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New EU moratorium on GM cultivation
(Friday, July 22, 2005 -- CropChoice news) -- 1. New EU moratorium on GM cultivation 1. New EU Moratorium on GM Cultivation SRC:Friends of the Earth Europe -- ATH:n/a This article says that EU
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas has ordered a temporary halt on
all new applications for genetically modified (GM) crop cultivation
until the issues of coexistence and adventitious presence are addressed
at the European level. According to the article, the temporary hold has
the potential to last a long time, as it looks unlikely that either
issue will be resolved this year. EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann
Fischer Boel has yet to decide on possible new measures regarding the
coexistence of GM and non-GM crops. Meanwhile, the article says that
the issue of GM "contamination" of non-GM grain is a long-running
dilemma for the European Commission with "no solution in sight." The
article says that there has been no (entirely) new approval of a GM crop
for cultivation in the EU since the beginning of the bloc's de fact
moratorium on genetically modified organism (GMO)approvals in 1998. The
de facto moratorium ended last year with the approval of a GM crop for
use in food and feed, but not for cultivation. The article can be
viewed online at the link below. http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/publications/Biotech_July_2005.pdf 2. Whole Foods will label food GE-free Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats grocery stores both committed in 2001
to using only non-genetically engineered (GE) ingredients in their
company brand products. Now Whole Foods, the world's largest supplier of
natural and organic foods, has announced it will label its products,
including all organic food, GE-free. Growers and producers who sell to
Whole Foods will have to substantiate their non-GE practices through
documentation and independent laboratory tests. To read Whole Foods'
policy, visit
http://ucsaction.org/ct/6dL7geF1xzca/ . 3. Molecular Pharming - the New Battlefront over GM Crops http://www.i-sis.org.uk/MPTNB.php The biggest battle for democracy in the ëheartland of democracyí is
being fought over GM crops and it has shifted to molecular pharming. Dr. Mae-Wan Ho A fully referenced version of this article is posted on ISIS membersí
website. US Department of Agriculture caves in to pharm crops The battlefront over GM crops in the United States and Europe has
shifted to molecular pharming, the use of GM crops to produce
pharmaceuticals. California-based company Ventria Bioscience has been
at the forefront of pharm crops development, and has planted 75 acres
of genetically engineered rice near Plymouth in Eastern North Carolina
[1]. Ventria made applications to grow GM rice producing human lactoferrin
and lysozyme, normally produced in human milk, saliva and tears, in
California, Missouri and North Carolina, stirring up a storm of
opposition. Ventria was driven out of California last year [2], and
forced out of southeast Missouri earlier this year by a last minute
uprising from rice farmers who feared contamination of their crops and
damage to a $100 million industry that depends heavily on exports [3]. The USDA was under pressure to turn down Ventriaís request and others
like it. The Grocery Manufacturers of America, representing $500
billion in annual sales, says that the government lacks a way to
prevent pharmaceutical proteins from contaminating food. Advocacy
groups presented Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns with 30 000
signatures asking for a ban on the use of food crops to produce
pharmaceuticals. Northwest Missouri State University President Dean
Hubbard insists, however, that his institution is going ahead with a
$40 million agricultural pharmaceutical centre that would house Ventria
and other companies. On 30 June, the USDA approved Ventria application to grow its GM rice
on 270 acres in North Carolina [3], despite opposition from scientists
working at the state and federally-operated Rice Quarantine Nursery at
the Tidewater Research Station, just over half a mile from the Ventria
test site. USDA also cleared the way for Ventria to grow its pharm rice
on 200 acres in the middle of Missouriís chief rice-growing region,
even though Ventria has already withdrawn its permit applications for
that site. Anheuser-Busch, the nationís largest brewer, had indicated
it would refuse to buy any rice from southeastern Missouriís hundreds
of growers if the Ventria pharm rice was planted there. But USDA
dismissed the concerns as ìnon-scientificî and beyond its legal
purview. Health and environmental hazards ignored As numerous critics have pointed out, it is virtually impossible to
prevent contamination of our food crops either by cross-pollination or
seed spills during transport. The safety of these and other transgenic
proteins for human beings is highly questionable. Prof. Joe Cummins has
reviewed and submitted evidence on the potential hazards of lactoferrin
and lysozyme [4]. Lactoferrin participates in the regulation of immune
functions and controls pathogens by binding iron required for bacterial
growth. It has been implicated in asthma with fatal consequences.
Lysozyme breaks down the cell wall material of bacteria, but may
contribute to emphysema. But by far the greater danger is that the
transgenic proteins are only approximations of the natural protein both
in DNA sequence, amino-acid sequence and patterns of glycosylation
(carbohydrate chains added to the proteins), all of which may make
transgenic proteins allergenic, or the transgenic proteins may trigger
diseases connected with the inability of human cells to break them down
properly. As these proteins both target bacteria, there is a large question mark
over the safety of these proteins to beneficial bacteria in our gut,
which are now known to promote healthy development in numerous ways
from cradle to grave [5]. In addition, we know nothing concerning the
effects of these proteins on beneficial bacteria and other organisms in
the soil, on insects, amphibians, birds and mammals that interact with
the pharm rice in the fields. Another aspect virtually ignored in all
risk assessment is the hazards from horizontal transfer of the
transgenes to viral and bacterial pathogens that are everywhere in our
environment [6]. Move to pre-empt local regulation The North Carolina legislature is considering ìpreemptionî bills
intended to block local regulation of crop plants, including biotech
crops. The bills, House Bill 671 and Senate Bill 631, were sponsored by
the biotech industry and are part of a nationwide industry effort to
preempt local governments from regulating any crops, including GM
crops.† Similar bills have become law in at least 10 other states in
the US this year, and are clearly targeted at the grassroots uprising
against GM crops that has been gaining momentum over the past year
(Science in Society 2004, 22 From the Editor
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/isisnews.php ). Patents on molecular pharming A total of 369 patents are currently listed under ìProtein products for
future global goodî on MolecularFarming.com [7], a website that claims
to have received its information from the ìFAAR Biotechnology Group
Inc., which provides industry, government, universities and legal
counsel with expert advice, consultation and evaluation of
biotechnology research, business opportunities and intellectual
property matters.î The patents date from 1990 onwards, including methods for producing
antibodies, vaccines, proteins, flavourings, biodegradable plastics,
methods for metabolic interventions that change the nutrition and
composition of seeds, recovery methods for the proteins produced, for
viral systems and viral vectors used in plants, and methods for
molecular farming by chloroplast transformation. |