Save our Seeds

New GM maize authorisation must be rejected according to EP

The European Parliament today voted in favour of a resolution initiated by the Greens calling on EU governments to reject a proposal by the European Commission to authorise the cultivation of a variety of GM maize in the EU for the first time in 15 years. The Greens welcomed the outcome, with health and food safety spokesman Bart Staes stating:

"The Parliament has today made its position very clear: there should be no new authorisation of GM maize, as proposed by the Commission. This vote is a clear rebuke to the European Commission and gives a clear democratic mandate to EU governments to reject the proposed authorisation of this GM maize variety. The gung-ho approach by the Commission to this controversial and unpopular technology is simply not acceptable and EU governments in Council must now deliver a clear response and reject this authorisation.

China continued to reject corn cargoes from the U.S. that contained an unapproved genetically modified variety while accepting a first bulk-carrier shipment of the grain from Ukraine. The quarantine agency’s newest figure cited by Xinhua was 56,000 tons more than it announced on Dec. 19, showing the government’s continued screening of U.S. corn and and dried distillers’ grains, or DDGS, for the unapproved insect resistanr MIR 162 gene. Net corn sales to China from the U.S. in the seven days through Dec. 26 dropped by 116,000 tons from the previous week, according to a report on the website of U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The European Parliament's environment and public health committee today voted with a clear majority in favour of a resolution tabled by the Greens calling on EU governments to reject a proposal by the European Commission to authorise the cultivation of a type of GM maize in the EU for the first time in 15 years

Judgment in Case T-240/10: Hungary v Commission

The General Court has annulled the Commission’s decisions concerning authorisation to place on the market the genetically modified potato Amflora. The Commission infringed the procedural rules of the systems for authorising GMOs in the European Union. In the territory of the European Union, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may be released into the environment or placed on the market only if consent has been given, subject to specific conditions and granted with a view to specified uses, after a scientific assessment of the risks.

One hundred civil society organizations from around the world have written to the authorities in Bangladesh, urging them to suspend the planned commercialization of Bt brinjal, genetically engineered to produce a Cry1Ac-like toxin, in Bangladesh. This is the same Mahyco-Monsanto Bt brinjal that was stopped in India, and its history there is highly relevant.

In Argentina, a camp protesting the construction of a Monsanto seed plant in Cordoba province was violently attacked and at least 20 people were injured. On Thursday morning, a gang of 60 people arrived in a bus at the campsite in Malvinas Argentianas, destroyed tents, set fire to parts of the camp and attacked anti-GMO activists with sticks and stones. Several people were injured, among them Goldman Environmental Prize winner Sofia Gatica, who spearheads the protests and was sent to hospital with serious head injuries. On Monday, she had already been beaten up in broad daylight, just a few days after receiving a death threat on a bus. A man had a gun pointed at her and said: “There are several ways of dying. Stop with Monsanto or I’m going to end your life and spill your brains all over Malvinas Argentina.” The activists have been camping opposite the Monsanto grounds since September to prevent the construction of a corn processing plant by blocking the entry of building material and fuel. The attackers are allegedly linked to the Construction Workers Union (UOCRA) since workers are not able to continue their work due to the protests. Monsanto executives condemned the violence but accused the protesters of destroying workers’ cars. The activists denied these claims and accused the police of doing nothing to stop the violent attack.

Farmers and citizens demand from Merkel, Seehofer and Gabriel a GMO ban in the coalition agreement.

Within 24 hours, more than 100,000 letters of protest have already been sent to the political parties: CDU, CSU and SPD. Save Our Seeds, together with Campact and a broad alliance of other organizations, appeal to Chancellor Angela Merkel to reject the release and cultivation of GM crops and to anchor this in the coalition agreement.

The European Union is on course to approve cultivation of a new type of genetically modified maize for the first time in more than a decade, according to a draft proposal from the bloc's executive seen by Reuters.

In a great bit of news for World Food Day, a key Brazilian congressional committee today withdrew the consideration of legislation that would have allowed the sale and use of Terminator Technology, also known as suicide seeds. The Constitutional Commission of the Brazilian House of Representatives was slated to consider Bill PL 268/2007 this morning, but decided instead to withdraw it from the agenda – taking into account the social concerns raised by the national and international mobilization in opposition to the bill.

Celebrating the 67th year of Independence, India is slowly losing her seed sovereignty, even as environmentalists and farmers’ organisations fight in vain. “Dependence on foreign seeds is as good as selling our land. The government is blind while framing new laws,” Rajesh Krishnan, co-convenor, Coalition for Genetically Modified (GM) Free India told Deccan Herald.