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Mothers for Natural LawInternational News on Genetic Engineering in AgricultureBiweekly News 99/09/18Thanks to Dennis Dey, Richard Wolfson, and NLP Wessex for these items.
Articles have been aggressively shortened. ------------------ GM Firms Top of Ethical Investors' Blacklist The Scotsman August 31, 1999 RESEARCH giants working on genetically modified foods are now second only to arms manufacturers as investment pariahs with ethical investors... Guy Hooker, the director of the Ethical Investment Co-operative's Edinburgh branch, said the explosion in awareness about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the call to avoid them had been staggering... The trust surveyed investors on their top 25 ethical concerns. Mr Hooker said GMO businesses had overtaken the traditional pariahs such as cigarette and alcohol businesses, to secure number two spot. ------------------ CANBERRA, Australia
Industry Group to Launch GM-Free Food Labels (AP) -- A new Australian consortium said Tuesday it will launch a label and certification process for foods which do not contain genetically modified products. KPMG consultant Roger Hussey is organizing the move in conjunction with U.S.-based food testing company Genetic ID and food industry representatives. ------------------ S.Korea to Set GM Food-Labelling Rules This Year 09:52 p.m Sep 08, 1999 Eastern SEOUL, Sept 9 (Reuters) - South Korea's agriculture ministry said on Thursday it planned to set specific guidelines for genetically modified (GM) food by the end of 1999... The country's Korea Consumer Protection Board said last Thursday its survey had found that 94.7 percent of the total 526 survey respondents said labelling for GM foods was necessary -- 71.5 percent said all the time and 23.2 percent in some cases. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ Jusco to Start Putting GM Labels on Food Reuters September 8, 1999 TOKYO Jusco Co Ltd said it will this month become the first major Japanese supermarket operator to label food products based on the genetic origin of the crops used. Jusco, which operates over 300 stores nationwide, has decided to start labelling genetically-modified (GM) food before the government's label requirements are implemented from 2001, because of requests from consumers, a company spokesman said. "It is the responsibility of a retail company to disclose information that consumers want to know," he said. ------------------ Itochu to Segregate Non-GM Food Soybeans Reuters September 8, 1999 TOKYO Japanese trading house Itochu Corp said yesterday it plans to import 150,000-200,000 tonnes of non-genetically modified (GM) food soybeans from the United States in the year beginning with this harvest, to secure supplies for food makers who want to avoid using GM crops. "Most of our customers say they want to use non-GM food soybeans," a Itochu spokesman said. ------------------ Copyright 1999 COMLINE News Service
Nissin Switching from Genetically Altered Soybeans Nissin Food Products [2503] noted September 10 that it intends to stop using genetically engineered US-grown soybeans. In so doing, it is joining the likes of Kirin Brewery [2503] in shunning genetic technology out of respect for consumer fears, but it is the first instant noodle manufacturer to do so. ------------------ RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH WEEKLY #666
** Grupo Maseca, Mexico's leading producer of corn flour -- recently announced it will no longer purchase any genetically modified corn. Corn flour is made into tortillas, a Mexican staple. Mexico buys $500 million of U.S. corn each year, so the Grupo Maseca announcement sent a chill through midwestern corn farmers who planted Monsanto's genetically modified seeds. ------------------ CSIRO Will Not Market GM Crops for Five Years By Boyd Champness THE genetically-modified food debate reached new heights in Australia last week when the CSIRO - the Federal Government's agricultural research and development body - announced it would not market any GM grain crops for at least five years... Last month, Australian food manufacturers including the Sanitarium Health Food Company, Cadbury-Schweppes, Master Foods Australia, Mars Confectionery of Australia, Wyeth Australia and Heinz Watties Australasia confirmed that they either had changed to GM-free sources or were in the process of doing so. ------------------ 04:00 p.m Sep 15, 1999 Eastern Leading European Dog Food Maker Eschews GM PARIS, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Europe's leading dry dog food producer, Royal Canin, vowed on Wednesday not to include genetically modified (GM) ingredients in any of its pet food lines. The decision by the Paris-based firm comes after British pet food producer Pascoe's Group Plc launched the country's first wholly organic, non-GM dog food line last month. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ Report: Genetic Corn Planting May Drop WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The amount of genetically engineered corn planted in the U.S. next year could be down by as much as 25 percent as farmers face growing rejection of so- called "Frankenfoods." ------------------ BusinessWorld
GM Corn Firms Liable for Mishandled Tests Earl Warren B. Castillo Multinational agribusiness firms which have been allowed to do field tests on genetically modified corn will face both civil and criminal sanctions in the event of environmental disasters caused by their experiments. In a news conference yesterday, a member of the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines (NCBP) said farmers can sue these companies if they find the latter's experiments damaging to their farmlands. The NCBP is a multi-sectoral and interagency committee tasked with evaluating the applications of companies to conduct experiments involving genetically modified organisms. NCBP member and legal adviser Jose Maria A. Ochave said affected farmers can seek damages under the Civil Code. ------------------ World's Top Life Science Groups Reportedly Face Suits LONDON (Reuters) - The world's biggest life science companies and grain processors will face a multi-billion-dollar antitrust action to be launched in up to 30 countries later this year, the Financial Times reported Monday. The unprecedented lawsuits would claim that companies such as Monsanto, DuPont and Novartis were exploiting bioengineering techniques to gain a stranglehold on agricultural markets, the newspaper said. It said the action was being brought jointly by the Foundation on Economic Trends, run by Washington-based biotech activist Jeremy Rifkin, and the U.S.-based National Family Farm Coalition, together with individual farmers across Latin America, Asia, Europe and North America. The Financial Times said it would be the biggest antitrust suit ever brought, with the possible exception of that against Microsoft (MSFT). It quoted Michael Hausfeld, of Cohen Milstein Hausfeld and Toll -- one of 20 U.S. law firms that have agreed to take cases on a ``no-win no-fee'' basis, as saying: ``It has literally global implications.'' The Financial Times said the move represented the first global challenge to controversial techniques for exploiting genetically modified (GM) crops commercially. Five companies -- Monsanto, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Aventis and DuPont -- controlled virtually all GM crops, the newspaper said. No independent confirmation of the report was immediately available. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ Sunday 09:42 a.m. Sep 17, 1999 Eastern UK Restaurants to Start GM Labelling LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Regulations requiring all restaurants to identify dishes containing genetically modified ingredients come into force on Sunday, a Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food spokeswoman said on Friday... A poll by the BBC released on Monday showed that 53 percent of outlets were still unaware of the GM label deadline. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ Copyright 1999 Gazeta Mercantil Inc. GAZETA MERCANTIL ONLINE
More Rio Grande do Sul Genetically Modified Crops The president of the Brazilian seed producers association (Abrasem), Iwao Miyamoto has drawn attention to the increased area planted with genetically modified soya seeds smuggled from Argentina into Rio Grande do Sul. "The sale of conventional certificated seeds has fallen by 20% in the state and consumption of the herbicide Roundup Ready has increased a lot since the last harvest," said Miyamoto. Abrasem estimates that there will be at least 1 million hectares cultivated with genetically modified seeds in southern territories. This represents a third of the total planted in Rio Grande do Sul. (Mauro Zanatta and Marcelo Flach, Gazeta Mercantil - Translated by Daniel Cooke) ------------------ Canada Newswire - OTTAWA/VIENNA,
Monsanto Uses Canadian Taxpayer Money to Violate Foreign Laws Case highlights need for strong Biosafety Protocol /CNW/ - Biotech giant [ Monsanto ] exported Canadian genetically engineered (GE) potatoes to Ukraine, ignoring the domestic laws which require environmental impact assessment, according to a Greenpeace report published today... Monsanto NewLeaf potatoes, developed in Prince Edward Island were exported to Ukraine in 1997 and 1998 with the help of Solanum-PEI. Solanum-PEI is a joint venture marketing and research company created by Monsanto and the government of PEI. ------------------ Russia Denies Knowledge of GM Maize Imports 08:44 a.m. Sep 17, 1999 Eastern MOSCOW, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Russian authorities expressed surprise on Friday at a report by environmental campaigners Greenpeace that the country had imported genetically modified maize. ``No genetically modified foods can cross the border without a license,'' said the head of the food division of the State Sanitary Control Department at the Health Ministry, Lidia Tereshkova. But she told Reuters that the department would make the necessary checks. Greenpeace said on Thursday in Vienna that the Panamanian bulk carrier Blue Zenith arrived at St. Petersburg on August 16, carrying 42,000 tonnes of U.S. genetically modified maize. But a dispatcher at the St. Petersburg port told Reuters on Friday that no U.S. maize had been unloaded at the port in August. He was also unfamiliar with the name Blue Zenith. ``But another vessel, U.S. Juna with 52,000 tonnes of U.S. maize on board as part of a food aid package is due to dock on Saturday at 0900 a.m,'' he said. The dispatcher was unable to say whether Juna was carrying genetically modified or ordinary maize. Russian introduced a system of state registration of genetically engineered foods and ingredients from July 1 in order to guarantee the safety of imported products. Since then the health ministry has only issued licences to import genetically modified soybeans to U.S. food and chemicals producer Monsanto and to some Danish, French and Dutch companies to import some transgenic soya products. ``But there have been no licences so far on genetically modified maize,'' a spokesman for the rationing and certificates centre at the ministry said. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. ------------------ Copyright 1999 The Irish Times
Safer New Screen for GM Crops Researchers at the Rockefeller University and University of Singapore have developed a method to screen for genetically modified crops without having to insert a gene for antibiotic resistance... The new method, described in Nature, involves using a gene that enhances a plant's use of its own growth hormones. ------------------ http://www.agbioforum.missouri.edu/ The 4th issue of AgBioForum discusses farm level impacts of agrobiotechnology, that is, how much value recent commercialized products have created and who the main beneficiaries are. In addition, a paper by Professor Kershen places the recent controversies in biotechnology in historical perspective. Leonie A. Marks, Ph.D.
------------------ http://fightfrankenfood.com This is a site profiling and seeking support for Canadian farmer Percy Schmieser in his legal challenge with Monsanto over Genetically Altered Roundup Ready Canola. ------------------ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is compiled for educational use only. |
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