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from Andy Rees, the WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all

Welcome to WW35 bringing you all the latest news in brief on the GM issue.  It may be of particular interest to any friends or contacts finding it hard to keep up with all the breaking news, so please circulate widely!

Andy <[email protected]>
www.ngin.org.uk

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WEEKLY WATCH  number 35 - CONTENTS
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SETBACKS TO THE GM INDUSTRY
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
TOPIC OF THE WEEK 1 - Who's got at the Pope?
REPORT OF THE WEEK 1 - World hunger needs simple solutions not GM
ARTICLES OF THE WEEK - Meacher: GM fix in the UK/Lessons from Canada
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
FACTS OF THE WEEK
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK
CAMPAIGNS OF THE WEEK - Green Gloves Campaign/WTO unmasked
SUBSCRIPTIONS

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SETBACKS TO THE GM LOBBY
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INVESTORS WARNED OF 2.3 BILLION DOLLAR THREAT TO MONSANTO:
A $2.3 billion hit could be looming over Monsanto, in the form of litigation liabilities, according to analysts, driving the company's shares down almost 6%.  Anticipated adverse court decisions would likely force Solutia, the chemical company that was once part of Monsanto, into bankruptcy and leave Monsanto on the hook for damages.
http://reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?storyID=3216573&type=hotStocksNe
ws

ANOTHER STUDY SHOWS GM COTTON A DISASTER
Results of a field study in in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, two of the six Indian states granted permission to commercially cultivate Monsanto's (GM) Bt cotton - the first genetically-modified crop to be cultivated in India - shows the net profit from Bt cotton was lower per acre compared to non-Bt cotton in all types of fields (low to high yielding).  In fact, 60 per cent of the farmers cultivating Bt cotton were not even able to recover their investment and incurred losses averaging 79 Rupees per acre. Not surprisingly, an overwhelming majority of the farming families surveyed (98 per cent) said they were not interested in growing Bt cotton again.
http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2003&leaf=07&filename=6073&filet
ype=html
The failure of GM cotton crops, including some illicit non-Monsanto Bt cotton variants, has contributed to some Indian farmers opting for growing groundnuts rather than cotton. "During the last two years, I had tried various brands of Bt cotton. But all varieties had failed," reports a Saurashtra farmer.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=59789

NZ GREENS KEEP PROMISE ON GM:
The Green Party in New Zealand, formerly in a ruling coalition with Labour, this week voted against the Labour Government's Budget over its refusal to continue the GM moratorium.  NZ Green Party Co-Leader, Jeanette Fitzsimons, made a powerful parliamentary speech explaining their position. See QUOTES OF THE WEEK.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1250

MEACHER WARNS NZ SELECT COMMITTEE AND GOVT MINISTERS OF GM RISKS:
Michael Meacher, the UK's Environment Minister from 1997 till earlier this year, this week gave evidence to the New Zealand Education and Science Select committee, warning that co-existence of GM and conventional crops is impossible.  The news was not well received.  The Select Committee were carefully towing the government's line that they were 'preserving opportunities' and that GM food was safe, despite the absence of scientific peer reviewed studies.   Michael Meacher remarked that he was surprised that NZ was willing to throw away its market advantages of GM Free production, particularly as it is the world's largest dairy producer, with 1/3 of the global production and exporting 95% of its goods, particularly to the EU and Japan which are not accepting of GM food.  His appearance came to an abrupt end when committee chairman Brian Donnelly labelled it a political stunt although he apologised as Mr Meacher left.  Later Meacher said he had been too long in politics to mind his treatment although he "was very surprised at being told it was a political gimmick.  We're talking about food ... nothing is more substantial or fundamental to human beings, we're talking about our bodies, our lives, our children." Meacher earlier had meetings with two Government ministers.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2603936a6160,00.html
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1247
SEE ARTICLES OF THE WEEK FOR MICHAEL MEACHER ON GM IN THE UK AND CANADA

A MICHIGAN FARMER TELLS MONSANTO WHERE TO GET OFF:
Excerpt from Don Dunklee's letter to Monsanto et al: "Your intentional genetic manipulation of natural living organisms results in a change not intended in the "original product".  Your claim to this "product" also gives you all potential liabilities now, and in the future."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1248

GM CROPS DO HARM WILDLIFE, FARM TRIALS LIKELY TO REVEAL:
According to an article in The Independent on Sunday, the Government's farm trials have shown GM crops can be more damaging to neighbouring flora and fauna than ordinary strains of sugar beet, maize and oilseed rape. In particular, the impact on insects, weeds and hedgerow plants has proved radically different, the trial results have revealed.  One senior source close to the trials said: "The null hypothesis is wrong, that's what's come out of the trials clearly. What is consistent is there are differences in the impact of GM crops and conventional crops." GMWATCH comment:  Given the way that the farm scale evaluations have been manipulated to enhance the performance of GM crops (see ARTICLES OF THE WEEK below), we remain sceptical about aspects of this article.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=429820

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
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Blair's new PR chief is Monsanto's PR flak
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Tony Blair has, according to the Mail on Sunday, chosen David Hill to replace Alastair Campbell as his new chief spin doctor.  Hill was at one time chief media spokesman for Blair's party but he has spent the past five years as boss of a PR firm which advises Monsanto on public relations.  Hill's firm, Good Relations - part of Bell Potinger, is known to have organised meetings between Monsanto and government ministers.  A former special adviser to one of those ministers was also recruited by Bell Pottinger.   Hill's successor as Labour's chief media spokesman, Mike Craven, went on to found Lexington Communications which represents Monsanto and the other biotech corporations who run the industry group,

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