Claire Robinson, editor

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CONTENTS
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GM WATCH SPECIAL INVESTIGATION
PROTESTS
ENVIRONMENT
GM BANS / RESTRICTIONS
CONTAMINATION / FOOD SAFETY
HEALTH
RESEARCH
GM CROP FAILURES
GM HYPE
FOCUS ON INDIA
CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF SCIENCE
FEEDING THE WORLD
BIOFUELS
GM MEDICINES
COMPANY NEWS
CHURCHES
GOVERNMENT SLEAZE

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GM WATCH SPECIAL INVESTIGATION
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+ RETRACT THIS PAPER - IT'S A DISGRACE TO SCIENCE
The British Food Journal's Award for Excellence for Most Outstanding Paper in 2004 went to research that should never have been published. What the reviewers mistook for an impressive piece of scientific enquiry was a carefully crafted propaganda exercise that could only have one outcome. Both the award and the paper now need to be retracted.

For links to source materials and a photo of one of the signs the researchers used to bias consumer responses, go to:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=72&page=1

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PROTESTS
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+ GM FOODS CONDEMNED IN GLOBAL MARCHES
Thousands of protesters in 70 countries demonstrated against GMOs on 8 April (Joint International GM Opposition Day). Demonstrations were held in Australia, Bolivia, India, South Africa, France, and the US, among other countries. It was reported that 25,000 people protested against GMOs in Andhra Pradesh, India.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6426
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6427

+ FRANCE: MONSANTO SEED FACILITY OCCUPIED
On April 13 French farmer Jose Bove and 75 other activists occupied Monsanto's seed facility in Trebes, France. They have demanded that Monsanto and the French authorities stop the import and distribution of GM maize seed into France. Bove was arrested but released a few hours later.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6452
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6484

+ YES MEN TAKE ON MONSANTO, DOW, ETC.
Corporate satirists/activists the Yes Men report various actions drawing attention to evil deeds by Monsanto and Dow, and to the risks of nanotechnology:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6429

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ENVIRONMENT
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+ U.S. INTERIOR DEPT SUED OVER GM PLANTINGS
A coalition concerned about the cultivation of GM crops in wildlife refuge areas has filed suit against the US Interior Dept, saying it illegally approved the planting at the Prime Hook wildlife refuge outside Dover, Delaware.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6451

+ HERBICIDE RESISTANT WEEDS CAUSE PROBLEMS TO U.S. COTTON FARMERS
Pesticide resistant weeds are introducing a new problem to cotton farmers.

Traditionally, herbicide resistance is dealt with by simply changing the herbicide. But according to North Carolina State weed scientist Alan York, farmers are running out of options: there are no more effective pesticides to switch to.

The majority of farmers in the Cotton Belt are now growing Monsanto's GM Roundup Ready cotton, which is resistant to glyphosate pesticides. As a result of the heavy use of glyphosate in the area, varieties of pigweed have developed immunity to it.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6463

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GM BANS / RESTRICTIONS
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+ COURT FORCES BRAZIL'S MAIN PORT TO HANDLE GM SOYA
A federal court has ruled that Brazil's main grain port of Paranagua must open all of its soya terminals to GM soybeans, thus ending its ban on GMOs.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6471

+ AUSTRIA COULD BE TARGET OF EU WRATH OVER GM BAN
Austria, current president of the European Union, might face an order to lift its bans on certain GM products, senior European Commission officials said.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6458

+ POLAND SET TO APPROVE GM BAN DESPITE EU
Poland's upper house of parliament may ban trade and plantings of GM seeds and put Warsaw on a collision course with the EU Commission, which claims GM bans are illegal.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6470

+ VERMONT GM BILL TOUGH ON MANUFACTURERS
Manufacturers of GM seeds could be liable for damages if their products drift into the fields of neighboring farmers who don't want them under a bill that won approval 25 April in the Vermont House.

The bill would treat farmers as consumers and would allow them to sue a seed manufacturer. "This is a bill to protect all farmers, especially those who use genetically modified seeds," said Rep. Dexter Randall, P-Troy, the primary sponsor of the bill and a dairy farmer.
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