Save our Seeds

A scientific analysis of the contradicting approaches and agricultural paradigms of European and national legislators, industry and GMO free Regions and movements on the issue of GM contamination and coexistence between GM and non-GM agriculture.

With a two third majority EU environment ministers slapped down an attempt of the EU Commission to order Hungary to lift its ban on Monsanto"s GMO maize "Mon810", delivering a third stinging rebuff to the European Commission.

The GM contamination register, maintained by Greenpeace and GeneWatch UK, documents incidents of contamination arising from the intentional or accidental release of GMOs world wide, including illegal plantings. In 2006, records of twenty-four incidents were added to the register. The highest number in a year since 1996.

Genetically modified food products are not accepted by German consumers, according to a representative survey by Germanys leading institute on consumer research, GfK.

74.9% rejected the development and introduction of genetically modified foods as a matter of principle. At 6.7%, the number of protagonists was very low. 85.5% rejected animal products from animals which had been directly subjected to genetic modification, or indirectly affected by genetically modified feedstock.

Hungary, one of the EU biggest grain producers, became the first country in eastern Europe to ban GMO crops or foods when it outlawed the planting of MON 810 maize seeds.

Hungary"s government sees now a good chance that an upcoming meeting of European Union environment ministers will allow it to maintain its ban on genetically modified crops.

The Swiss multinational seed and crop science corporation, Syngenta AG, is in the crosshairs of an anti-transgenic seed dispute it might not win in Brazil. On Nov. 9, for the first time ever in a Latin America nation, Syngenta had one of its genetically modified crop research facilities shut down and expropriated by the Parana state government in southern Brazil. No financial figure has been given, but some estimate losses in the millions of dollars for Syngenta.

Monsanto and Pioneer, whose attempts to register new brands of plants at the Centre for Plant Brands Examination (COBOR) were hindered.

However, the provincial court of administration in Warsaw ruled that the decisions be lifted, and declared the partial ban on GMO registration ran counter to EU directives.

A global report of Friends of the Earth shows that genetically modified (GM) crops have failed to address the main challenges facing farmers in most countries of the world. It notes that the 'second generation' GM farm crops has failed to appear. GM crops commercialised today have on the whole increased rather than decreased pesticide use, and do not yield more than conventional varieties. The environment has not benefited, and GM crops will become increasingly unsustainable over the medium to long term.

After years of delay, the Food and Drug Administration FDA tentatively concluded yesterday that milk and meat from some cloned farm animals are safe to eat. That finding could make the United States the first country to allow products from cloned livestock to be sold in grocery stores. Even if the agency’s assessment is formally approved next year, consumers will not see many steaks or pork chops from cloned animals because the technology is still too expensive to be used widely.

Europe's Food Safety Authority has ruled that a genetically-modified cotton plant, which can be used for food applications, presents no cause for concern. EFSA's GMO panel has now adopted an opinion on the application for the commercialisation of glufosinate-tolerant genetically modified LLCotton25. The panel concluded by saying that LLCotton25 is unlikely to have any adverse effect on human and animal health or on the environment in the context of its intended uses.