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Seven hundred newly elected representatives of Panchayats in Orissa and the Governing Body members of Orissa Nari Samaj took an oath not to cultivate genetically modified (GM) crops. The elected representatives declared 1,727 villages in 12 districts as GM Free.

We need a five-year freeze on biofuels, before they wreck the planet says George Monbiot. By encouraging oil companies to switch from fossil plants to living ones, governments on both sides of the Atlantic claim to be “decarbonising” our transport networks. But they know that it causes more harm than good.

Forteen villages in the Cluj county (the Huedin region) followed the example of their Bihor county neighbors and declared this region GMO-Free. The localities include the small town of Huedin and 13 villages, while the Bihor GMO-free zone includes two towns and 24 villages.

The European Union authorised German drugs and chemicals group Bayer on Monday to market various genetically modified (GMO) rapeseed types for use in animal feed, for rapeseed types Ms8, Rf3 and hybrids of these two -- all engineered to resist the glufosinate-ammonium herbicide.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will examine the recently published CRIIGEN study on genetically modified maize MON 863, which showed health effects on rats. It will take the EFSA several weeks to consult with member states authorities and see whether it has any consequences for the authority"s existing positive opinion on the safety of Monsanto"s transgenic maize.

Five GM varieties, approved by the European Union during the mid 90ies have been withdrawn from the list of authorized GMOs by the EU Commission. However, traces of these genetically engineered oilseed rape and maize varities are still allowed in food for another 5 years.

France said on Tuesday it had brought its national legislation into line with European Union laws on growing genetically modified (GMO) crops, hoping to end a legal battle with Europe’s top court. The French farm ministry said in a statement it was publishing in the official journal the two main decrees converting into French law the European directive on GMO commercial and experimental crops. The directive, agreed by EU governments in 2001, regulates how GMO crops may be grown and approved across the bloc.

”There is no necessity of amendments in GMO Law at this point”. This was the conclusion reached on an informal meeting by representatives of the Parliamentarian Environmental Committee, the Minister of environment and his political cabinet. The Bulgarian law is not in conflict with the European legislation, it is even more restrictive. Only if the European Commission comes up with a explicit position about policy change we will consider this issue. Until now the regulations did not cause serious contradictions with the practice, said George Bozhinov, Chair of the standing committee on environment.

Romania had banned GM soybean growing as a result of it"s accession to the European Union. Now large scale "testing" of Monsanto"s beans have been approved as well as tests of GM plum trees and a diversity of GM maize varieties. Has the environment ministry GMOs in Romania under control?

The french government has issued two decrees to bring its legislation in line with EU directive 2001/18 under pressure of pednig fines. The implementation is overdue since 2004.