Friday, April 27, 2012
GM Soy and pig health
GM Soy linked to health damage in pigs — a Danish Dossier
By GM-Free Cymru (Wales)
April 27, 2012
Introduction
A Danish farming newspaper has caused quite a stir by devoting a sizeable part of its 13 April edition to the discoveries by pig farmer Ib Borup Pedersen that GM soy has a damaging effect both on his animals and on his farming profitability. On the front page of the paper there was a lead story under the headline “Pig farmer reaps gains from GMO-free soy”. On a sidebar the paper referred to Mr Pedersen’s contention that DDT and Thalidomide were minor problems when set alongside GMOs and Glyphosate. In an Editorial Comment on page 2, the paper argued that it would be grossly irresponsible for the authorities to ignore or ridicule the discoveries made by the farmer in his pig farming operations, and it congratulated the authorities for commissioning a new study designed to determine whether stomach lesions and other effects might be associated with GM soy; in the study 100 animals will be fed with non-GM soy and 100 with GM soy in their diets.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
GMO labels (Turkey)
GMO labels for products coming
Hürriyet Daily News (Istanbul)
April 18, 2012
Turkey’s Minister of Agriculture Mehdi Eker gave the green light to label products from animals that have been fed genetically modified feed such as corn and soy. This is one of the conditions that Green Peace Turkey has recently been pushing for.
Meat, milk, eggs, cheese and other products derived from animals, which have been fed genetically modified organism (GMO), will now be labeled to provide consumers with a choice when purchasing products.
Consumers have a choice
“Until today there were no labels on products of animals fed with GMOs and this took the choice away from consumers. With this announcement our minister not only filled a legal void, but also showed that we can be a leader in the region and the European Union,” said Tarık Nejat Dinç, head of the Greek Mediterranean Agricultural Campaign to news portal NTVMSNBC. Dinç hoped that going forward, the legal changes would continue in as quick and determined a fashion.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
GMM and GMO in Poland?
GMM and GMO in Poland?
By Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Poland
Poland.pl
April 17, 2012
The Polish position on GMO is sceptical. According to the government’s policy, Poland intends to be a GMO-free country - it was stipulated in the government’s position on GMO in 2008.
At the moment, the EU law does not provide a possibility to say a decisive “NO to GMO”, but it allows using so-called exemptions, if human and animal health or life or natural environment is at risk - the Polish Ministry of Agriculture is currently taking advantage of this possibility. As far as maize is concerned, the ministry will introduce a regulation forbidding cultivation of genetically modified maize throughout Poland (MON 810 maize) - the draft version of March 15th has been sent to the public consultation.
The ban is justified by the threat of pollution of areas where bees collect nectar with genetically modified pollen and the resulting damage to Polish bee-keepers. As far as the ban on cultivation of genetically modified potato (Amflora) is concerned, currently there is no evidence proving its harmfulness, so the exemption cannot be applied. It should, however, be pointed out that there is no information that Polish farmers are interested in its cultivation.
BT brinjal row
BT brinjal row: National Biodiversity Authority decides to prosecute Monsanto
By Savita Verma
India Today
April 17, 2012
The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), the country’s biodiversity-preservation watchdog, has finally woken up to its job.
It has decided to prosecute multinational seed company Monsanto for allegedly using Indian brinjal varieties for commercial purposes without permission.
The decision was taken in a vote at a meeting on February 28, 2012. The majority of the members voted in favour of initiating action against Monsanto for violating India’s biodiversity law.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests, too, is in favour of prosecuting the seed giant.
The vote was essential as some board members of the NBA were against holding Monsanto to task, sources said.
The decision is bound to send a clear cut message that any attempt to fiddle with the country’s biological wealth will not go unpunished.
Friday, April 13, 2012
GM trials hit hurdle
States say no, GM trials hit hurdle
By Chetan Chauhan
Hindustan Times
April 13, 2012
India’s biotechnology regulator will be apprising the state governments of benefits of Genetically Modified (GM) food crops as country’s biotechnology industry is hitting a roadblock because of many states saying no to GM crops.
The latest in the list is Congress ruled Rajasthan which has refused to allow field trials of GM crops. ”No trials of GM crops should be conducted in the State until final decision in this matter is taken,” said an order issued by state government. ”The government, after considering different aspects of it, has taken a view to wait until a national consensus is evolved.”
Like many other state governments Rajasthan government also felt that unless the Central government decides on the fate of GM food crops such as BT Brinjal, on whose commercial release environment ministry issued a moratorium in 2010, the field trials may not be allowed.
Most of the bigger states such as Bihar, Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal had refused to give no-objection certificate for field trials.