from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

This Friday, 24 June, Europe's ministers will vote on whether to allow the unelected European Commission to overturn national bans on certain GMOs. This is an important vote; please see CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK to ask your country's minister to uphold the nations' right to decide - or (it only takes a minute) go straight to:
http://www.foeeurope.org/ban_risky_gm_food/#eirEmail

Ministers will also be voting on whether to approve Monsanto's MON863 maize, which has been found unfit even for rats. A German court has overruled Monsanto's appeal and has now forced the reluctant company to release the rat-feeding study it tried to suppress (FOOD SAFETY).

This has allowed scientists to start to comment publicly on the study. Prof Gilles-Eric Seralini of the French state Commission du Genie Biomoleculaire (CGB), which is a French government agency responsible for risk assessments of GM plants, says, "I would conclude from these tests that the insecticide appears to have significant effects on health. I believe it is not an isolated case and that the pesticides contained within GMOs have the same kind of side effects as chemical pesticides." (FOOD SAFETY)

Another big story this week is the disastrous debut of Bt cotton in the Punjab - a leading Indian agricultural state. Negative reports about the performance of this only-just-approved crop have been pouring in. This follows on from Monsanto being completely banned from the the state of Andhra Pradesh. (ASIA)

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

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CONTENTS
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FOOD SAFETY
BIO 2005 - CONVENTION NEWS
LOBBYWATCH
WTO LATEST
ASIA
THE AMERICAS
AFRICA
EUROPE
AUSTRALASIA
Bt10 CONTAMINATION COVERUP LATEST
CORPORATE CRIMES
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK

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FOOD SAFETY
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+ MONSANTO LOSES APPEAL - ORDERED TO MAKE SECRET STUDY PUBLIC
A German law court on 20 June ordered Monsanto to disclose a suppressed report on rat feeding trials related to the company's GM maize MON863. EU environment ministers will vote on the maize's import authorisation on 24 June.

Monsanto has consistently tried to prevent the publication of the 1,000-page document, after concerns were raised regarding the health impact on rats of MON863.

The German state endorsed Greenpeace requests to access the document under EU law, but Monsanto introduced a case against Germany to prevent the disclosure. The court's decision overrules the company's appeal against the decision in this case, originally delivered on 10 June 2005.

On 24 June, environment Ministers will vote not only on MON863 but also on national bans imposed by five member states against the use and cultivation of GMOs (see CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK).
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5393

+ SCIENTISTS COMMENT ON STUDY FINDINGS
Two renowned toxicology experts - Gilles-Eric Seralini and Arpad Pusztai - presented their analyses of the suppressed Monsanto rat-feeding study on MON863 maize at a Greenpeace press conference in Berlin on 22 June.

EXCERPTS:
" The GM maize should not be allowed to be licensed as food or feedstuff in EU countries. If a trial produces such striking results, it must at all events be repeated... The safety standards in EU authorisation procedures for genetically manipulated plants are in general inadequate." - Prof Gilles-Eric Seralini of the French state Commission du Genie Biomoleculaire (CGB), which is responsible for risk assessments of GM plants
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5397

"I would conclude from these tests that the insecticide appears to have significant effects on health. I believe it is not an isolated case and that the pesticides contained within GMOs have the same kind of side effects as chemical pesticides." - Prof Seralini http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1119532562873_114941762/?hub=SciTech

"It cannot be presumed that the damage to the rats' inner organs and the animals' blood picture are based on chance. The documents also show that the set-up for the experiments was inadequate and evaluation of the data incorrect. Further investigations are absolutely necessary." - Prof Arpad Pusztai, who made a risk assessment of MON863 for the German government
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5397

See Dr Pusztai's review, in easy-to-read table form, of some of the significant differences found in the rat-feeding study (these include possible allergic reactions and abnormal immune responses to the GM maize):
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5395

See detailed information on the study provided by Profs Pusztai and Seralini to the Greenpeace press conference at:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5400

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BIO 2005 - CONVENTION NEWS
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+ BIO-DEMOCRACY 2005 CONFRONTS U.S. BIOTECHNOLOGY
Angry that the world's largest convention of biotech and pharmaceutical executives (BIO 2005) was held in Philadelphia June 18-21 in pursuit of BIO's agenda of GM agriculture, bioweapons proliferation and healthcare for profit, a large coalition of organizations challenged them with a festival, teach-ins, and "creative action" as part of the counter event Biodemocracy 2005.

This diverse group, which included Philadelphia RAGE (Resistance Against Genetic Engineering), the Institute for Social Ecology, the Student Environmental Action Coalition, Mobilization for Social Justice and many more, claimed that the biotech industry is attacking US people's well-being and democracy without their consent.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5378

A press report on the protests and links to some GREAT LISTENING (with Ignacio Chapela and Sheldon Krimsky, amongst others) in the counter events to BIO 2005:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5394

+ GM LOBBY EXPLOITS DEATH OF POLICE OFFICER
Philadelphia Police Officer Paris Williams had an apparent cardiac arrest during protests in front of the Convention Center that's housing BIO'