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WEEKLY WATCH number 202
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from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:
In a shamefully cynical act, the US has deregulated Bayer's contaminant GM rice, thus letting the company off the legal hook. Not surprisingly, the act has made no difference to the worldwide non-acceptance of US rice imports (GM RICE CONTAMINATION).
A tragic new wave of farmer suicides in Maharashtra is being directly attributed to the huge losses made by farmers lured into growing GM cotton by promises of a bumper harvest. (ASIA)
And don't miss the RESEARCH section for two exciting non-GM plant breeding breakthroughs. Interestingly, articles about both have been posted onto the pro-GM AgBioView list as if they were GM successes!
Claire
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org
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CONTENTS
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GM RICE CONTAMINATION
ASIA
CORPORATE DECEPTION
LOBBYWATCH
THE AMERICAS
AFRICA
AUSTRALASIA
RESEARCH
EUROPE
PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
BIOFUELS
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GM RICE CONTAMINATION
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+ USDA "DEREGULATES" DISPUTED GM RICE
The US Dept of Agriculture said on 24 November that it has "deregulated" a strain of GM rice that has contaminated world rice supplies.
A USDA spokesman said the rice could now be grown without oversight from the department.
"With this decision, USDA is telling agricultural biotechnology companies that it doesn't matter if ... you contaminate the food supply with untested genetically engineered crops, we'll bail you out," said Joseph Mendelson, legal director of the Center for Food Safety.
"In effect, USDA is sanctioning an 'approval-by-contamination' policy that can only increase the likelihood of untested genetically engineered crops entering the food supply in the future, and further erode trust in the wholesomeness of US food overseas.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7322
+ USDA APPROVES BUT TRADE STILL FETTERED
EXCERPT from Reuters report:
US regulators' latest move to sanction a strain of biotech rice may do little to soothe lingering doubts about the oversight of genetically modified foods destined for export markets, analysts and industry groups said this week.
"This is just a question of reputation," said Steve Suppan, a senior policy analyst for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. If exporters can't guarantee the crops they sell to other countries are GMO-free, "what is that going to do to the overall ability of US rice exporters?"
"We have zero tolerance in the EU for this. It shouldn't be on the shelf," said Canice Nolan, who heads food safety for the European Commission's delegation to the United States.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7338
+ CONTAMINATED RICE DUMPED IN AFRICA
Testing has confirmed that contamination by illegal GM rice LL601 has occurred in Ghana and Sierra Leone, the main African recipients of rice as commercial imports and food aid from the US. Campaign groups in Africa are calling for an immediate recall of the contaminated products.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7318
Mariam Mayet of the African Centre for Biosafety commented, "The approval of GM rice right after it has been found in US food aid sent to Africa is a blatant insult to our people. USDA's stamp of approval to genetically engineered rice after it has illegally contaminated the food supply completely erodes all trust in the US Food System."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7327
+ CONTAMINATED RICE TURNS UP IN PHILIPPINES
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7337
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ASIA
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+ NEW BT COTTON DISASTER IN MAHARASHTRA
An article in The Hindu directly contradicts claims of a "bumper crop" of Bt cotton in the main cotton growing belt of Maharashtra, India, where since June last year a staggering 1132 farmers have taken their own lives.
According to the the farmers' campaign group
Vidharbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) all the recent cotton growers' suicides have been due to "the mass failure of Bt cotton."
Claims of bumper harvests from Bt cotton have been put about not just by GM lobbyists but by ministers in the Maharashtra government.
The article is by the rural affairs editor of The Hindu, P Sainath - winner of the Prem Bhatia Award for journalistic excellence.
EXCERPT:
"Bumper crop? Where are you living?" Mohan Maratrao Patil wants to know. "My family has 45 acres here in Yavatmal - and all we've managed is 80 quintals of cotton so far. At best, we'll get another 80. We've lost [hundreds of thousands] of rupees." That his lands are irrigated has not helped. "Find me the farmer who has had that great harvest." Mr Patil, a Bt cotton grower in Vanjiri, scoffs at the notion of a bumper crop.
The idea was aired by the government of Maharashtra itself. The state's minister of marketing, Harshvardhan Patil, told the press more than once that he expected a huge rise in cotton production this year. Some reports had him predict a "bumper crop" of 350 lakh quintals. Others had him peg it at a more modest 300 quintals. Either way, this would mean a huge increase of 30-40 per cent over the official estimate for last year.
On the ground, in any of the six "crisis" districts of Vidharbha, this "bumper crop" is hard to spot. Farmers report huge losses. Official reports tend to confirm their claims.
FOR MORE OF THIS IMPORTANT ARTICLE, READ ON AT:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7323
+ GM FIELD TRIALS FACE THE IRE OF CHATTISGARH STATE GOVERNMENT
The Chattisgarh state government has ordered an inquiry into a Bt rice trial near the state capital of Raipur. State officials have expressed displeasure at the fact that they have not been informed about the trial even though conditions imposed on the company prescribe that it should inform the local and state authorities about the trial. For the first time in the history of GM crop development in India, a state minister had to rush to the trial spot to undertake damage control exercises as the local media and activists started reporting violations.
State agriculture minister Nankiram Kawar visited the Bt rice trial plot and ordered the immediate destruction of the remaining crop in the field by burning.
As the protest against GM rice rages through Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Tamil Nadu, Greenpeace India is pushing for an organically grown rice combining traditional farming with cutting-edge technology.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7316
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=732
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