Actualité
29.09.2008
GE crops ”no cure-all” for food insecurity
Biotechnology is no panacea to the food insecurity and poverty problems in Africa and other developing countries, warned scientists at the first All Africa Congress on Biotechnology [...] ”This is no silver bullet to the food insecurity in Africa and the rest of the developing world, but it must be looked at as one of the most important tools that will contribute to increased food production and thus, poverty reduction,” said Clive James, chairman of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications. [...] James added that ensuring adequate food production for Africa will come out of a package that includes other components like population stabilisation and fair food distribution systems.
29.09.2008
Can Bill Gates help Africa feed itself?
Under a five-year pilot project called Purchase for Progress, the foundations will help 350,000 or so small farmers in 21 countries, most of them in Africa, to grow food for the U.N.’s World Food Program, the biggest food aid distributor in Africa. Rather than simply buying the farmers’ crops outright, much of the money will go to teaching better farming methods, and to helping them store their crops in warehouses, plant higher-yield seeds, and transport their produce to customers. Those are all serious obstacles for poor farmers, many of whom find it almost impossible to eke out more than a bare-bones existence from their plots.
29.09.2008
President of the U.N. General Assembly on food crisis and biotech companies
The essential purpose of food, which is to nourish people, has been subordinated to the economic aims of a handful of multinational corporations that monopoliz e all aspects of food production, from seeds to major distribution chains, and they have been the prime beneficiaries of the world crisis. A look at the figures for 2007, when the world food crisis began, shows that corporations such as Monsanto and Cargill, which control the cereals market, saw their profits increase by 45 and 60 per cent, respectively; the leading chemical fertilizer companies such as Mosaic Corporation, a subsidiary of Cargill, doubled their profits in a single year.
29.09.2008
Celtic revolt against UK Government over GM crops
Ministers are facing an unprecedented Celtic revolt from their Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts as they launch a new campaign to plant GM crops in Britain. All three devolved governments have declared themselves implacably opposed to any modified crops in their territory, setting the scene for one of their sharpest-ever confrontations with Westminster. And their opposition is likely to have an impact throughout Europe, sapping the UK’s hitherto obdurate support for the introduction of the technology throughout the Continent.
26.09.2008
Australia must start GE animal and flower commercialisation
Australian farmers have urged authorities to consider the use of genetically modified animals for meat, milk and fish after US authorities this week unveiled guidelines to regulate the controversial technology. [...] Sheep Meat Council of Australia president Chris Groves said while the practical application of the technology for livestock was ”a long way off”, it would be rash to disregard the technology because of ill-founded fears. He said any decisions on GM foods needed to be based on ”sound science, not on somebody’s scare campaign”.
26.09.2008
Disgraced South Korean scientist to get cloning patent
Australian officials are expected to grant a patent this week to a disgraced South Korean scientist for his disputed technology on cloning human embryos, a move that his supporters say would vindicate his work. Hwang Woo-suk’s purported breakthroughs in cloning stem cells raised hopes for developing cures to diseases such as Alzheimer’s, but they were deemed fraudulent in 2005 when a key paper on the technology was found to have fake data. He continued to insist that his technology worked, and his team later applied for patents in some 10 countries.
26.09.2008
GE-free canola seed bank huge Tasmanian financial advantage
The Tasmanian Greens today said that the decision by Roberts to discontinue selling canola seed into the Tasmanian market was a clear signal that contamination of canola seed in Australia was a real issue for other states and that the biotech companies who promote Genetically Engineered crops and boast that GE crops and seeds can be securely segregated have misled the producers and consumers of Australia. Greens Shadow Primary Industries spokesperson Kim Booth said that the upside of Roberts withdrawal was that there was a clear market opportunity for Tasmanian growers to become a hub of GE-free canola seed production
26.09.2008
Australian chefs continue to sign up to boycott GM food
More Australian chefs have signed an agreement to not use genetically modified food, with Canberra chefs the latest to join Greenpeace’s national campaign. It follows a Newspoll study which found 90 per cent of consumers want better labelling of food products. It is also prompted by the first commercial crops of GM food in Australia, glyphosate tolerant canola which is being grown in NSW and Victoria.
26.09.2008
Concerns about ’onerous’ clauses in Australian GE canola contract
Australian farmers signing up to grow genetically modified canola are exposing themselves to ”onerous” obligations, an international law expert says. Duncan Currie says the contract between biotechnolgy firm Monsanto and GM canola growers bars farmers from selling their land to anyone without a Monsanto licensing agreement. Monsanto described the claim as ”ridiculous”. The contract, obtained by The Canberra Times, shows that if the land is sold up to two years after the agreement expires, contractual obligations are passed to the buyer, who could be liable for the former owner’s contract breaches.
26.09.2008
Only limited transgenic cow herds in New Zealand
Dairy farmers were unlikely to run herds of hundreds of transgenic cows, as small numbers would supply most of the genetically modified material required by pharmaceutical companies, AgResearch said this week. At a media day at its Ruakura campus, near Hamilton, AgResearch manager of applied biotechnology Jimmy Suttie said its initial focus was the production of transgenic proteins for health supplements or to treat sick people, but it was keeping future options open. Herds of 40 or 50 cows could supply enough protein for those markets and farms were likely to also need some form of milk processing capacity so the only transgenic product leaving a farm would be milk powder or something similar.
25.09.2008
Climate ready GM crops: The patent race
Over the past four years, the world’s leading agricultural biotechnology companies have flooded patent offices with applications for ”climate-ready” genes. The companies claim their genetically engineered climate-resistant seeds can withstand catastrophic effects of global warming, such as floods, drought, heat, cold and salinity. Over 530 applications, belonging to 55 patent families, for climate-ready genes have already been lodged, according to a report in June by the Ottawa-based Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC group), which works for human rights and conservation.
25.09.2008
GE-free news from India and Brazil
India, the world’s biggest buyer of vegetable oil after China, may produce more monsoon-sown oilseeds as early rains increase planting of soybeans. Output may total 20.84 million metric tons, 5 percent more from a year earlier, Federal Agriculture Commissioner N.B. Singh said in an interview in New Delhi today. [...] India, which grows non-genetically modified soybeans, sells more than 70 percent of its animal feed output abroad.
25.09.2008
Brazil government agency approves new GMO corn seeds
Brazil’s National Biosafety Commission has given the green light to two new varieties of genetically modified corn seeds, which should further pave the way for the uptake of such products in the 2008-09 crop season, according to analysts and industry specialists. CTNBio approved Monsanto Co.’s Roundup Ready 2 and Syngenta AG’s GA21, both of which are resistant to glyphosate, a non-selective herbicide which is widely used in corn growing areas, an agency press officer said on Friday.
25.09.2008
GM ’pharming’ may address drug needs
GENETICALLY MODIFIED plants that produce therapeutic drugs can help address our increasing global need for pharmaceuticals, a conference in Dublin heard yesterday. [...] Addressing a conference to celebrate 50 years of genetics at Trinity College Dublin, Prof Ma said that GM plants could supply pharmaceutical agents in large and affordable amounts. ”Plants are the only feasible production system for some proteins that are required on a massive scale,” he said. ”This application of GM plants seems to be missed on the public radar.”
25.09.2008
EU Bio Directive fails to unify European law
Inconsistent implementation and interpretation of the Biotech Directive by different member states might affect the outcome of future litigation relating to biotech patents. The choice of jurisdiction could, therefore, be key to the success of an action brought in Europe under a biotechnology patent. Understanding the nuances of each member state’s laws will also be vital. The decision of the ECJ in the Dutch Monsanto vs. Cefetra case will be interesting, although the questions asked are quite narrow, and the decision is unlikely to resolve all the differences in implementation across member states.
25.09.2008
BASF may abandon genetically modified crops for European market
BASF SE, the world’s largest chemicals company, may abandon research into genetically modified crops for the European market should it fail to get approval for its engineered Amflora potato. ”America, with Asia, is so attractive that even if Europe doesn’t work out, we will do this without Europe,” Juergen Logemann, a vice-president at BASF’s plant science division, said today at a conference in Berlin. ”Europe is not mission- critical.”
24.09.2008
Biotech snake oil: A quack cure for hunger
The global food crisis has many causes, but according to the biotechnology industry, there’s a simple solution — genetically modified, or biotech, crops. Biotech multinationals have been in media blitz mode ever since the food crisis first made headlines, touting miracle crops that will purportedly increase yields, tolerate droughts, grow in saline soils, and be chockfull of nutrients, to boot. ”If we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of cutting hunger and poverty in half by 2015,” says Clive James, founder of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), an organization whose funders include all the major biotech companies, ”biotech crops must play an even bigger role in the next decade.”
24.09.2008
Study says GE crops would not threaten Africa’s exports
A study by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa has allayed fears within the continent that introducing genetic technology in agriculture may lead to loss of markets. It indicates that even should such products be rejected, the decline in exports from the three East African countries would be quite insignificant. The COMESA study says that there is little justification in the precautionary stance taken by countries, ostensibly in the conviction that they are preserving their trade interests and niche markets.
24.09.2008
Viewpoint of the South African Department of Health on mandatory labelling of foodstuffs containing GMO's
The Department of Health is of the view that in light of capacity constraints and the inevitable impact that mandatory labelling will have on the price of, among others, an important staple food such as maize resulting from the implementation of an effective identity preservation system required to ensure the truthful labelling of foodstuffs containing GMO’s, and the implications thereof for especially the section of the population already suffering from the consequences of poverty, the current regulations of the Department of Health are considered appropriate until such time that the Codex Committee of Food Labelling has finalised the matter.
- Department of Health, South Africa (18.09.2008): Viewpoint of the Department of Health on mandatory labelling of foodstuffs containing GMO's
- The Independent, South Africa (22.09.2008): No shortcuts for producers of GM foods
- The Independent, South Africa (19.09.2008): GM labelling clause reinstated in bill
24.09.2008
Kenya launches research maize screening site
The Kenya government has commissioned a $500,000-worth of Maize Stress Screening Site at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute. [...] Funded jointly by the Bill & Melinda Gates and the Howard G. Buffet Foundations, the project through which KARI and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) are collaborating, has witnessed the development of 10 maize varieties. [...] The project also houses the Open Quarantine site for Genetically Modified Crops on an isolated extra 40 acres of land.
