from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

Ten years after GM crops were first planted commercially in the US, Americans remain ill-informed about and uncomfortable with GM food, reports a survey that finally puts to bed the endless nonsense about American consumers' acceptance of GM foods and confidence in US regulation (THE AMERICAS).

Meanwhile, the New Zealand government is facing a $1 million bill to clean up the GM-contaminated corn it allowed into the country (AUSTRALASIA).

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

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CONTENTS
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THE AMERICAS
ASIA
AFRICA
EUROPE
AUSTRALASIA
RESEARCH
COMPANY NEWS
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK - TAKE ACTION
GM WATCH TRANSLATED

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THE AMERICAS
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+ AMERICANS STILL WARY OF GM FOOD - STUDY
Ten years after GM crops were first planted commercially in the US, Americans remain ill-informed about and uncomfortable with biotech food, according to the fifth annual survey on the topic.

People vastly underestimate how much GM food they are already consuming; lean toward wanting greater regulation of such crops; and have less faith than ever that the Food and Drug Administration will provide accurate information, the survey found.

The poll also confirmed that most Americans - particularly women - do not like the idea of eating meat or milk from cloned animals. The FDA recently said it is close to allowing such food on the market.

Overall, said Michael Fernandez, executive director of the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, which sponsored the survey, Americans are "still generally uncertain" about GM and cloned foods.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7373

+ SYNGENTA PROPERTY IN BRAZIL LIKELY TO BE SEIZED BY STATE GOVT
A 123-hectare experimental farm owned by Syngenta Seeds is likely to be expropriated by Brazil's Parana state government for illegal planting of GM corn and soybeans on the border of Iguacu National Park.

Parana's governor, Roberto Requiao, who previously banned exports of GMO soybeans from the Paranagua Port, said Syngenta was breaking a federal law that prohibits GMO plants within 500 meters of public parks.

Agrarian reform group Via Campesina, which had previously occupied the property before being ordered to leave by a judge, has now re-invaded it. Members of the local Landless Rural Workers Movement, better known as MST, is also said to be marching on the Syngenta property.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7358

+ U.S. FOOD SECTOR WARY OF GM WHEAT
The US food industry is still not ready to embrace GM wheat because of consumer wariness of genetic tinkering. Said Ron Olson, General Mills' vice president of grain operations, "The food market is not ready for that. Our stock would get killed."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7362

See COMPANY NEWS for a related story

+ PATENT OFFICE FINDS "SUBSTANTIAL QUESTIONS" RE MONSANTO'S PATENTS
In response to requests filed earlier this year by the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT), the US Patent and Trademark Office will undertake a review of four patents related to GM crops held by Monsanto that the agricultural giant is using to harass, intimidate, sue - and in some cases bankrupt - American farmers. In its orders granting the four requested reexaminations, the USPTO found that PUBPAT had submitted new evidence that raised "substantial questions of patentability" for every single claim of each of the four patents.

Monsanto has filed dozens of patent infringement lawsuits asserting the four challenged patents against American farmers, many of whom are unable to hire adequate representation to defend themselves in court. The crime these farmers are accused of is nothing more than saving seed from one year's crop to replant the following year, something farmers have done since the beginning of time.

Third party requests for reexamination, like the ones filed by PUBPAT, are successful in having the challenged patent either changed or completely revoked roughly 70% of the time.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7371

+ U.S. AND BIO IN CODEX CONTAMINATION SCAM
The undemocratic WHO organization Codex has approved a U.S. government proposal to develop a food safety risk assessment process for adventitious presence. Industry body BIO has thanked the US government for pushing through the move at Codex. This may take some years but is still a source of concern.

COMMENT from Dr Michael Antoniou:
It is quite obvious that this is NOT the science-based food safety assessment that it is claimed to be but something for purely political and commercial convenience. [Dr Antoniou is Reader in Medical and Molecular Genetics at King's College London, and an expert on GM foods]
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7363

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ASIA
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+ CHINA FAILS TO GIVE COMMERCIAL APPROVAL TO GM RICE
China, the world's biggest rice producer and consumer, has yet again put off any commercial introduction of GM rice amid growing concerns about biosafety.

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