Articles

This year the first GMO field ever has been planted in the Algarve Region in Portugal and now meets civil disobedience action. There has been strong opposition from civil society against the cultivation of GMOs in the Algarve. As a result the Algarve was the first GMO free zone in Portugal declared by the Junta Metropolitana do Algarve already in 2004. Municipalities passed additional motions rejecting GM crops on their territory.

At the general meeting of Farmers Institutes from across Vancouver Island in Cobble Hill, August 14th 2007 farmers bravely declared Vancouver Island (plus Powell River) a genetically modified free zone.

On July 7, 2007, NO! GMO Campaign published the findings of a survey of spilled GM canola found growing in Japan. The survey was carried out from March 2007 onwards by citizens in 43 out of the total of 47 prefectures in Japan. In total, 1617 samples were tested and of these 37 showed up as GMO positive. A similar survey was also conducted in South Korea.

From 15 September to 15 November 2007 the ITALIAEUROPA – LIBERI DA OGM” Coalition, of 28 leading organisations representing farmers, cooperatives, large distribution, small and medium sized businesses, consumer, environmental, scientific, cultural and international cooperation interest groups, will organise a National Consultation on the question “Do you want the agro-food sector, foodstuffs and their authenticity to be at the heart of development, which includes people and regions, health and quality, and that it be sustainable and innovative, based on bio-diversity and GMO free?”.

Russian science and reserch Institute of Nutrition approves using transgene corn MON 88017, resistant to glyphosate pesticide and rootworm, in food industry and for sale. Russian legislation classifies food, made of genetically modified products, as ”new type of food” and obliges it to pass safety tests, as well as monitors its further turnover. Mentioned line of GM-corn, having two alien genes, is the latest development of American ”Monsanto Company”, which was approved for consuming in the US in 2005, however, European Union refused to register it. Time will show what transgene food means for future human generations.

Mexico is close to finalizing rules governing experimental planting of genetically modified corn strains. Mexico's biggest grain farmers have long lobbied to lift a 1998 ban on GMO corn plantings, arguing it would help lift lagging crop yields. But environmental activists say GMO would put Mexico's numerous local corn strains at risk. The country has a huge variety of locally specific corn strains that farmers have bred over generations.

EU farm ministers clashed on Monday on whether to approve a genetically modified (GMO) potato for growing, passing the final say to the bloc’s executive and thus paving the way for the first new ”live” GMO crop for years. Developed by German chemicals group BASF, the potato yields high amounts of starch. While it would be grown in Europe’s fields, it is not intended for direct human consumption and its starch would be used in industries like paper-making.

Minister of Agriculture Sirkka-Liisa Antilla hopes meat manufacturers and processors using genetically modified feed would voluntarily indicate this on their products. She said the preservation of consumer confidence in Finnish foodstuffs was essential. The Minister added consumers had the right to know what they purchased and put into their food.

PARLIAMENT yesterday refused to acknowledge a veto by President Tassos Papadopoulos on the stacking of products with Genetically Modified (GM) content on separate supermarket shelves, the Green Party said. A bill providing for separate display was passed by Parliament on June 14 but was vetoed by the President, who said it would have to be amended. The bill had been before Parliament for two years and when it was passed it made Cyprus the first EU country to create such a law.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service today announced the availability of a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) that evaluates potential revisions to existing regulations regarding the importation, interstate movement and environmental release of genetically engineered (GE) organisms.