Planet Diversity World Congress on the Future of Food and Agriculture

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12.03.2010

Negros Occidental (Philipines) protestors warn of GE crop plot

Members of Green Alert Negros staged a picket yesterday in front of the Provincial Capitol to oppose the proposed Sangguniang Panlalawigan ordinance promoting sustainable agriculture and protecting biodiversity within the territorial jurisdiction of Negros Occidental. The group said it believes the ordinance is a ploy to deceive the public and allow GMO products in the province despite the anti-GMO ordinance.

12.03.2010

GM disallowance motion voted down in Western Australia

FARMERS and grains industry members have attended a critical sitting of WA Parliament, to support Agriculture Minister Terry Redman, and witness a fiery debate over a disallowance motion proposed in the Legislative Assembly, designed to prevent the growing of Genetically Modified canola in the State this year. The disallowance motion was proposed by Shadow Agriculture Minister Mick Murray. But after a day of political jostling and a three hour debate in the Lower House between 4pm and 7pm, the motion was eventually dismissed 26 to 24.

12.03.2010

South Australian Greens, Labor, Democrats unite on GE crop ban

The South Australian Liberal Opposition is the only party that has not made a clear and unequivocal election promise to extend the present ban on genetically manipulated (GM) crops for the term of the next government. ?The ALP government, the Greens and Democrats all commit to ban commercial GM crops until 2014 at least? says Gene Ethics Director Bob Phelps.

12.03.2010

U.S. beet growers plow ahead

Sugar beet growers are already planting genetically modified seed even though a federal judge is expected to rule any day on an injunction that could bar further planting and use of the crop. Some beets have already been planted in the Amalgamated Sugar Co.?s growing area, said Duane Grant, chairman of the Snake River Sugar Co., the growers? cooperative that controls the company.

12.03.2010

Farm groups call on U.S. to bust up big ag

A coalition of family farmers, consumers and other critics of corporate agriculture on Thursday called on the U.S. government to crack down on what they see as unfair consolidation of the nation?s food system into the hands of a few multinationals. U.S. Chanting ?bust up big ag,? a group of more than 250 packed a town hall meeting in the top corn-growing state of Iowa to rally support ahead of a Justice Department meeting on Friday aimed at scrutinizing concentration in the seed business.

12.03.2010

Judge ordered Bayer to pay 1 mill USD compensatory and punitive damages to one farmer

A jury in Woodruff County Circuit Court decided Monday evening that Bayer CropScience LP must pay more than $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages to Lenny Joe Kyle, a rice farmer, for losses he sustained when Bayer?s experimental variety of genetically modified rice infiltrated the rice supply. The jury awarded Kyle $532,643 in compensatory damages, and $500,000 in punitive damages. This is the third verdict against Bayer CropScience in rice lawsuits, but the first to award punitive damages.

11.03.2010

Prices for Monsanto?s GE seeds triple while yields stagnate

Seed prices for central Illinois farmers have nearly tripled since 2000 [...] Seed companies such as Monsanto Co. say the increase in price is due to advances in seed biotechnology that help farmers achieve higher yields [...] Yet soybean yields have hardly risen. In fact, over the past decades yields have grown less than 1 percent

11.03.2010

Glyphosate resistant weeds threaten to cripple Iowa?s (USA) agriculture economy

Iowa crop farmers are battling an old problem with potentially new and devastating repercussions for the entire state?s agricultural economy: Herbicide-resistant weeds. The phenomenon is not all that new, said Mike Owen, a weed specialist at Iowa State University who has been discussing herbicide-resistant weeds since the 1980s. But widespread adoption of certain biotech advances have made matters much more complicated.

11.03.2010

Chinese scholars up in arms over transgenic certificates

More than 120 Chinese scholars have filed a petition to the nation?s top legislature, demanding, on the grounds of bio-safety, the revocation of the Agriculture Ministry?s certificates on two transgenic rice breeds and more cautious licensing in the future, eastern Hangzhou?s Youth Times reported Thursday.

11.03.2010

GM grain still ?long distance away? in China

Genetically modified foods still have a long way to go before they reach the Chinese market even though the Ministry of Agriculture has certificated two strains of GM rice, a senior rural affairs official said on Wednesday. Before reaching the shelves, the products need to be certified by government agencies from the health and quality inspection sectors [...] Any of these agencies might stop the GM rice from entering the market

11.03.2010

A bright new future for GE agriculture in the EU?

The European Commission has just approved a genetically modified crop for cultivation in the EU, its first such decision in 12 years. Magda Stoczkiewicz [FoE Europe] says the decision flouts the public will, while Willy De Greef [EuropaBio] argues it is an important step forward.

11.03.2010

Agriculture Minister: No GM crops will be grown in Bulgaria

Bulgaria Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov, has stated that Genetically Modified foods will not be allowed ?to reach Bulgarians? tables?. Naydenov stated Tuesday that all the European requirements will be introduced into the Bulgarian legislation, but added that the amendments to the GMO Act will also ban GM crops from being grown in the country.

10.03.2010

EFSA launches public consultation on guidance for environmental risk assessment of GM plants

EFSA has launched a public consultation on the revised guidance of its GMO Panel for the environmental risk assessment of GM plants. EFSA provided updated guidance for assessing the impact of GM plants on the environment and held discussions with stakeholders and Member States as part of this work. Together with new, strengthened requirements in terms of data generation, collection and analysis, this guidance also contains a revised section on the evaluation of possible effects on non-target organisms.

10.03.2010

Is Europe finally ready for genetically modified foods?

It?s hard to work up an appetite when other diners brand what you?re about to eat ?Frankenstein food.? For many Europeans, that evocative label has told them all they need to know about genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Opponents of GM foods have managed to paint them as the freakish products of a dangerous technology created by hubristic scientists. But the European Union may have reached a tipping point in its awkward relationship with GMOs.

10.03.2010

Parliament agrees to extend GMO-free status of Swiss agriculture

A moratorium on genetically engineered plants and animals in Swiss agriculture has been extended by three years. The Senate on Wednesday agreed ? in line with the House of Representatives - the final details of an amended law which will be valid up to November 2013.

10.03.2010

Seven U.S. state attorneys general investigate Monsanto's monopoly practices

At least seven U.S. state attorneys general are investigating whether Monsanto Co., the world?s largest seed producer, has abused its market power to lock out competitors and raise prices.
Iowa and Illinois, whose antitrust probes Monsanto disclosed previously, have joined with Ohio, Texas, Virginia and two other states in a working group coordinating the inquiries, according to investigators, farmers and seed dealers. They declined to identify the sixth and seventh states.

10.03.2010

Legal setback for Monsanto in European-Argentine soy dispute

U.S. biotech giant Monsanto?s EU patent on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds should not extend to cover imports of processed soybean meal into the 27-nation bloc, an adviser to Europe?s top court said. The opinion from Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi must still be confirmed by the European Court of Justice in a final ruling. But it is a setback for Monsanto in its legal battle to secure royalty payments on the use of its seeds.

10.03.2010

Vatican: No official OK for GE crops

L?Osservatore Romano clarified in an article for today?s edition that some reports have suggested a hypothetical Vatican approval of the GM potato. ?There has been talk of an explicit ?yes? to the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture, confusing once again personal commentaries of ecclesiastics with ?official? statements attributed to the Holy See or the Church,? L?Osservatore Romano explained.

09.03.2010

Peru postpones debate on GMO law

Peru postponed the debate on the Regulations for Transgenics, due to the general opposition of most Peruvians to genetically modified products, reports Semana Económica. Peru?s Environment Minister, Antonio Brack, told [...] that Cusco and Ayacucho have declared themselves ?transgenics-free,? and Huanuco will do so too, in the near future.

09.03.2010

New head of Brazilian biosafety commission is a fervent GE crop promoter

Paiva?s commitment to promoting GM crops is such that he once told the media one of the advantages of Monsanto?s soya is that people could even drink the pesticide sprayed on the crop without dying. He also opposes food labelling and claims that the precautionary principle is actually no more than a ?principle of obstruction.?

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