from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH guest editor
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Dear all
Welcome to WW43 bringing you all the latest news in brief on the GM issue. I don't believe we've ever had an issue that consisted so overwhelmingly of Setbacks to the GM Lobby. But this was the week when the UK crop trial results were released, giving the big thumbs-down to GM crops; Monsanto fled Europe; and EU enviro minister Wallstrom publicly lost patience with the biotech industry's "lies". Meanwhile, Brazil's second biggest soya-growing state has placed a complete ban on the import, sale, cultivation, processing or export of all genetically modified organisms.
I hope other countries can take hope from what's happened this week. Among those under pressure is New Zealand, whose people are showing iron determination to keep their clean, green nation GM-free in the face of the irresponsibility of prime minister Helen Clark.
We can certainly all take heart from the fact that in the last few days Monsanto has started to pull out of Europe, cut up to 9% of its global workforce, reported a $188 million loss, seen a big drop in share value and pulled out of GM Pharma Crops.*
Claire <[email protected]>
www.ngin.org.uk
*http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/16/business/16seed.html?ex=1066881600&en=2b0716ffe29d671c&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
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CONTENTS
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SETBACKS TO THE GM LOBBY
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK
SUBSCRIPTIONS
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SETBACKS TO THE GM LOBBY
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GM GENES NOT DESTROYED IN PIGS' GUTS
A new published study shows that GM DNA from Bt corn was not totally degraded in the gastrointestinal tract. These findings question its safety for animal feed and give the lie to industry and government claims that GM DNA is destroyed by the digestive process. An abstract of the paper is at: http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1612
BRAZILIAN STATE BANS GMOS
The Southern State of Parana in Brazil - Brazil's second biggest soya growing State - adopted a law this week that prohibits the import, planting, commercialisation, processing and exporting, via its port, of Monsanto's GM soya and other genetically modified organisms.
http://www.hpj.com/testnewstable.cfm?type=story&sid=10098
CROP TRIAL RESULTS SHOW GM BAD FOR WILDLIFE
Results of the UK GM farm scale evaluations were published October 16. They show that wildlife suffered in GM beet and GM oilseed rape crops, which had far fewer insects and weeds compared with the non-GM controls, suggesting they represent a big threat to birds such as the skylark and corn bunting. Elliot Morley, the UK's environment minister, said the results showed, "GM crops had severe implications for wild birds".
By contrast, more wildlife was found in the GM maize crop trialled than in the non-GM control. But the maize trials have been criticised as serioulsy flawed. This was for two reasons. Firstly, because they took no account of the impact on yield of allowing weeds to grow late, as occurred in the GM part of the trial. Secondly, the non-GM control was almost invariably sprayed with atrazine, a highly toxic weedkiller which has just been banned in the EU.
Professor Geoff Squire, one of the trial scientists, told the BBC: "With atrazine, it kills so much of the wildlife because of its persistence and its toxicity. Obviously, if atrazine is withdrawn, we'll have to look at maize again. This is a package, the GM crop and the herbicide. If either element changes, we shall have to revisit it. I think this is a view shared among the research team." (GM test results already in doubt, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3197480.stm)
The published report itself also notes that "the findings would represent what would actually happen under large-scale growing, unless the management regimes altered somewhat, for example if... atrazine was no longer allowed on maize crops".
As atrazine is being phased out, it's expected that the maize part of the trial will have to be re-done with a permitted weedkiller. In the meantime, the government is hinting that they will not be making a decision on GM commercialisation until after the next election.
If the government does go ahead, then it will have to deal with the 1,500 people who have vowed to pull up GM crops. This follows a successful summer in which all this year's national seed list trials (where new strains are tested) being destroyed. If you haven't yet done so, sign the Green Gloves Pledge. 01865 727972 www.greengloves.org
For more on the yield issue:
http://www.farm.org.uk/FM_Content.aspx?ID=145
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1623
To access the various papers and links:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/fse/index.htm
EUROPE-WIDE BAN?
The impact of the trial results will be felt not just in the UK, according to The Guardian. They could lead to a Europe-wide ban. UK environment minister, Elliot Morley, also appeared to suggest the evidence could halt the planting of GM crops throughout the European Union. The European Commission and member states had been awaiting the results, he said, adding: "I don't think any European country can ignore these results."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-857324,00.html
The fact that the results were uniform across different parts of the UK, gave Prof Chris Pollock, chairman of the scientific panel overseeing the trials, confidence that the results would be the same across all of Europe.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,1064966,00.html
RESPONSES TO THE TRIALS
Michael Meacher, the former environment minister who set up the trials with industry in 1998, said, "The government said that if the trials showed harm to the environment then they would not proceed with GM. We've always known the public is hostile, and now the science shows the same. That settles the argument."
Almost all Britain's leading environment, conservation, wildlife, countryside and consumer groups called for the banning of GM crops or for more tests. "We now have confirmation that GM crops harm the environment, make no economic sense and are deeply unpopular. Tony Blair must stand up to US pressure and declare Britain GM-free," said Tony Juniper, of Friends of the Earth.
The GM industry took a different view. "This evidence shows that GM crops are more flexible and can enhance biodiversity," said Dr Paul Rylott, of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council, which represents Monsanto, Syngenta and other leading GM companies.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1635
WEASEL WORDS ON ATRAZINE
You may have heard GM lobbyists desperately trying to talk up the relevance of the GM maize trial, in which the control crop was s
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