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WEEKLY WATCH number 206 (16/2/2007)

from Claire Robinson, WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all:

I'm happy to report that our websites are back in business despite malicious attackers doing their best to delete the content. Thanks to everyone who sent us messages of support.

This week's Weekly Watch is packed with some fascinating information, including details of a long-suppressed Russian study that found serious changes in the liver, kidneys and large gut of rats fed on GM potatoes (DAMAGING STUDY SUPPRESSED); more on the threat of pharma crops, including pharma peas in Germany (PHARMA CROPS); the latest in a succession of legal judgements in the US that have exposed GM regulation as "cavalier", "arbitrary", "capricious" and a violation of the law (LANDMARK US FEDERAL RULING); and why a farmers' campaigner who's been leading the fight to stop farmer suicides in Maharashtra says Monsanto has "played a major role in killing farmers" (ASIA).

Finally, please don't forget our CAMPAIGNS OF THE WEEK on pharma crops and biofuels.

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

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CONTENTS
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MEXICAN CORN CRISIS SPECIAL
LANDMARK US FEDERAL RULING
DAMAGING STUDY SUPPRESSED
PHARMA CROPS
ASIA
MIDDLE EAST
EUROPE
CLONING
CAMPAIGNS OF THE WEEK

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MEXICAN CORN CRISIS SPECIAL
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+ MEXICO'S CORN CRISIS EXPLOITED BY GM LOBBY
The price of corn in Mexico has risen to its highest point in 10 years, reportedly due to a growing demand for the grain from the US to produce ethanol. The crisis brought on by the massive price hike is now being exploited by the GM lobby to push for the introduction of GM corn in Mexico via claims that GM is a panacea for increased corn production. However, USDA data does not support the claim that GM corn increases production. In fact, it shows that far from increasing yields, GM crops may actually reduce them. USDA data also shows that GM corn has had a negative economic impact on farms.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7527

+ MEXICO'S TORTILLA CRISIS: HARVEST OF NAFTA
More than 120,000 people protested in Mexico City on January 31 against massive hikes in the price of corn. The protesters were demanding renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, restoration of grain self-sufficiency, and wage increases. President Felipe Calderon has announced the duty-free import of 650,000 metric tons of white maize from the US. This has enraged Mexico's farmers. Since the inception of NAFTA in 1994, they have felt their government has allowed cheap US grain imports, heavily subsidized by US taxpayers, and the elimination of government price supports to destroy their livelihoods, driving millions of them off the land.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7527

+ BIG BIOTECH IS FORCING FARMERS TO BUY GM SEEDS
An article for CounterPunch reveals how the steep jump in tortilla prices is leading to massive imports of GM corn from the US. Some of this will be planted in spite of government prohibition. (EXCERPT): Competing with highly subsidized US farmers is driving their Mexican counterparts into bankruptcy ... A great deal of the 36,000,000 tons of corn Mexico has imported from the US in the past six years is genetically modified - 40% to 60% estimates the environmental group Greenpeace, reasoning that US producers, barred from dealing GMO corn in Europe and Japan, are using Mexico as a dumping ground for the grain.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7533

+ MEXICAN CORNMEAL COMPANIES ACCUSED OF USING GM CORN
Greenpeace has accused Mexican cornmeal companies Maseca and Minsa of introducing GM corn into the market, an action they deny. Greenpeace Mexico's Areli Carreon showed official documents and lab tests confirming production of tortillas with GM corn.
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7527

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LANDMARK US FEDERAL RULING
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+ LANDMARK US FEDERAL RULING
The New York Times: "A federal judge ruled yesterday that the Agriculture Department violated the law by failing to adequately assess possible environmental impacts before approving Monsanto's genetically engineered alfalfa. Judge Charles R. Breyer of Federal District Court in San Francisco said the agency had been "cavalier" in deciding that a full environmental impact statement was not needed because the potential environmental and economic effects of the crop were not significant. Plaintiffs in the case - some alfalfa seed companies and environmental and farm advocacy groups - said they would push to stop the sales and planting of the alfalfa, which is resistant to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. Joseph Mendelson, legal director of the Center for Food Safety, a Washington advocacy group that organized the lawsuit, said the decision by itself could block commercial sales of genetically engineered alfalfa seeds but that the plaintiffs would ask for an injunction to make sure."
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7530

+ GM WATCH COMMENT
The US promotes itself as a model of GM crop regulation, but the judgements of its own judiciary tell a different story. This latest judgement follows on from the US federal district judge who earlier this month ruled that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) must halt approval of all new field trials until more rigorous environmental reviews are conducted. That ruling resulted from the USDA's illegal approvals of field trials of herbicide tolerant GM bentgrass.
http://www.c

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