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WEEKLY WATCH number 228 (21/9/2007)

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WEEKLY WATCH number 228
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from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

GM continues to spread chaos across the globe. The downside of Bt cotton is now hitting Pakistan as well as India (ASIA). A mainstream news report quotes a researcher as citing a link between the distressing Morgellon's disease and GM (DISEASE LINKED TO GM). And there's more on the mysterious death of a woman with a non-life-threatening disease after she was given an experimental gene therapy drug (GENE THERAPY).

Please read the latest on the journal Nature Biotechnology's shameful deception of scientist Irina Ermakova, and take action to make your views known to the editor and his colleagues (NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY SCANDAL).

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

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CONTENTS
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EUROPE
AUSTRALASIA
ASIA
MIDDLE EAST
"GM SET TO RETURN TO UK"
AFRICA
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY SCANDAL
DISEASE LINKED TO GM?
GENE THERAPY
NEW BOOK

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EUROPE
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+ FRANCE MULLING FREEZE ON GM CROPS
France is reportedly planning a freeze on commercial genetically modified crops, which cover less than one percent of farmland in Europe's top agricultural producer. According to the French newspaper Le Monde, the government is preparing to announce a halt to sales of GM seeds at a national conference on the environment taking place next month, involving farmers, business and advocacy groups. Quoting Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo, Le Monde said the government wanted a freeze while working on a new law on GM crops, after ruling that it is impossible to stop GM contamination. "Everyone is in agreement on the GM issue: it is not possible to control their spread. So we will not take the risk," said the Environment Minister. Monsieur Le Grand, a senator for la Manche who is helping the Government determine its thinking, told Le Monde, "There must not be pollination of organic fields by GMOs." Coexistence, he said, will be determined according to the principle that "the choice of
some should not impact the choice of others".
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8300

+ ROMANIA: GM CROPS UNEARTHED
Greenpeace has launched a major attack against the production and marketing of GM crops in Romania. It discovered illegal plantations of GM soya and corn over 110 hectares in Braila, 200 km east of capital Bucharest. Both soya and corn seeds used in Braila were produced by Monsanto. Cultivation of GM soya is illegal in the EU, and from this year, in Romania as well.

67 percent of Romanians say they would not voluntarily consume genetically modified foods. Moreover, according to the Association for Consumer Protection, 98 percent of Romanians demand food containing GMOs be clearly labelled, but this isn't happening. During a press conference, Gheorghe Albu, secretary of state for agriculture, declared that his ministry might agree to a complete ban on GMOs in Romania "if the ministry of environment, as the authority in charge, also agrees to such a ban."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8297

+ GM CONTAMINATION IN GERMANY
German authorities have found genetically modified rapeseed (canola) in conventional crops. Consignments from the company Deutsche Saatgutveredlung were found to contain Bayer's seeds tolerant to the herbicide glufosinate. About 1500 hectares have already been planted with the GM crops. The origin of the contamination is unclear. Jan Pehrke from the Coalition against Bayer Dangers comments: "Neither seed merchants nor farmers are responsible for this mess. Bayer must take responsibility for the organisms it created and must pay for the damage."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8288

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AUSTRALASIA
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+ NEW ZEALAND AUTHORITY FACES COURT BATTLE OVER GM
A hearing date for a legal challenge against The Environmental Risk Management Authority - ERMA's approval of field trials of GM brassica has been set for March 31st 2008. GE Free NZ first announced its decision to file court papers against the regulatory body last year, after ERMA allowed Crop and Food Research to field-test a brassica crop, the mustard family genus that includes cabbages and turnips. GE Free NZ say the possible outcome of the trial had not been examined in enough detail, and so could possibly damage New Zealand's economy, as well as the public and animal health.
"GE Free NZ has decided that flawed decision making cannot go unscrutinised," said Claire Bleakley, GE Free NZ spokesperson.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8299

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ASIA
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+ PAKISTAN: OUTPUT SET TO FALL AS BT COTTON FAILS
Pakistan will face around 25 percent shortfall of cotton yield due to mealy bug and Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV) attack and reddening of leaf. A senior member of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) and President of the PCGA Sanghar cotton belt region, Raja Abdul Sattar, said the recent spell of rains in the Sindh and Punjab cotton growing belts affected the quality and the volume of the crop, especially the Bt variety of cotton.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8294

+ INDIA: COTTON OUTPUT MAY FALL IN PUNJAB
Cotton output in Punjab, the major producing state of north India, is likely to fall due to the incidence of the mealy bug. The Punjab state agriculture director, B. S. Sidhu, said, "The farmers in Punjab opted for Bt cotton cultivation in a big way with the hope of earning better returns. Their hopes are belied with the large-scale incidence of mealy bug."
According to Sidhu, the farmers incurred a loss within the range of Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per hectare.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8294

+ INDIA: PROTEST AGAINST GM BRINJAL TRIALS
Scores of Greenpeace activists held a demonstration to spread awareness about the

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