from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all

Welcome to WW56 bringing you all the latest news in brief on the GM issue.

It's depressing that UK PM Blair seems intent on allowing commercialisation of GM maize in this country, even if it is for only one season (HIGHLIGHTS) - especially as his action appears to be motivated by a desire to save face.

Many of us are concerned also about the EU lifting its moratorium on GM crop acceptance. But the EU's move could backfire on the US, as EU tracing and labelling rules require the US to do something it seemingly finds impossible: identify which GM traits are in which crops and where they are going! The Americans say these rules are more of a trade barrier to GMOs than the moratorium, so let's raise a half-hearted cheer for Brussels red tape.

Claire    [email protected]
http://www.gmwatch.org/

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CONTENTS
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NEW FROM GM WATCH: BEHIND THE HEADLINES
HYPE OF THE WEEK
SETBACKS TO THE GM LOBBY
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK: DEVINDER SHARMA AT THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM, MUMBAI, INDIA
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK

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NEW FROM GM WATCH: BEHIND THE HEADLINES
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We've just launched a new section on the GM Watch website that looks behind the stories in the news - go to this page for all the accompanying links for each item: http://www.lobbywatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=28&page=1

Here's a taster:
January 2004
20th: 'Eco-imperialism' in New York - exploiting the poor for corporate purposes A conference that its organisers say will make 'eco-imperialism' a household word is taking place at the Sheraton Hotel, New York, today. Opposition to GM crops, its organisers claim is part of a 'war' against the poor in the developing world. But those organisers have been called 'a tin cup outstretched to every Hard Right political campaign or cause that finds it convenient - or a sick joke - to hire Black cheerleaders'. Find out more about those behind the event, and how they are using "experts" like Prof CS Prakash, Patrick Moore, Roger Bate, Niger Innis and Paul Dreussen who seem far more interested in defending corporate interests than those of the poor.

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HYPE OF THE WEEK: Indian journalist exposes GM cotton hype
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+ AREA UNDER BT COTTON NEGLIGIBLE, SAYS AGRICULTURE MINISTRY
The Times of India recently reported that "India [is] a key GM crop cultivator", saying India has made it to the list of top ten transgenic crop-growing nations by doubling its (GM) Bt cotton cultivation. But now an article in India's Financial Express by Ashok B. Sharma has revealed thhat if India is "a key GM crop cultivator", then the biotech industry is in dire trouble.

Sharma's article draws on a leaked internal report of the Indian government which says the area under cultivation with India's first transgenic crop, Bt cotton, is actually miniscule compared to the total area given over to cotton. The report also says this shows the unpopularity of the GM crop with India's farmers.

"In 2002-03, the first year of its approval for commercial cultivation, Bt cotton covered an area of only 38,038 hectare area representing 0.51 per cent of the area under cotton in the period. In 2003-04 with good monsoon rains the area under Bt cotton increased to 92,000 hectare. This area coverage under Bt cotton is almost negligible as compared to over 9 million hectare under cotton crop in the country. This points to the low acceptability of Bt cotton by farmers", says the internal report of the Union agriculture ministry.

The agriculture ministry's findings undermine the hype created by the US-based International Service for the Aquisition of Agri-biotech Association (ISAAA), which gave rise to stories like that in the Times of India, and similar hyped claims all around the world. The ISAAA in its study claimed that the Bt cotton area in India has increased to 100,000 hectare in 2003-04, as against the government figure of 92,000 hectare. The ISAAA Southeast Asia director, Dr Randy Hauteau, refused to answer questions about the methodology for arriving at such a conclusion and the source of the data generated. The ISAAA also failed to put its figures into context, implying instead that they were an indication of the massive success of Bt cotton in India.

The latest evidence of ISAAA hype follows on from a report by Aaron deGrassi of the Institute of Development Studies, at the University of Sussex, which showed that ISAAA's claims on the area under GM cotton cultivation in South Africa were 20-30 times higher than other reports, even those from industry sources.

ISAAA's annual reports generate massive uncritical media coverage right around the globe about the growing success of GM crops. Type in "ISAAA" into Google and it will generate over 14,000 items – many with headlines like "ISAAA forecasts 700% growth in GE crop market". Its reports and figures are also often referred to and quoted by governments and other expert groups.

ISAAA receives funding from Bayer CropScience, Monsanto, Syngenta, and Pioneer Hi-Bred. ISAAA's multi-million dollar budget is matched by high-profile board members, past and present, such as Monsanto's Robert Fraley, Wally Beversdorf of Syngenta, and Gabrielle Persley, Executive Director of AusBiotech Alliance and advisor to the World Bank. ISAAA has no representatives, however, from farmer organizations in the very areas like Africa that it claims it is there to help.

For the Financial Express article:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=2299

For a profile of ISAAA:
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