Save our Seeds

EU environment ministers failed to agree on another GMO approval at their meeting on 2 December in Brussels. 14 countries voted against licensing the import of Monsantos Mon 863 x Mon 810 hybrid, missing however the required qualified majority for rejecting the Commissions proposal to approve the GMO. 8 countries voted in favour and 3 abstained. Ministers also discussed the next steps on the Communities general policy on GMO approvals. Pro GM Commissioners and EU governments seem to put their hope on a pending WTO ruling against the EU, expected in January 2006.</p><p><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aZeRr993zHGw&refer=canada">Bloomberg: EU Ministers Fail to Agree on Monsanto Modified Corn</a></p><p><a href="http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/33790/story.htm">Reuters: EU Eyes WTO Case to Drive Policy Forward on GMOs</a></p><p><a href="http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/05/462&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en">EU Press Release</a></p><p><a href="http://www.saveourseeds.org/downloads/GP_NextStepsBriefing0512.pdf">Greenpeace briefing on key issues on the Ministers agenda</a>

In a press release Friends of the Earth Europe is calling on EU Environment Ministers to allow Europeans to ban GM foods and crops, similar to the example of Switzerland. Because virtually no-one in the EU wants GM food, and EU Ministers should give Regions and citizens the right to ban these foods.</p><p><a href="http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2005/HH_01_Dec_GMOs.htm">Friends of the Earth: Give us the right to ban GM foods!</a>

Participating to the Rennes conference, the GM Free network members have agreed on the expression of the four principles landmarking their future action. They have issued a declaration to draw the attention of the European Commission, the States, and the public opinion of the Union to their motivations.</p><p>Declaration of Rennes<a href="http://www.keine-gentechnik.de/bibliothek/zonen/positionen/gmo_network_declaration_rennes_en_051130.pdf"> en</a></p><p><a href="http://www.keine-gentechnik.de/bibliothek/zonen/positionen/gmo_network_declaration_rennes_fr_051130.pdf">fr</a></p><p><a href="http://www.keine-gentechnik.de/bibliothek/zonen/positionen/gmo_network_declaration_rennes_dt_051130.pdf">dt</a>

Austria is planning to hold a pan-European debate about genetically-modified farming, following strong Swiss support for a five-year ban on gene technology in a referendum on November 27.Vienna will take over the EU`s six-month rotating presidency in January and aims to host a conference about GM crops on 4-5 April, the country`s agriculture minister Josef Proell has announced.</p><p><a href="http://euobserver.com/9/20431">EU Observer</a>

A Chinese government committee has failed to reach a consensus on the safety of genetically modified rice, putting off the world`s first large-scale production of the transgenic grain for human consumption. Concerns mount over safety, especially with reports that illegal transgenic rice is already being sold in some provinces.</p><p><a href="http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-11-28T185146Z_01_FLE867860_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHINA-GMO.xml">Reuters: China committee not recommending GMO rice</a></p><p><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3487776a6026,00.html">Reuters: China slows GMO rice plan as concerns mount</a>

Switzerland voted in favor of a five-year ban on the farming of genetically modified plants and animals on Sunday, putting in place some of the toughest restrictions in Europe. Official results showed that 55.7 percent of voters accepted the proposal to impose a five-year moratorium.</p><p><a href="http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=110259+27-Nov-2005+RTRS&srch=swiss+GMO"> Reuters</a></p><p><a href="http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=111&sid=6271553&cKey=1133121023000&rss=true">Swiss Info: Swiss consumers side with GM opponents</a></p><p><a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/27/news/swiss.php">International Herald Tribune: Swiss back ban on modified crops</a>

The EU Commission has authorised a Danish law which provides for compensation of farmers for their financial losses, if their crops have been contaminated with GMOs from a fund, which is financed by farmers cultivating GM crops.</p><p><a href="http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/1458&forma">EU: Commission authorises Danish state aid to compensate for losses due to presence of GMOs in conventional and organic crops</a>

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has announced the stop of 10 years of research into genetically modified peas because they caused lung inflammation in mice. The peas were designed to kill the pea weevil - Bruchus pisorum - by introduction of a bean gene to block alpha-amylase, an enzyme important for digestion of starch. Weevil larvae feeding on the pea seed are unable to digest the starch and starve. While the gene product does not cause any immune reactions in beans it obviously did in the peas. The researchers suspect the subtle change with massive consequences to be caused by a process called glycosylation, which plays a major role in protein folding. The GM peas were also resistant to Bayer`s herbicide "Basta".</p><p><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8347">New Scientist: GM pea causes allergic damage in mice</a></p><p><a href="http://www.csiro.au/index.asp?id=212GM&type=mediaRelease">CSIRO press release</a></p><p><p><a href="http://www.pi.csiro.au/GMpeas/GMpeas.htm">CISRO scientific paper on the results of the pea research</a>

Rough seas on Thursday forced Greenpeace activists to give up a blockade of a ship they say carried 25,000 tonnes of genetically modified Argentinian soya to Poland.</p><p><a href="http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-11-17T201037Z_01_SCH772582_RTRUKOC_0_US-FOOD-POLAND-GMO.xml&archived=False">Reuters</a>

Barry McSweeney was removed from his post as chief scientific advisor of the Irish government after revelations that his PhD was fabricated by a US "degree mill". Initially coming from an Irish biotech company McSweeney had been Director of the European Union Joint Research Centre (JRC) 2001 - 2004 and was instrumental for the institutions pro-GMO approach. In 2002 he even advised the Commission not to publish a JRC-report on GMOs in agriculture, which had revealed massive problems of coexistence and is now the most quoted scientific source on the issue.</p><p><a href="http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/ireland/Full_Story/did-sg3giU7lXaGlIsgHuTLc4nqWo2.asp">Irish Examiner: What a difference a day makes...</a></p><p><a href="http://www.gmfreeireland.org/press/GMFI22.pdf">GM free Ireland Press release with all background</a></p><p>