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MONTHLY REVIEW – MAY 2005 (9/6/2005)

from Claire Robinson, editor
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+ GLOBAL GENETIC POLLUTION ENABLED - THANKS TO BRAZIL AND NEW ZEALAND
Negotiations at the second meeting of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP/MOP2), held in Montreal last week, were wrecked on the key issue of the documentation and identification of GM crops when they're being exported.

The majority of countries (over 100) wanted strong controls but consensus was repeatedly blocked by just two countries: Brazil and New Zealand, who repeatedly refused to agree to any of the many proposed compromises.

The head of the African Group at the negotiations, Dr Tewolde (who finally arrived late at the negotiations, after world-wide outrage at Canada's original denial of his visa) pointed out that this refusal to strengthen controls will allow "global genetic pollution to escape unnoticed and unscathed". Dr Tewolde urged developing countries to develop strict requirements for documentation in their own national legislations.

The GM giant Syngenta was very active in the delegation of Brazil, which was once a GM-Free country but after extensive contamination and industry pressure approved GM soya and so has now become a GM exporter.

New Zealand is widely regarded as having acted simply as a stooge for industry and US interests, particularly as its wrecking tactics in Montreal followed on from its support for Terminator technology, which even Monsanto has backed away from, and for the U.S. WTO case against the EU (over its failure to accept more American GM products).

+ FIRST ON-LINE WORLDWIDE REGISTER OF GM CONTAMINATION
GeneWatch UK and Greenpeace International have launched the first online register of GM contamination incidents.
The searchable register: www.gmcontaminationregister.org
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5309

+ VICTORY FOR THE PUBLIC!
After four years of discussions, the Meeting of the Parties to the UN Treaty called the Aarhus Convention (AC) agreed to grant the public of the Pan-European Region, including Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia the right to participate on decisions related to GMOs.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5292

+ U.S. DERAILS GM LABELLING
The international Codex Committee on Food Labelling on 11 May deferred a decision on the mandatory labelling of GM food after the US and four other countries fought to derail global support for an international standard for labelling of GMOs from European, African and Asian countries.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5228
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5232

+ GM CROP USE "LIMITED" IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES - UN REPORT
In contrast with the usual industry hype, the use of GM crops by developing nations is problematic and has been limited, says a recent UN report. The US accounted for a hefty 59 percent of GM agriculture in 2004. Only 16 other countries grew GM crops, led by Argentina (20 percent of the total area), Canada and Brazil (6 percent each), China (5 percent), Paraguay (2 percent), and India and South Africa (1 percent each).
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5227

+ BT COTTON IN SOUTH AFRICA: THE SUCCESS STORY THAT NEVER WAS
Despite claims that Bt cotton will catapult African farmers out of poverty, recent reports revealed that the majority of Bt small-scale cotton farmers on the Makhathini Flats in South Africa have stopped planting Bt cotton because they cannot repay their debts.

A five-year study by Biowatch South Africa has shown that small-scale cotton farmers in Northern KwaZulu Natal have not benefited from Bt cotton and that the hype surrounding this case is just that - a media hype created by American biotech companies to convince the rest of Africa to approve GM crops.

Findings include:

*Farmers are in debt and credit institutions have withdrawn from the area because farmers cannot repay their loans and the number of farmers planting cotton has dropped by 80% since 2000. One farmer commented: "Four years ago we were told we would make lots of money but we work harder and make nothing".

*According to a local Land Bank official, farmers in Makhathini owe an average of US$ 1,322 per farmer and around 80% of them have defaulted on their loans.

*There has been no reduction in the use of pesticides. Now stink bugs have emerged as a major problem, as in other parts of the world where Bt cotton is grown.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5287
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5294

+ INDIAN FARMERS WIN BATTLE AGAINST GM CROPS
PV Satheesh, who heads the Coalition in Defence of Diversity in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh gave a presentation in London on how three years of research had helped Indian farmers win a battle against GM crops by establishing that they can be less productive than normal crops. Recently, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee of the Indian government withheld licenses for commercial cultivation on three varieties of GM cotton developed by Monsanto - Mech-12 Bt, Mech-162 Bt and Mech-184 Bt.

Though costing nearly 400 per cent more to buy, the average yield from the GM cotton was found to be about 150kg per acre, 30 percent less than from other non-GM varieties. The GM seeds also cost 12 percent more to cultivate in their need for manure and irrigation, and the reduction in pesticide use was negligible. ''Non-GM farmers earned 60 percent more than their GM counterparts over the three-year period,'' said the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in a paper.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5277

+ WHY SEEDS BILL IS DISASTER FOR INDIA'S FARMERS
Critics say India's proposed Seeds Bill will destroy farmers' livelihoods. "It is a Bill drafted under pressure from seed manufacturing MNCs like Monsanto. It has the potential to spell doom for Indian agriculture. Most of the seed varieties used in Indian agriculture today are farmer-produced. If farmers are not allowed to save and sell their own seeds, there can't be any agriculture here. The only aim of this Bill is to force the farmer to buy seeds from the market," says Vandana Shiva of Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5214

+ HEALTH CANADA WHISTLEBLOWERS WIN REVIEW
Three Health Canada scientists who say they were fired for raising questions about the way that the agency approves veterinary drugs have won another round in their years-long battle in their campaign for reinstatement.

The Federal Court quietly released a decision on April 29 ordering the public service integrity office (PSIO) to reconsider complaints from Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon, and Gerard Lambert that they, and the late Cris Bassude, had been pressured - and then sacked - for speaking out about the dangers of mad cow disease and about the use of Monsanto's GM growth hormones and antibiotics in the food supply. The PSIO had decided in 2003 that the allegations submitted by the applicants were unfounded.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5213

+ BIOTECH ARROGANCE IS LOSING U.S. EXPORTS - AMERICAN CORN GROWERS
The American Corn Growers Foundation (ACGF) and the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) are warning US corn farmers that key US corn gluten exports are being lost due to unapproved GMO varieties that are unacceptable in various markets.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5222

+ AG INDUSTRY AIMS TO STRIP LOCAL CONTROL OF FOOD
Legislation aiming to prevent counties, towns and cities from making local decisions about our food supply is being introduced in states across the nation. Fifteen states recently have introduced legislation removing local control of plants

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