from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

Some great news: European Union ministers have voted overwhelmingly to allow nations to keep their GM bans. It was a move that The Economist magazine described as "a big blow to the biotech seed firms". (EUROPE).

Some shocking news: in Paraguay, GM soy growers, backed by the police, appear to have killed and injured peasant farmers and driven them off their land as part of a land grab to enable GM soy expansion (THE AMERICAS).

Don't miss news of an inportant new book (LOBBYWATCH).

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

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CONTENTS
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FOOD SAFETY & COMPANY NEWS
Bt10 CONTAMINATION LATEST
ASIA
THE AMERICAS
AFRICA
EUROPE
AUSTRALASIA
LOBBYWATCH
BIODEMOCRACY 2005 REPORT - excerpt

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FOOD SAFETY & COMPANY NEWS
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+ HEALTH EFFECTS OF GM FOODS NEED FURTHER STUDY, SAYS W.H.O.
A call by the World Health Organisation for further safety assessments on using GM foods should give governments pause for thought before giving their approval for the wider use of the technology.

The report warns, "...some of the genes used to manufacture GM foods have not been in the food chain before and the introduction of new genes may cause changes in the existing genetic make-up of the crop. Therefore, the potential human health effects of new GM foods should always be assessed before they are grown and marketed, and long-term monitoring must be carried out to catch any possible adverse effects early."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5411

+ MONSANTO PUBLISHES MON863 STUDY
Monsanto has finally published its MON 863 90 day rat study, after being ordered to release the study by a German court.

Read all 1139 pages - if you can download it!!
http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/content/sci_tech/prod_safety/fullratstudypdf

Read Monsanto's 11-page summary:
http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/content/sci_tech/prod_safety/ratstudy.pdf

For a review commissioned by the German authorities from Dr Arpad Pusztai on both the full 90-day study and a Monsanto summary see:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=66&page=1
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5429

For Dr. Pusztai's review, in easy-to-read table form, of some of the significant differences found in the rat-feeding study, see:
http://www.seedsofdeception.com/utility/showArticle/?objectID=220

For Dr. Pusztai's list of reasons why the Mon 863 study should have been rejected, go to
http:www.seedsofdeception.com/utility/showArticle/?objectID=219

See detailed information on the study provided by Professor Seralini at:
http://www.greenpeace.ca/f/documents/campagnes/ogm/MON_863_Seralini_june05.pdf

For the Friends of the Earth report on conflicts of interest in the European Food Standards Agency:
http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/publications/EFSAreport.pdf

+ MONSANTO SHARES SLIDE ON WEAK EARNINGS
Monsanto said third-quarter net income fell 81 percent due to write-offs for two large acquisitions and predicted next quarter's results would fall short of Wall Street's forecast, sending the company's shares down 6.5 percent by mid-day on 29 June.

Monsanto (down $4.02 to $63.82) said net earnings for the period ending in May fell to $47 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with $252 million, or 93 cents per share, a year earlier.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5431

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Bt10 CONTAMINATION LATEST
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+ THIRD JAPANESE SHIPMENT TESTS POSITIVE FOR Bt10
A third shipment of corn intended for feed use in Japan has tested positive for Syngenta's unapproved corn Bt10. Of the US corn imported by Japan for food use, 90 percent is identity preserved and considered non-GM.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5423

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ASIA
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+ NON-GM BUMPER RICE PLANT BRED IN JAPAN
A high-yielding non-GM rice plant which does not fall over in bad weather has been created by a team of researchers at Nagoya University, Japan.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5405

+ PHILIPPINES TOWN BANS BT CORN, ADOPTS ORGANIC FARMING
In Surallah, an area of South Cotabato in the Philippines, local officials have banned the entry and planting of GM crops, especially Bt corn, as part of their moves to transform the municipality into a "chemical-free zone" and a haven for organic crops.

Surallah Mayor Romulo Solivio made the declaration after launching organic farming as the municipal government's flagship agriculture program for the next three years. "We will work for the changing of our farming systems from conventional to traditional sustainable agriculture through organic and biodynamic farming," Solivio said in a press conference.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5413

+ BAD ECONOMICS OF BT CORN IN PHILIPPINES
A new report from Greepeace argues that Bt corn has proven to be a neither practical nor ecologically sustainable option for small farmers in the Philippines for the following reasons:

1. The corn borer is a pest that is manageable. There are cheaper, readily available and proven non-GM means of controlling the corn borer.
2. Bt corn seeds are a lot more expensive.
3. Yield from non-Bt varieties can match if not exceed Bt varieties.
4. There are strong indications of negative effects on the soil ecosystem and non-target organisms.
5. Farmers may be sued for patent infringement or for saving Bt corn seeds or from contamination of their crops.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5413

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