from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

This week's big news is the WTO decision, which supported GM-exporting countries - the US, Canada and Argentina, in their allegation that the EU's GM moratorium is an unfair barrier to trade.

It looks as if this will actually change very little, however, as no matter what the WTO says, Europeans simply do not want to eat GM foods (WTO). That said, there is real concern that the US will use this decision to help it shove its unwanted products down the throats of people in the developing world (ASIA and WTO).

Don't miss a powerful article by Dr Maewan Ho on the appalling health problems apparently caused in Philippines villagers exposed to Bt maize and its pollen (ASIA).

Finally, we're delighted to report that thanks to some brilliant work by our volunteer translators, roundups of January's news from GM Watch are now available for the first time both in Dutch http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6235
and German http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6205

Please spread this news far and wide amongst all your Dutch and German speaking friends. And if you'd like to help the work of the Dutch or German teams or can help us translate our monthly reviews into any other languages, please get in touch!

With Monsanto, Bush and the WTO lined up all in a row, we need to make sure we're hitting 'em right round the globe.

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

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CONTENTS
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WTO
EUROPE
ASIA
AFRICA
THE AMERICAS
AUSTRALASIA
CATHOLIC CHURCH
BIOSAFETY
LOBBYWATCH

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WTO
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+ U.S. WINS WTO BACKING IN WAR WITH EUROPE OVER GM FOOD
The World Trade Organisation has ruled that Europe had broken international trade rules by blocking the import of GM food, in a decision US trade officials hailed as a victory. The WTO found that Europe had imposed a de facto ban on GM food imports for six years from 1998 which violated trade agreements, and that Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg also had no legal grounds to impose their own unilateral import bans.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6218

+ PLEASE ACT
Email the Ministers for Trade & the Environment to ask them to stand up to the WTO and the right of European countries to ban GM food: http://www.foe.co.uk/biteback/

+ FURTHER INFORMATION
Groups publish WTO conclusions:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/groups_publish_wto_conclus_09022006.html

New opinion poll shows consumers worried over GM foods:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/aternative_needed_to_secre_08022006.html

+ WTO'S DECISION DID NOT COVER SAFETY ISSUES
In making its ruling, the WTO did not tackle the vexed issue of their safety. The (leaked) confidential WTO ruling noted that the organisation's dispute settlement panel had stuck purely to trade issues. "The panel did not examine whether biotech products in general are safe or not," said the ruling, which ran to 1,050 pages - the longest ever issued by the decade-old WTO, reflecting the complexity of the case.

Nor did it address "whether the biotech products at issue in this dispute are 'like' their conventional counterparts", even though this claim was made by Argentina, Canada and the US, which had asked for the WTO ruling.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6234

+ GREENPEACE DISMISSES WTO RULING ON GMOs
Greenpeace has dismissed the WTO ruling as irrelevant. "US agro-chemical giants will not sell a bushel more of their GM grain as a result of the WTO ruling. European consumers, farmers and a growing number of governments remain opposed to GMOs, and this will not change - in Europe or globally," said Daniel Mittler, Greenpeace International trade advisor. "The $300 million lost exports for US GM maize growers per year will continue, and remain a warning to exporting countries that GMOs are not wanted in Europe."

"This verdict only proves that the WTO puts trade interests above all others and is unqualified to deal with complex scientific and environmental issues."

Despite the ongoing WTO case, European governments voted with a clear majority in 2005 to retain existing national b