Articles

On 25 November 2015, the High Court of Paris indicted Marc Fellous, former chairman of France’s Biomolecular Engineering Commission, for “forgery" and “the use of forgery”, in a libel trial that he lost to Prof Gilles-Eric Séralini. The Biomolecular Engineering Commission has authorised many GM crops for consumption.

The details of the case have not yet been publicly released but a source close to the case told GMWatch that Fellous had used or copied the signature of a scientist without his agreement to argue that Séralini and his co-researchers were wrong in their reassessment of Monsanto studies.

The Séralini team’s re-assessment reported finding signs of toxicity in the raw data from Monsanto’s own rat feeding studies with GM maize.

The sentence against Fellous has not yet been passed and is expected in June 2016.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking court approval to withdraw registration of Dow Chemical Co.’s new herbicide Enlist Duo, as the agency studies new information regarding the product’s impact on nontarget plants, according to court documents filed late Tuesday.

The EPA approved the herbicide for sale and use in several states, including Illinois and Missouri, more than a year ago, but later found that its assessment of the product’s two active ingredients was incomplete.

Coalition demands labeling in wake of FDA approval

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the heels of FDA’s approval of GMO salmon, Costco Wholesale (COST), has made a public commitment to not sell GMO salmon. Friends of the Earth and a coalition of more than 30 consumer, health, food safety and fishing groups released the retailer’s statement today.

Costco, the second largest retailer in the world, with 487 stores, and one of the largest retailers of salmon and seafood in the U.S., joins more than 60 other supermarket chains including Kroger (NYSE: KR), Safeway (NYSE: SWY), Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM), now totaling more than 9,500 stores nationwide, in making a commitment to not sell GMO salmon.

Syngenta is suing Cargill, ADM and other agribusiness groups in the US over their claims alleging serious damages incurred from the sale of the Swiss company’s Viptera seed into the US prior to Chinese trait authorization.

Report 4 | November 2015

GMO Inquiry 2015’s fourth report investigates the impacts of genetically modified crops on farmers in Canada over the past twenty years.

Have GM crops benefited farmers? Have they increased yields and farm incomes? And what are the costs of herbicide-resistant weeds and GM contamination for farmers?

WASHINGTON, DC – Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, today expressed deep disappointment as the FDA approved AquaBounty Technologies’ application for AquAdvantage Salmon, the first genetically engineered (GE) food animal on the market that is designed to grow to maturity in half the time of wild salmon. The agency is not requiring that the GE salmon be labeled as such, only issuing guidance for voluntary labeling of genetically engineered salmon and plants.

“We are deeply disappointed with the FDA’s decision to approve the AquaAdvantage salmon. And it’s even more concerning that the FDA chose not to require any form of labeling, making it extremely difficult for consumers to know if the salmon is GE or not,” said Michael Hansen PhD, Senior Scientist with Consumers Union. “Consumers deserve to know what type of food they’re buying – and an overwhelming majority has told us that they want genetically modified food labeled in poll after poll. The decision to not require a GE label for this product takes away the consumer’s ability to make a truly informed choice.”

Consumers Union has commented at length to FDA about what it feels were inadequacies in both the agencies human and environmental safety assessments. The group pointed to potential issues of increased allergenicity, as well as the potential for fish to escape from the hatchery and production facility as concerns.

MEPS György Hölvényi of Hungary and Elisabeth Köstinger of Austria organised a conference in Brussels on the importance of regulating genetically modified organisms in the European Union. Hölvényi told European Commission representatives that EU citizens have doubts about the bloc’s regulation of genetically modified crops, which he said EU decision-makers had a responsibility to dispel. He said Hungary has made great strides in this area as well as it plans to introduce rules on voluntarily labelling GMO-free products. Hölvényi said the majority of EU citizens are against the distribution and consumption of genetically modified crops, while two-thirds of member states have banned their production. Imported food supplies and soy-based animal feed, however, may still contain GMOs.

Recent assessment of EFSA supports concerns regarding health risks

On 18 November, the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed has three applications for the import authorisation of genetically engineered soybeans with resistance to glyphosate on its agenda. These soybeans can be used as food and feed across the EU. Two of these plants have been engineered to be resistant to the combined use of other herbicides and glyphosate. Testbiotech and GeneWatch UK are together requesting that these authorisation processes are suspended.

Their concerns are supported by a recent conclusion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on the health risk assessment of glyphosate: In its assessment, EFSA concludes that there is no evidence for the carcinogenicity of the active ingredient glyphosate. But this conclusion explicitly does not include the applications of glyphosate on genetically engineered soybeans or the application of commercial mixtures of glyphosate such as Roundup that contain various additives.

Greenpeace and allied local organizations are calling for a stop to state-encouraged cultivation of genetically modified crops (GMOs), which is expected to gain further ground with the meeting of leaders in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

Along with the Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya (Sibol), Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (Masipag), Greenpeace expressed concern that the Philippines—which is hosting APEC meetings—is promoting GMOs in the region despite the opposition and legal challenges that this faces domestically.

Zelda Soriano, legal and political advisor of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said yesterday in a briefing the Department of Agriculture last month requested Apec delegates to show improvements in the implementation of GMO regulations in their economies.

THE CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY (CFS) is proud to support a new ordinance introduced today in Costilla County, Colorado that would establish a “Center of Origin” GMO-Free Zone of Protection to preserve the county’s unique agricultural products and traditional farming systems. The ordinance is intended to protect the county’s traditional acequia (community irrigation ditch) farmers and their land race heirloom maize varieties that are unique to the Upper Rio Grande watershed. The GMO-Free Zone will help traditional and organic farmers avoid the serious risk of transgenic contamination from nearby genetically engineered (GE) crops, particularly GE corn.

“We have the oldest water rights in Colorado and the oldest heirloom seeds. We are working to make sure both are protected,” says Delmer Vialpando, a local farmer and President of the Sangre de Cristo Acequia Association, one of the local partners that developed the ordinance and supports passage.