Posted by WTO Watch Qld on May 27, 2001 at 20:57:17:
QUOTE OF THE WEEK 4. Arts and Activism ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHOICES Workshop We create the future! Making it a sustainable, respectful future for all is humanity's greatest and most exciting project. If you would like to work together with other concerned people to influence this future using creative methods, the Choices workshop on Sunday, 3rd of June is for you. You might be an artist, a writer, and actor, you might be a thinker, an organiser, a leader, or you might just be aware and inspired to help. It's all good. On the day, we will envisage better futures, find ways of achieving them and instigate several actual projects. Come to get involved, or just come to share your thoughts with other people who care. Let's turn our concern into actions! Sunday June 3rd, 9:30am - 4pm Global Learning Centre, 102 McDonald Rd, Windsor (Half a block from Albion Train Station) $5, please bring lunch to share Ph. 3876 7031; PO Box 5484, West End, 4101, QLD Email: choicesss@hotmail.com RSVP appreciated to help with planning. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY planning meeting: ------------------------ ALTERNATE LOCATION IN CASE OF RAIN: We are still looking for stalls, displays, workshops, speakers and sponsors...JP Energy Technology is going to provide solar power on the day (weather permitting) , Allset Hire, the stage, Reverse Garbage is providing some materials for workshops and signage (promotions for sponsors etc), Green Gardeners is providing organizational support....A forum about economically and environmentally sustainable development: speakers Ron Stanton and Richard Sanders (so far) is being organized by Gilbert Holmes of the EcoTeam....Mike Staff will be speaking on reducing green house emissions and many environmental, social justice groups will be represented. We are also hoping to have an indigenous action forum and many other speakers. There will be music by FUTURE NATIVE, MAHALA, WHIP SNADE ZOO, BO KHAN, CHRIS MCALPINE, OWEN JOLLY, & ANGEL plus more. There will also be Art workshops including a movable think tank and recycled material didgeridoo making, and an art/video/poetry/photgraphic exhibition "Expressing Oneself to Protect the Environment" ....Artists are invited to submit their work. Of course, there will be market stalls and food! AND MORE....It's going to be a great day!!! To complete the celebrations, Odyssey have offered to put on a FUNDRAISING DANCE PARTY after the gig ( Sunday June 10, 2001)@ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) CALL TO ACTION a) Sacked Impulse workers are seeking support for a petition they are Download the petition at www.qld.asu.asn.au and please forward this email to Matthew Collins b) ROLL YOUR OWN BLACK OUT THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER In protest of George W. Bush's energy policies and lack of Its a simple protest and a symbolic act. Turn out your lights from Forward this email as widely as possible, to your government --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Show you disagree with the Bush Administration's If you see 100 people have signed this message before 1-Tom Gehrels, Toronto, Canada 2-René Pottkamp, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 3-Beppechien Bruins Slot, Haarlem, the Netherlands 4-Marloes Kraan, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 5-Kim Knibbe, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 6-Jose Lima, Portugal 7-Rui Pereira, Lisboa, Portugal 8-João Alves, Lisboa, Portugal 9-Nuno Veríssimo, Lisboa, Portugal 10-João Sobral, Cascais, Portugal 11-Sven Harthun, Lisboa, Portugal 12-Kathrin Matischak, Darmstadt, Germany 13-Oliver Jakoby, Heusenstamm, Germany 14-Oliver Schopp, Mainz, Germany 15-David Thomas, Mainz, Germany 16-Helmut Bockshammer, Münster, Germany 17-Jan Essert, Dieburg, Germany 18-Nadine Sander, Dieburg, Germany 19-Wolfgang Stahl, Mechernich, Germany 20-Caroline Peuke, Engelsberg, Germany 21-Bertram Lemmert, Düsseldorf, Germany 22-Marc Socher, London, UK 23-Beate Rose, Hamburg, Germany 24-Evelyn Schönheit, Hamburg, Germany 25-Madeleine Girke, Berlin, Germany 26-Christiane Paul, Berlin, Germany 27-Dominik Tiefenthaler, Switzerland 28-Stefan Ulmann, Switzerland 29-Juerg Satdler, Wil, Switzerland 30-Francesco Fini, Wilen, Switzerland 31-Peter Moetteli, Pfyn, Switzerland 32-Joerg Keller, Offenbach, Germany 33-Doris Emde, Hamburg, Germany 34-Dirk Zygar, Hamburg Germany 35-Jörg Stanko, Bielefeld, Germany 36-Adi Stanko, Bielefeld, Germany 37-Kathrin Stanko, Bielefeld, Germany 38-Natascha Stanko, Bielefeld, Germany 39-Tatjana Stanko, Bielefeld, Germany 40-Barbara Ahrens, Bielefeld, Germany 41-Babette Ahrens, Berlin, Germany 42-Johanna Ulmer, Göttingen, Germany 43-Konstantin Ulmer, Bielefeld, Germany 44-Sonja Brinkmann, Bielfeld, Germany 45-Melanie Brinkmann, Atherton, CA, USA 46-Dirk Brüggemann, Bielefeld, Germany 47-Dieter Frohloff, Bielefeld, Germany 49-Rosemarie Vogelsang, Bielefeld, Germany 50-Simone Smala, Brisbane, Australia 51 Ulrike Zimmermann, Australia 52 John Murphy Brisbane Australia. 53 Terrie Templeton, Brisbane, Australia ******************************************************************** d) Subject: FW: Water Aid - can we just help with this please..... The charity, Water Aid,(UK) is involved with providing safe drinking water to Thames Water have set up a website associated with WaterAid and will It only takes a few seconds to visit the site and click on the "Click Here" http://www.givewater.org 3) GATS UPDATE The International signon letter "STOP THE GATS ATTACK" now has 430 signatories from 53 countries. 29 Australian organizations have signed. Has your organization signed yet? ============================================== a) The Office of the Gene Technology Regulator and the new national regulatory scheme for gene technology will commence operation on June 21. Underpinning this new national scheme is the Gene Technology Act. The object of the Act is 'to protect the health and safety of people, and to protect the environment, by identifying risks posed by, or as a result of gene technology, and by managing those risks through regulating certain dealings with GMOs." A free call gene technology hotline has been set up as part of the commencement activities. This number is 1800 181 030.So now you can have all your questions answered!!! For further information contact iogtr@health.gov.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -b)---- Original Message ----- . Gene Technology Community Consultative Committee (GTCCC); The committees will assist the Office of Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) > A panel of state and territory government reps, and the Interim OGTR, will ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ d) FRANKEN-FISH The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, a professional Concern follows the announcement that Aqua Bounty Farms will begin selling Research is under way across the globe to genetically modify 35 aquatic But what happens if transgenic salmon escaped into the wild? Conventionally The model's dire prediction assumes that mature GM fish would be bigger than But wild salmon numbers have been declining for years. "The concern is that this could be the last nail in the coffin" for the wild "What they do in the lab changes them quite a bit," said Oregon fish GM Super Salmon and the Wisdom of Tinkering with Fish: Aqua Bounty Farms to begin selling genetically modified salmon eggs: Terrie Templeton WTO Watch Qld gumbus@powerup.com.au
"The hope of the (BIOTECH) industry is that over time the market is so flooded
[with genetically engineered organisms] that there's nothing you can
do about it, you just sort of surrender." Don Westfall,
vice-president, Promar International, Washington-based food and
biotech industry consultants. Cited by
"
1) COMING EVENTS
2 CALLS TO ACTION
a) Petition re sacked Impulse workers
b) Call for world wide blackout to protest Pres. Bush's energy policies
c) Petition to Bush re Kyoto Protocol
d) Visit the water site---your visit will provide water to people in the developing world.
3) GATS UPDATE
4) FOCUS ON GM
a) New free call number for gene technology queries!!!
b) Call for support for public interest panel
c) Biotech Bullies
d) Frankenfish
=============================================
1) COMING EVENTS
Community Aid Abroad
One World Seminar Series: Seven seminars linking issues and people together
19 April to 12 July - Fortnightly Thursday evenings 7:30-9pm
Venue:
52 Merthyr Rd, New Farm
Conference room @ the Uniting Church hall
Thursday 31 May 7:30- 9pm
Guest Speakers and Artists sponsored by the Qld Community Arts Network.
Creating Hope and Opportunity by Connecting and Empowering Society
Thursdays @ 7pm
Anna's, Drew and Satya's place :
24 Terrace Street. Paddington
(07) 3876 2267
to discuss Day of Action on JUNE 5 and World Environment Day Festival and Sustainable Living Fair, June 10,,,,
Do you (or does someone?) want to come? I hope you will be able to be part ot BOTH....
peace, Robin Susan Taubenfeld
ENuFF Everyone for Nuclear Free Future Brisbane
(07) 3358 3813
0411 11 8737
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY FESTIVAL & SUSTAINABLE LIVING FAIR
June 10, 2001
Captain Burke Park, Kangaroo Point
10-4pm
set up from 7am
site fee by donation
ZEN WAREHOUSE
68 Cordelia Street
South Brisbane
(07) 3844 4048
brisneyland.com
ODYSSEY
628 Wickam Street Fortitide Valley
8pm-2am
Admission: Stall holders FREE, Public $8, Concession or 4zzz subscribers $5
(07) 3257 3337
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 2 and 3 at Byron Surf Club; 9-5 daily, 2 day workshop on Globalisation
with Dr Liz Elliott, Mr Jeremy Lee and others; featuring glorious beach
views, music at night, and lots of time for debate and political strategy.
Topics will be "What is Globalisation?' (Trade), Finance (Banks) and
Australian Politics. $40/concession for helpers contact catcher@norex.com.au
circulating calling on Qantas to fulfil their commitments in relation to jobs.
any lists you are on.
Australian Services Union
------------------------------------------------------
JUNE 21, 2001 THURS EVE, 7-10pm worldwide, all time zones
emphasis on efficiency, conservation and alternative fuels, there will be a
voluntary rolling blackout on the first day of summer, June 21 at
7pm - 10pm in any time zone (this will roll it across the planet).
7pm-10pm on June 21. Unplug whatever you can unplug in your
house.
Light a candle to the sungod, kiss and tell, make love, tell ghost
stories, do something instead of watching television, have fun in the
dark.
representatives and environmental contacts. Let them know we
want global education, participation and funding in conservation,
efficiency and alternative fuel efforts -- and an end to over
exploitation and misuse of the earth's resources.
c) President Bush recently announced that the United
States Government will not honour its commitments
under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gases.
The United States produce 25% of the world's carbon dioxide, a gas that is believed to be the main
contributor to global warming.
levels, and change precipitation and other climate
human health, and harm birds, fish, and many types of
ecosystems. An increase in weather-related disasters
will occur, deserts may expand into existing range
lands, densely populated coastal areas will flood and
large numbers of people will have to move.
decision to withdraw from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on
Global Warming. Urge President Bush to review his
policy in this matter and devise a comprehensive plan
to reduce US emissions of so-called greenhouse gases.
Sign your name, town and country of residence at the
bottom of this e-mail, copy the entire text of this
e-mail (do NOT use the forward button), into a new
message and send it to as many people as possible.
you, send this e-mail to the White House at
president@whitehouse.gov to show Mr. Bush the world is
watching. Then start a fresh copy of this message with
your name as the first signer.Thank you.
48-Rüdiger Thurm, Bielefeld, Germany
people in the Third World where every 8 seconds a child dies from disease
caused by unsafe drinking water.
donate100,000 Pounds Sterling (which will provide safe drinking water for
life to 6,000 people in Africa and Asia) if they have 250,000 visitors to
the site in the next 12 weeks.
message: Please pass this email on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can find a Spanish and French translation of this statement (as well
as the English version) at
http://www.tradewatch.org/gattwto/gatthome.html - check it often for the
most updated version.
4) FOCUS ON GM
From: "Bob Phelps"
To: "Bob Phelps"
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2001 5:54 PM
Subject: OZ ACTION ALERT: Please support the PUBLIC INTEREST PANEL
(For more information, contact Bob Phelps as above)
Please support the PUBLIC INTEREST PANEL (members listed below). It is
very important that people committed to promoting the public interest and
precaution are appointed. The Public Interest Panel is a set of excellent
nominees for spots on the three federal government committees now being
set up under the Gene Technology Act 2000:
. Gene Technology Ethics Committee (GTEC); and
. Gene Technology Technical Advisory Committee (GTTAC) -
to licence genetically engineered organisms (GEOs), laboratory and factory
work using GEOs, and animals fed on GE fodder.
> now make initial selections, with Health Minister Michael Wooldridge
> finally choosing the committee members.
>
> Individual and Organisational support is welcome
>
> Please email or fax the following decision-makers supporting the Public Interest Panel:
>
> "Prime Minister John Howard" Fax: 02 6273 4100
> "Health Minister Wooldridge"
> "Opposition Leader Beazley"
> "OGTR - Wendy Michaels"
c) BIOTECH BULLIES (ED: This is very long, but gives a good idea of what is happening to GM crops around the world. It may be of particular interest to rural readers.)
> This is the electronic newsletter of the (US) Organic Consumers
> Association. It is sent approx. 10 times per year.
> BioDemocracy News #33 (May 2001) Biotech Bullies: The Debate
> Intensifies by Ronnie Cummins.
> A publication of the Organic Consumers Association
>
>
> "Our investigations thus far from the 2000 harvest lead us to believe
> that virtually all of the seed corn in the United states is
> contaminated with at least a trace of genetically engineered material,
> and often more. Even the organic lots are showing traces of biotech
> varieties." David Gould, Farm Verified Organic, a leading US organic
> certifier.
>
> BIOTECH BULLIES
>
> The global battle over genetically engineered (GE) foods has reached a
> new level of intensity. While in Europe and Asia strong resistance
> continues, and in Africa and Latin America a debate has begun, in
> North America the gene-foods issue has moved from being a back-burner
> item for most people to a major topic in the media. Under attack on
> all sides, frustrated by growing global marketplace and activist
> opposition, agbiotech corporations and the White House have been
> forced to go on the offensive.
>
> *Regulatory Arrogance On January 17, the FDA announced a set of highly
> controversial proposed regulations on genetically engineered foods and
> crops. The regulations, disregarding the overwhelming sentiment of
> consumers, require neither pre-market safety testing nor labeling--nor
> do they require biotech corporations to assume financial liability for
> damage to public health and the environment. Nearing the close of the
> public comment period on May 3, the FDA had already received over
> 100,000 negative comments from irate consumers (including nearly
> 30,000 comments from the Organic Consumers Association), but
> Washington insiders predict that the Bush administration will ignore
> this avalanche of public criticism and proceed with the industry's
> favored "no labeling, no safety-testing" policy. Underlining public
> rejection of the FDA's "Shut Up and Eat Your Frankenfoods" policy, 75%
> of Americans stated in a poll released by the Pew Charitable Trust on
> March 26 that they wanted mandatory labeling of all gene-altered
> foods, with 58% saying they would not buy them.
>
> *Suing Farmers Monsanto has now sued or threatened thousands of
> farmers across the US and Canada for the "crime" of saving seeds or
> for having the company's patented Frankencrops growing on their land
> without paying royalty fees. On March 29, in a troubling and likely
> precedent-setting case, a Federal Court judge in Canada ruled that a
> 70 year-old, fifth generation Saskatchewan farmer, Percy Schmeiser,
> was guilty of growing herbicide-resistant canola in 1998 on his farm
> near Bruno, Saskatchewan without paying Monsanto. Schmeiser, now
> liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines to Monsanto,
> claimed the seed for his crop came from his own fields, which were
> contaminated by genetic drift from neighboring farms. According to a
> Washington Post story filed on April 30, the Court ruled that
> Schmeiser was liable for damages, even if he didn't deliberately plant
> the GE canola. Monsanto's legal victory comes at a high cost however,
> in terms of enraging the majority of the world's farmers who are not
> using genetically engineered seeds. A spokeswoman with the National
> Farmers Union, which represents 300,000 small farmers and ranchers in
> the United States, told the Post "the organization has been following
> the Schmeiser case with apprehension. We're extremely concerned by
> what liabilities may unfold for the farmer, particularly with
> cross-pollination of genetically modified plants." The National
> Farmers Union of Canada, where two-thirds of all canola acreage is
> genetically engineered, has called for a moratorium on all GE crops.
> Canada previously exported $400 million dollars of canola each year to
> Europe. Now that market has been lost, due to EU rejection of GE
> crops. Analysts warn that Canada may soon lose most of its canola
> markets in Japan and Asia as well.
>
> *Manipulating Statistics Last spring BioDemocracy News reported on a
> USDA survey that acreage of the two largest GE crops in the United
> States was in decline (GE soybeans were down from 57% of all soy
> planted in 1999 to 54% in 2000; corn was down from 25% to 19.5%).
> Monsanto and the USDA had previously even claimed that the 1999
> acreage of US corn was 33% GE-suggesting a massive decline in Bt and
> herbicide-resistant corn varieties in 2000. But apparently after
> hearing from Monsanto, Aventis, and Novartis (now Syngenta) that
> projections like these were bad for their bottom line, the USDA
> recently recalculated the figure for last year's GE corn crop--now
> claiming that GE corn constituted 25% of all corn acreage last year
> and will amount to 24% this year. The USDA also maintains that GE soya
> plantings will increase in 2001, even as global export markets shut
> down. Before swallowing media stories that biotech is booming, it's
> important to keep in mind that current government or industry figures
> on biotech crop acreage are all estimates, thereby subject to
> manipulation. But in the wake of the StarLink debacle, which has
> contaminated 10% of all the corn in storage in the US, you don't need
> a PhD to understand that a projected figure of 24% of all US corn
> acreage in 2001 planted with Frankencorn is ridiculous. The real
> figure will undoubtedly fall below 15%. Harder to conceal for the USDA
> and the biotech industry is the fact that Monsanto has ceased
> production of genetically engineered tomatoes (taken off the
> commercial market in 1996) and potatoes (earlier this year), and that
> global acreage of all genetically crops has leveled off. According to
> the public interest group RAFI,
> seeds almost flattened in 2000 with an increase of only 8% after years
> of doubling and redoubling. Analysts predicted that, at least until
> 2003, demand would remain flat or decline." Perhaps even more
> significant, the two most important GE crops in the
> pipeline--herbicide-resistant wheat and rice-may never even reach the
> marketplace, due to global opposition.
>
> Another big lie repeated ad nauseam by Monsanto since 1995--faithfully
> regurgitated by the media--is that their genetically engineered
> recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (now banned in every industrialized
> country except for the US) is being injected into 30% of all US dairy
> cows. Dairy farmers and analysts tell BioDemocracy News that the real
> figure is closer to 10%. In 1998 Dow Jones reported that Monsanto was
> anxious to sell rBGH to any company willing to take this product off
> their hands. There were no takers, however-- not surprising since
> rBGH has been linked to increased cancer hazards as well as to an
> increase in pus, bacteria, and antibiotic residues in rBGH-derived
> milk and dairy products.
>
> *Fostering Fatalism The Gene Giants have been forced to change their
> marketing and regulatory strategy over the past several years. Having
> utterly failed to convince a significant number of consumers or
> farmers around the world that genetically engineered foods and crops
> are safe, "substantially equivalent," or that they have any beneficial
> characteristics whatsoever, the industry has adopted a new hard-line
> attitude. Basically the chilling new message is that agricultural
> biotechnology is inevitable, that genetically engineered crops, food
> ingredients, and drift are everywhere, and that anyone who labels
> their products as GE-free is lying. As former USDA Secretary Dan
> Glickman stated on the PBS special, "Harvest of Fear" (4/24/01) "We
> will not be able to stop this technology. Science will march forward."
> Or as John Wichtrich, a top Aventis executive, admitted to a Knight
> Ridder news service reporter on March 19, "the food supply will never
> be rid of the new strain of corn (StarLink) that the company
> genetically engineered." And since the genetic pollution caused by
> hundreds of thousands of acres of this likely allergenic Bt corn will
> be permanent, Wichtrich and Aventis have called "for a change in
> federal regulations to allow some level of the engineered corn, known
> as StarLink, in human food." With former biotech lobbyists such as
> Monsanto's Linda Fisher occupying prominent roles in the Bush
> administration. Aventis will very likely soon get their wish for an
> "allowable limit" of genetic contamination.
>
> In a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal on April 5, Scott
> Kilman and Patricia Callahan report that many leading US natural food
> brands with "GMO-Free" labels are contaminated with significant
> quantities of genetically engineered ingredients. The WSJ tested
> top-selling brands such as Yves, Health Valley, Hain's, Clif Bar,
> Whole Foods, White Wave, and Gerber-and found that they were all
> contaminated with GE ingredients. As Frank Palantoni, chief executive
> of the North American consumer-health businesses for Gerber parent
> Novartis put it, "I don't think anybody in the U.S. can guarantee
> zero." Gerber, the nation's largest baby food manufacturer, announced
> in 1999, under pressure from Greenpeace, that they were going GE-free.
>
> THE HARDER THEY FALL
>
> The bluster and bullying of the agbiotech industry are, at least in
> part, an attempt to cover up the fact that they are losing ground all
> over the globe-not just in the marketplace and in the court of public
> opinion, but also in terms of mounting scientific evidence that GE
> foods and crops are unsafe for public health and the environment.
>
> On the political and marketplace fronts agbiotech interests are taking
> a beating
>
> * Asia and Pacific On April 6, the government of Thailand issued a ban
> on all GE crops. On May 1, a similar ban came into effect in Sri
> Lanka. On March 19, a million farmers marched in New Delhi, calling
> for, among other things, an end to the World Trade Organization and a
> ban on genetic engineering and life form patents. In Japan and South
> Korea government inspectors have continued to test for StarLink and
> other unapproved varieties of GE foods, while importers are steadily
> turning away from the US and Canada to other suppliers such as Brazil,
> China, and Australia for GE-free corn, soybeans, and canola. On April
> 20 consumer groups in Japan called for a halt in all corn imports from
> the US. In the Philippines, a bitter debate has erupted over
> field-testing GE rice and corn varieties. Protests against GE cotton
> have erupted in Indonesia. Mandatory GE labeling laws begin coming
> into effect in New Zealand and Australia in July, while labeling laws
> are already being enforced in Japan and Korea. Labeling laws are under
> discussion in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, as well as in the
> Philippines and Taiwan. Perhaps most significant of all was the
> announcement on April 18 that the government of China was banning the
> cultivation of GE rice, corn, soy, and wheat-out of fear of losing its
> major export markets. Monsanto and the biotechnology industry had
> previously held out hope that China would be the "promised land" for
> biotech expansion. Despite all the hoopla about how great biotech is
> doing, the same three countries most heavily promoting the technology,
> the US, Canada, and Argentina, are still producing almost 99% of all
> GE crops.
>
> * Latin America A mounting controversy is developing over Cargill and
> other US exporters dumping genetically engineered corn in
> Mexico-despite a supposed ban by the Mexican government on the import
> of GE corn varieties. On March 2, indigenous groups from all over
> Mexico, spearheaded by the Zapatistas, signed a document calling on
> the Mexican government to recognize the autonomy and legal control of
> the nation's 10 million indigenous people over their land and
> resources, including a ban on bioprospecting and biopiracy by
> transnational genetic engineering companies. Hoping to head off a
> mandatory labeling bill making its way through the Mexico federal
> legislature, on February 4, the American Farm Bureau and 20 other
> agribusiness groups sent a letter to US officials urging them to
> intervene "at the most senior levels" to "prevent this legislation
> from becoming Mexican law." The letter urged Washington officials to
> use President Bush's "upcoming visit to Mexico" to pressure the
> Mexicans. The Farm Bureau and biotech industry warned that "The
> ramifications (of mandatory labeling) to US farmers, grain handlers,
> food companies and biotechnology providers would be enormous and
> threaten our favorable relations with Mexico as an ally and NAFTA
> trading partner." The letter also warned that labeling "would not
> only confuse and mislead Mexican consumers about the safety inherent
> in biotech foods but also create a negative precedent for NAFTA."
>
> In Brazil, the ban on planting GE soya remains in effect, considerably
> boosting exports to the EU, Japan, and other nations. Meanwhile the
> press in Argentina has reported that the country is losing corn export
> markets, as well as soy markets, to Brazil. Corn acreage this year is
> up 27% in Brazil, partly due to the demand for GE-free corn. A ban on
> planting GE crops remains in effect in Paraguay. Meanwhile a
> preliminary but growing debate over GE crops has emerged in other
> Latin American nations as well, including Ecuador, Chile, Colombia,
> and Peru. A similar debate is emerging in Africa and Eastern Europe.
>
> Europe Confronted with growing public alarm about food safety, the
> European Parliament is preparing to implement a resolution that will
> impose tough labeling and tracing requirements on genetically
> engineered foods. Labels will be required for any food item that
> contains genetically engineered ingredients, even when these GMOs
> (genetically modified organisms) cannot be detected because of
> processing. According to William Drozdiak of the Washington Post
> (4/11/01) these new regulations "could trigger a major trade dispute
> with the United States and deal a serious setback to the booming
> biotech industry." American grain and food exporters are increasingly
> concerned about their apparent inability to segregate out GE and
> non-GE food ingredients-reflected by the continued contamination of
> seed stocks and food exports with unapproved varieties of corn,
> soybeans, or canola. Once strict labeling laws go into effect in the
> EU, it will become nearly impossible for US food exporters to sell
> GE-tainted products in Europe, the world's largest agricultural
> market.
>
> North America On May 4, the powerful Grocery Manufacturers of America
> trade association, heretofore staunch supporters of biotech food, told
> the Bush administration that new varieties of genetically engineered
> food should not be approved "unless there is a way to test for them."
> In a similar vein, the American Millers Association, a trade group
> representing the nation's grain millers, told farmers in the US in
> April to stop planting GE seed varieties unless these varieties are
> approved in the US's overseas markets. According to a story by Anthony
> Shadid, of the Boston Globe (5/2/01), "Of 16 bioengineered varieties
> of canola, for instance, 14 are approved in Canada, but only 10 are
> sanctioned in Japan and three in the European Union. Corn, whose
> exports earn the United States nearly $4.5 billion a year, is similar:
> While 16 varieties are allowed in the United States, only 10 have
> received approval in Japan and just four in the EU."
>
> Recent corn and soy export statistics reported by the Agribusiness
> Examiner #109 (3/19/01) by Al Krebs:
>
> *USDA recently lowered its forecast of corn exports for the marketing
> year by 90 million bushels, a cut private analysts say is largely due
> to the impact of the contamination of the corn crop by the genetically
> modified corn StarLink (Des Moines Register: 2/25/01)
>
> * Europe is buying non-GMO soybeans. From 1995-2000, the US has lost
> 14.3% of its export market share in soybeans, while Brazil's market
> share has climbed 10.7% (USDA PS&D Database)
>
> * As of the third week in February, the combined total of accumulated
> U.S. corn exports and outstanding U.S. corn export sales to Japan is
> 65 million bushels less then at this time last year. (USDA- FAS
> online, U.S. Export Sales as of 2/22/01)
>
> * In related news, according to the Wall Street Journal U.S. sugar
> refiners and food companies such as Hershey are telling farmers not to
> grow genetically engineered sugar beets sold by Monsanto and Aventis
> SA, even though the seed has been cleared by regulators for commercial
> planting.
>
> * The Canadian Wheat Board, the world's largest distributor of wheat,
> reiterated on April 3 that they want the Canadian government to ban
> the growing of GE wheat for fear of losing overseas grain markets. In
> a dispute with Monsanto, who are frantically trying to get approval to
> grow GE wheat in North America, the Wheat Board said that since
> industry currently lacks the ability to properly segregate GE and
> non-GE grains, the government should not allow the planting of GE
> wheat varieties. In a related story, Monsanto lobbyists in April
> successfully killed a bill in the North Dakota state legislature that
> would have imposed a moratorium on GE wheat. Monsanto's aggressive
> lobbying angered many US wheat farmers, who fear losing their one
> billion annual export sales to Europe and Japan. "We could create a
> train wreck in our own markets," said North Dakota Wheat Commission
> administrator Neal Fisher. "The concerns are mounting, rather than
> diminishing. There are producers out there, certainly, who are
> clamoring for the technology. But we can't afford to lose 40 percent
> of our markets." (Reuters 4/29/01)
>
> * Maryland passed a bill on April 12 that bans the raising of
> genetically engineered fish in ponds that connect with state
> waterways. The law requires that fish farms be able to guarantee that
> GE fish cannot escape from their facilities. The law is the first of
> its kind in the US.
> NATURE STRIKES BACK
> MORE BAD NEWS FOR AGBIOTECH
>
> Noted biotech expert Dr. Charles Benbrook, of the Northwest Science
> and Environmental Policy Center, released an explosive report on
> herbicide-resistant Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans May 2. The report,
> based upon recent USDA and university research,
>
> studies that RR soybeans produce less of a yield (5-10% less) than
> conventional soybeans, and that weeds are growing resistant to
> Roundup, but also that farmers growing the GE soybeans are using
> considerably more herbicide than farmers who are cultivating non-GE
> varieties. As Benbrook points out, RR soybean growers are on the
> average using one-half pound more of herbicide (in this case Monsanto'
> s broad-spectrum Roundup) per acre-which amounts to 20 million more
> pounds of toxic herbicides being sprayed this year on American soybean
> fields. "You just can't say with a straight face that the Roundup
> Ready system reduces herbicide use if the measurement you're talking
> about is pounds per acre," Benbrook said. (St. Louis Post Dispatch
> (5/3/01)
>
> Even more alarming for Monsanto are Benbrook's observations that RR
> soybean plants, due to damage to an important chemical plant pathway,
> are more susceptible to plant diseases such as sudden stress syndrome.
> The American Soybean Association (ASA) immediately attacked Benbrook's
> report, calling it "sowing seeds of distrust" in a national press
> release.
>
> Interestingly enough, the ASA had nothing credible to say in terms of
> disputing Benbrook's central thesis (less yield, growing weed
> resistance, and more use of pesticides), but rather relied on the
> well-worn argument that RR soybeans must be great since so many
> farmers are planting them. Of course the main reason hapless US
> soybean farmers (who generally receive less money per bushel for their
> beans from ADM and Cargill and other wholesale buyers than it costs to
> produce them) are planting RR beans, besides the massive "price
> support" subsidy the USDA provides to soybean growers, is to save them
> time. It takes less time to spray several applications of Roundup than
> it does to spray several of the 15 or so different herbicides which
> non-GE soybean grower's use. With 88% of the average farm family's
> income now derived from off-farm employment, soybean farmers are
> desperately searching for anything that will save them time-which in
> this case turns our to be genetically engineered soybeans. But as
> Benbrook's report indicates even this "benefit" will likely be
> short-lived as weeds develop increasing resistance to Roundup and as
> the herbicide-resistant plants themselves degenerate in terms of
> hardiness and resistance to disease over time. "There's a clock
> ticking now for Roundup," Benbrook stated. A press release from the
> University of Missouri in Columbia 2/5/01 reported that soybean seed
> germination rates were "down sharply" this year, a likely reflection
> of the lack of hardiness and susceptibility to disease of genetically
> engineered plants. Roundup and other glyphosate products made up $2.6
> billion of Monsanto's $5.5 billion in sales last year.
>
> More bad news for Monsanto The Australian Broadcasting Corporation
> April 19 reported that insects are becoming resistant to Monsanto's
> genetically modified Ingard cotton. The New South Wales Department of
> Agriculture has been monitoring crops and has discovered a noticeable
> increase in the survival of cotton bollworms this season, indicating
> the worms are less susceptible to the Bt spliced cotton. Monsanto
> denies that there is a problem.
>
> Bio-Pharm hazards-the next StarLink disaster
> A group of Canadian scientists warned in the Toronto Globe and Mail
> newspaper 5/2/01, that genetic drift or pollution from plants
> gene-spliced to produce medical drugs or industrial chemicals is a
> disaster waiting to happen. The letter--signed by retired Agriculture
> Canada scientist Bert Christie, former McMaster University science
> dean Dennis McCalla, McGill University animal-science professor Dick
> Beames, and Dr. Hugh Lehman, an expert in agricultural ethics at the
> University of Guelph--warns that there is a "high probability" that a
> StarLink-type contamination incident could occur because of open-air
> testing and cultivation of crop varieties spliced to produce
> pharmaceutical drugs or industrial chemicals. In other words, a person
> could be eating corn or soybeans or some other common food and instead
> get a dose of a powerful medical vaccine or drug, or a toxic dose of
> an industrial chemical.
>
> Aflatoxin levels in Bt corn in Texas In 1999, researchers in Corpus
> Christi, Texas were surprised and alarmed to find that aflatoxin
> levels in Monsanto's Bt corn were significantly higher than in non-GE
> varieties. Aflatoxins, created by bacteria, appear in warm, humid
> environments on fungus spores on corn or other grains and vegetables.
> It is illegal to sell corn or other grains containing toxic levels of
> aflatoxins, since they are powerful agents for causing liver cancer.
> One can only imagine, if aflatoxin levels in Texas Bt corn were
> reaching alarming levels, what's happening with Bt corn in the more
> tropical and humid environments overseas (the Philippines, Thailand,
> Latin America) where the biotech industry is working overtime to
> convince farmers to grow Bt corn.
>
> GRASSROOTS - ANTI-BIOTECH CAMPAIGNS IN THE US -
> STARBUCKS AND TRADER JOE'S
> After several years of preliminary consciousness-raising on the GE
> foods issue, two of the leading grassroots groups in the US,
> Greenpeace and the Organic Consumers Association, have gone on the
> offensive. As outlined in the last issue of BioDemocracy News, (and
> detailed on our website) the OCA has launched a national leafleting
> and pressure campaign in over 130 cities across the world against
> Starbucks, which began on March 20. Starbucks has 2400 cafes located
> across the entire US (and another 1100 cafes globally). The OCA,
> supported by five other groups, is demanding that Starbucks remove
> rBGH and all genetically engineered ingredients from its foods and
> coffee drinks, start brewing and seriously promoting Fair Trade and
> organic coffee, pledge never to use GE coffee beans, and fulfill its
> longstanding promise to raise the wages and improve the working
> conditions of coffee plantation workers in Guatemala and other
> nations.
>
> Greenpeace, meanwhile, with the support of the OCA and other groups in
> local areas, launched a national campaign on 4/17/01 against the
> upscale Trader Joe's supermarket chain, which has outlets in 13
> states. In response to pressure from Greenpeace, Trader Joe's has
> announced that they are contacting all of their food suppliers for
> their brand name products, to inquire about the availability of
> GE-free ingredients. According to Heather Whitehead of Greenpeace, the
> Trader Joe's campaign will continue until the company agrees to follow
> the lead of its EU parent company, Aldi, and removes GE ingredients
> from all of its brand name products.
>
> Starbucks meanwhile apparently has begun moving part way in terms of
> meeting the demands of the OCA's Frankenbuck$ campaign. The company
> has begun telling reporters that it will, as soon as possible, be
> eliminating all rBGH-derived milk from its cafes and offering
> rBGH-free milk instead. Starbucks purchases 32 million gallons of milk
> a year in the US. This announcement by Starbucks on rBGH has provoked
> the ire of the biotech industry and angered Monsanto, who have accused
> the company of being "cowards" and "caving in" to the pressure
> campaign of the OCA. In terms of brewing and seriously promoting Fair
> Trade coffee, the company has begun a limited (as of yet, one day)
> trial program of brewing Fair Trade coffee as its flavor of the day in
> its 2400 US cafes and offering Fair Trade coffee beans to its hundreds
> of restaurant and university retail accounts. In terms of GE coffee
> beans, the company has stressed that it does not use them. But in
> regard to raising the wages and improving the working conditions of
> coffee plantation workers, Starbucks has made no public statements,
> other than finally admitting to the Chicago Tribune 4/22/01, that they
> can't apply their company's Code of Conduct standard in Guatemala,
> since their coffee wholesaler in that country will not divulge the
> names and locations of the sweatshop plantations which supply them. In
> addition, Starbucks has remained silent on whether or not it intends
> to remove GE ingredients from its chocolates and baked goods. In
> response to Starbucks going "half-way" in terms of meeting consumer
> demands, the OCA and its allies will continue to pressure Starbucks
> until all Frankenbuck$ demands are met. Stay tuned to BioDemocracy
> News and the Daily News and Starbucks sections on our website
>
> willing to help distribute Starbucks leaflets in your community send
> an email to the OCA
>
> And please check out the "Participate Locally" section of our website.
> If you are willing to join 25,000 other volunteers who have signed up
> online to work with the OCA in your local community on food safety
> issues, please go to
> up now.
>
> ### End of BioDemocracy News #33 ###
>
>
> Organic Consumers Association
> 6101 Cliff Estate Road
> Little Marais, MN 55614
> www.organicconsumers.org
> info@organicconsumers.org
> 218-226-4164
> Biodemocracy mailing list
> Biodemocracy@listsrv.organicconsumers.org
> http://listsrv.organicconsumers.org/mailman/listinfo/biodemocracy
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society concerned with the study and conservation of fish, amphibians and
reptiles, are supporting calls for a moratorium on genetic alteration of
salmon.
genetically modified salmon eggs to fish farms world-wide later this year.The
genetically altered fish have a growth rate of up to 600 percent higher than
normal so reach harvest size twice as fast as regular salmon.
species, from carp to crayfish, salmon to shrimp.
farmed salmon escape by the million and find their way to salmon streams.
Researchers have used a computer model to predict the impact of bigger,
genetically modified fish on a natural population. Bigger, genetically
modified male fish have a 400 percent mating advantage over their natural cousins, but
the survival of their offspring is poor. In just 40 generations, the whole
species is driven to extinction.
their nontransgenic counterparts, and the results of similar modelling using
the Aqua Bounty Atlantic salmon as subjects haven't been published.
salmon, says Anne Kapuscinski, a University of Minnesota biology Professor and
authority on transgenic fish.
biologist Kostow , "and whatever that is, we don't want that in our wild populations.
Biologically, there is a big downside. We simply have no idea what this is
about."
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