAL GM RICE CONTAMINATES FOOD CHAIN
Greenpeace is calling for an urgent, international product recall after uncovering the illegal release of a variety of GM rice in China. The GM rice has not been approved for human consumption and may have contaminated Chinese rice exports.

"The GE industry is out of control," said Greenpeace's Sze Pang Cheung. "A small group of rogue scientists have taken the world's most important staple food crop into their own hands and are subjecting the Chinese public to a totally unacceptable experiment. We're calling on the Chinese government to take urgent action to recall the unapproved GE rice from the fields and from the food chain, and to conduct an immediate inquiry into the source of the contamination."

Greenpeace discovered unapproved GM rice being sold and grown illegally in the Chinese province of Hubei. Interviews with seed providers and farmers indicate that GM rice seeds have been sold over the past two years. Testing by the international laboratory Genescan has confirmed the presence of GM DNA in 19 samples.

The evidence from the lab, combined with field reports, confirms that some of the illegal GM varieties are Bt Rice. Greenpeace estimates that at least 950 to 1200 tons of GM rice entered the food chain after last year's harvest, and that up to 13,500 tons may enter the food chain after this year unless urgent action is taken.

According to Greenpeace International Scientist, Dr Janet Cotter, this is a serious problem requiring urgent government action: "There are strong warning signs that this GE Bt rice could cause allergenic reactions in humans. It has been shown that the protein produced in Bt rice (called Cry1Ac) may have induced allergenic-type responses in mice. To date, there has been no human food safety testing of Bt rice."

For years, large-scale field trials with Bt rice have been conducted by scientists of the Huazhong Agriculture University in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5100
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5101

+ WHERE THE ILLEGAL RICE MAY HAVE GONE WORLDWIDE
Campaigners in the following countries, all of which import rice from China, will want to alert the media, the public and officials to the contamination of rice imports by illegal GM rice that has never undergone any safety assessment: Russia, S Korea, N Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Bangladesh, Macau.

The following European countries import rice from China: France, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, UK, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Rep, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Cyprus. Total rice imports from China into the EU in 2003 were 18,317 metric tons.
Detailed figures at http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5101

+ CHINA INVESTIGATES GREENPEACE FINDING
China has ordered an investigation into Greenpeace's claims that GM rice not approved for human consumption has been sold in central China for two years.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5105

+ UNLICENSED GM RICE MAY BE IN UK FOOD CHAIN
The Guardian reports that unlicensed GM rice sold illegally on the internet to Chinese farmers has been sold for human consumption and may have been imported undetected into the UK.

David Cuming, of Consumers International, said: "The release of untested GMOs into the environment and the food chain is unacceptable, undermining consumer rights to safety, to a healthy and sustainable environment and to information. People need to know that their food is safe."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5105

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CONTAMINATION SCANDAL:
SYNGENTA'S ILLEGAL MAIZE
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+ EU MULLS US TRADE BAN IN ILLEGAL GM MAIZE IMPORT ROW
The EU executive Commission was cited as considering halting imports of GM animal feed from the US in a row with Syngenta over illegal shipments to Europe. Syngenta disclosed in March that some of its maize seeds were mistakenly contaminated between 2001 and 2004 with Bt10, an insect-resistant strain that was not approved by the EU.

Up until now, the Commission has sought to calm fears and leave Washington to carry out the investigation into how the Syngenta biotech maize was contaminated. But repeated refusals by the Swiss firm to hand over information have raised tensions in Brussels.

"We have again emphasised to Syngenta we must have it (detection method) as soon as possible," EU Health and Consumer Protection Commission spokesman Philip Tod told a news conference.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5084
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5088
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5089

+ EU SET TO BAN US MAIZE FEED
The EU has moved closer to a ban on US maize-based animal feeds after Europe's governments demanded that imports be certified free of unauthorised GM crops. EU member states on 12 April agreed unanimously to proposals requiring that all corn feed shipments from the US are guaranteed not to contain the unauthorised GM maize BT10. The measure would effectively halt all imports for weeks.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5104
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5099
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5097
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5105

+ DON'T RELY ON UNCLE SAM - NATURE EDITORIAL
A perceptive editorial in the journal Nature says European regulators should pursue their own investigation into how the 'wrong' GM corn was allowed on the market for years, since unfortunately, their US equivalents show little sign of rising to the challenge.

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