Planet Diversity World Congress on the Future of Food and Agriculture

Actualité

01.01.1970

France says to extend GMO ban unless proven safe

France will extend its ban on the use and sale of gm maize MON 810, the only genetically modified crop grown in the country, unless a newly set-up committee on GMOs can prove it is safe. A present ban expires in February.

01.01.1970

GE corn to enter New Zealand?s food chain

netically-engineered corn has been approved to enter the New Zealand food chain. The New Zealand Food Safety Authority today gave the green light for high lysine corn to be imported and sold. ?This corn is used as an animal feed, but it has had its safety assessed as if for human consumption,? said NZFSA director Carole Inkster.

01.01.1970

International Dairy Foods Association (USA) supports moratorium on milk from cloned cows

Senator Barbara Mikulski[?s] amendment would require further scientific study in tandem with an economic and trade analysis of the impact of allowing milk and milk products from cloned animals to enter the food supply. Under the Farm Bill provision, both studies would be required to be completed before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is allowed to lift the current moratorium on milk and meat from cloned animals entering the marketplace. ?Both IDFA and National Milk Producers Federation supported the amendment, and the dairy industry as a whole is very concerned about the lack of responsiveness by the FDA on this issue,? said Tipton.

01.01.1970

Australian dairy farmers urged to consider GM crops

Dairy farmers on the New South Wales far south coast have been told they will need to look to genetically modified (GM) crops if their industry is to meet increasing international and national demand for dairy products. Max Roberts from Bega has been elected to his second term as chairman of Dairy Australia. [...] He says that criticisms of the use of GM stock products have been what he describes as ?uninformed?.

01.01.1970

Australian Academy of Science endorse GM crops

GENETICALLY modified crops will play a critical role in alleviating malnutrition, combating climate change and removing allergens from food ? and the technology must be embraced in Australia, according to Australia?s top scientists. [...] But Bob Phelps, of Gene Ethics, said the report was biased and a ?bunch of lies?. He said there were no drought-tolerant GM crops, so the technology could not combat climate change, and herbicide-resistant species meant crops were sprayed with more chemicals.

01.01.1970

UK scientist who claimed GM crops could solve hunger admits he got it wrong

A claim that GM technology is helping deliver higher crop yields in Africa was wrong, the Government?s chief scientist has been forced to admit. Professor Sir David King recently caused uproar with his assertion that GM crops could help feed the hungry of the Third World.

01.01.1970

France says to extend GMO ban unless proven safe

France will extend its ban on the use and sale of the only genetically modified crop grown in the country unless a newly set-up committee on GMOs can prove it is safe, senior government officials said on Wednesday. France said this month it was suspending the commercial use of maize seeds using MON 810 technology developed by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto until Feb. 9. This would give it time to look into the environmental and health implications of its use.

01.01.1970

Italian researchers decode Pinot Noir genome for non-GE breeding

talian scientists have cracked open the genetic make-up of Pinot Noir, responsible for the great red wines of Burgundy, in a breakthrough that may lead to hardier vines and cheaper fine wines. [...] ?We?re not interested in GMOs (genetically modified organisms). GMOs are not allowed in Europe and would not be accepted in the grape world, which is extremely conservative,? Velasco said.

01.01.1970

Australian and Chinese programmes to breed non-GE disease resistant wheat

Disease resistance genes from three different grass species have been combined in the world?s first ?trigenomic? chromosome, which can now be used to breed disease resistant wheat varieties. Pioneered by CSIRO researchers, in collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Sydney University, the research illustrates the major genetic improvements possible without genetic modification (GM) technology.

01.01.1970

Oregon State University (USA) starts non-GE tree breeding programme

A new move toward ?marker based breeding? with economically important forest tree species is expected to improve and speed up the identification of trees with desirable traits ? to achieve faster growth, drought resistance, wood quality or other useful characteristics. [...] These programs, researchers say, do not involve genetic engineering, which is the intentional change of genetic structure or introduction of novel genes into plants, and an approach that has also met significant public resistance and regulatory hurdles.

01.01.1970

Lifting GMO ban can trigger a deadly blow to environment and agriculture in Thailand

Greenpeace activists staged the plight of a dying farmer in front of the Government House to symbolize the dangers posed by genetically modified organisms and to warn the military-installed cabinet that lifting the ban on open field trials of GMOs can trigger a deadly blow to Thai agriculture and environment. ?Thais will face this type of threats if GMOs are released in the open as they will irreversibly contaminate our crops and the environment, endangering human health and livelihoods of farmers,? said Natwipha Ewasakul Genetic Engineering Campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

01.01.1970

Agrobiotech companies invest in Asia

DuPont and Beijing Weiming Kaituo Agriculture Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (BWK) today announced the formation of a joint venture to accelerate the discovery of genes for high value agronomic traits such as stress tolerance and efficient nutrient utilization to improve the performance of important crops for farmers in China and throughout the world. For DuPont, this marks another step toward the globalization of its R&D capabilities to accelerate new product launches and drive business growth for its worldwide seed business, Pioneer Hi-Bred.

01.01.1970

EU decision on triple-stacked GE corn crucial for Monsanto?s business

The European Commission proposed that the European Council of Ministers authorize imports of three types of Monsanto?s genetically modified corn. If the council fails to approve the products within three months, they still may be approved by the commission, [Monsanto] spokesman Lee Quarles said. [...] ?Our success rests squarely on the shoulders of triple-stack penetra­tion,? Monsanto Chief Executive Hugh Grant said on an Oct. 10 call with analysts.

01.01.1970

Canadian Supreme Court stops class action suit against Monsanto over canola contamination

A six-year battle by a group of Saskatchewan organic farmers to sue a pair of powerful ag-biotech companies has been snuffed out by the Supreme Court of Canada. The farmers, Larry Hoffman and Dale Beaudoin, launched their case against Monsanto Canada and Bayer Crop Science in January 2002. [...] They sought compensation for losing canola as a crop due to genetic contamination and attempted to stop the production of genetically engineered wheat for the same reason.

01.01.1970

Bayer CropScience develops ?not classical GM? crops to ease public opposition

When is a genetically modified plant not genetically modified? When its genes are being suppressed rather than spliced, claim researchers from Bayer CropScience. The German firm has developed a way of engineering plants to withstand tougher conditions that could get round the ethical concerns posed by genetically modified plants.

01.01.1970

Are validated standard methods needed for GE crop risk assessments?

EcoStrat used two different measurement methods in this latest study, and recorded different Bt values depending on which method was used. [...] Differences in extraction methods and comparative protein detection standards, for example, can cause variations in results which overlap the natural variations in plant Bt toxin levels. Experts like Johannes Jehle are familiar with this problem, but they do not regard it as a safety risk.

01.01.1970

GE-free beer petition launched in Germany

In fact, scientists are already tinkering with the genetic makeup of beer ingredients - and even as Americans seem largely unconcerned about so-called genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Europeans are gearing up to fight so-called Frankenbeer. In a remarkable show of opposition, about a third of Germany?s 1,200-plus breweries have signed a petition to amend the 500-year-old Reinheitsgebot (Germany?s beer purity law) to ban the use of genetically modified ingredients.

01.01.1970

Update on rBGH-free labeling debate in the USA

A woman representing consumers on a state committee developing new rules for labels that appear on dairy products has a conflict of interest, a national organization says. Robin Steiner formerly worked for Monsanto Co., which markets the synthetic growth hormones at the center of the labeling debate. Steiner?s husband also is a dairy farmer, and he uses the synthetic hormones in his herd.

01.01.1970

U.S. FDA approval of food from cloned animals stalled

A broad coalition of consumer, farmer, and animal welfare organizations today applauded passage of a provision in the Senate?s Farm Bill (H.R. 2419) that would delay the Food and Drug Administration?s endorsement of the use of food from cloned animals. This amendment, advanced by Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and co-sponsored by Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), calls for a rigorous and careful review of the human health and economic impacts of bringing cloned food into America?s food supply. The senate overwhelmingly passed the bill this afternoon by a vote of 79 to 14.

01.01.1970

U.S. corn farmers using Monsanto?s GE maize eligible for lower risk premiums in insurance programs

Farmers in four pilot states who plant a majority of their corn acres using hybrid seeds that feature YieldGard Plus® with Roundup Ready Corn 2 or YieldGard VT Triple technology from Monsanto Company will be able to lower their crop insurance premiums in 2008. [...] ?The BYE pilot program rewards corn growers for using technologies that help them manage risk on their farms,? said Robb Fraley, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Monsanto Company. ?Much like a ?safe-driver? discount in auto-insurance, this program recognizes that our technologies are able to consistently deliver higher yields year after year.?

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