Dear Friends, Thought that this might be of wide interest on this list:
News Update From The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear News Update Subscribers, Posted below are two articles of significant interest. The first article from Reuters is titled "U.S. wheat industry wrestles with GMO wheat issues." The wheat industry is meeting this week in their annual meeting and the issue of genetically engineered wheat is a major topic of discussion and debate. Monsanto is actively attempting to get approval of both the U.S. and Canadian governments to sell genetically engineered wheat. Monsanto claims that even if they get government approval, they are not going to begin selling the genetically engineered wheat until the wheat industry is ready for it to be introduced. But we only need to look at Monsanto's track record to know that their credibility and motives are highly suspect: http://www.thecampaign.org/monsantofiles.php Many U.S. and Canadian wheat growers do not want any genetically engineered wheat to be grown because they have seen what has happened to exports of corn and soy since the introduction of the biotech varieties. The 15 European Union nations and other countries around the world refuse to purchase North American corn and soy because of concerns about contamination from GMOs. The loss of exports has cost our farmers hundreds of millions of dollars. If genetically engineered wheat is permitted to be planted in the U.S. and Canada, it will inevitably contaminate the non-genetically engineered varieties. So if genetically engineered wheat begins to be commercially grown here, Europeans, Australians and consumers worldwide are likely to demand wheat from other sources. And speaking of exports to Europe, this leads us to the second article which is titled "EU calls for U.S. restraint over biotech complaint." The United States is considering filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a effort to force our genetically engineered foods on European citizens. In the article below, David Byrne, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, states, "If consumers see that something is done to force a situation which they do not want, I think the effects would be adverse." A couple weeks ago, The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods issued an ACTION ALERT to President Bush, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Zoellick, and Iowa Senator Charles Grassley asking them not to raise a WTO challenge on the European Union moratorium on genetically engineered foods. If you have not yet participated in our ACTION ALERT on this matter, you can do so at: http://www.thecampaign.org/alert-WTO.php Craig Winters Executive Director The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods The Campaign PO Box 55699 Seattle, WA 98155 Tel: 425-771-4049 Fax: 603-825-5841 E-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web Site: http://www.thecampaign.org Mission Statement: "To create a national grassroots consumer campaign for the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President to pass legislation that will require the labeling of genetically engineered foods in the United States." *************************************************************** U.S. wheat industry wrestles with GMO wheat issues By Carey Gillam ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Jan 27 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat industry meetings this week will be dominated by fierce debate over genetically modified wheat produced by Monsanto Co., a biotech crop pioneer. The annual gathering of industry groups, including the National Association of Wheat Growers and U.S. Wheat Associates, the growers' marketing arm, opened in Albuquerque on Sunday. Monsanto completed final regulatory submissions last month in the United States and Canada for what would be the world's first transgenic wheat, and now the company is primed to add "Roundup Ready" wheat to its stable of biotech crop offerings. Some wheat farmers may be warming to the prospect of a new tool to help them grow more robust and profitable wheat, engineered to withstand Monsanto's popular glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide. But widespread evidence of opposition to GMO wheat from overseas buyers, particularly in Europe, still makes it unclear when -- or if -- GMO wheat will make it to market. "It is not a given," said NAWG chief executive Darren Coppock. "Our intent and the goal is to introduce it, but right now...customer acceptance is a big obstacle." Genetically modified wheat dominates the schedule at this year's meeting. The first general session, scheduled for Wednesday, is dedicated to the debate on genetically modified products. One panel discussion, "Lessons Learned on the Way to Commercializing a Biotech Product," includes leaders of the U.S. corn and soybean growers' groups, whose members have been growing genetically modified crops for several years. That panel is followed by "Assuring Customer Acceptance," led by the chairman of the groups' Joint Biotechnology Committee. More than corn or soybeans, which are mostly used for livestock feeds, wheat goes straight to consumer products -- and to consumer fears. Anti-GMO groups in recent years have prompted many costly food product recalls based on consumer doubts about including GMO ingredients in foods. PARTNERS AND PROMISES Monsanto has spent the last few years pitching the benefits of its Roundup-resistant wheat, which is designed to allow farmers to control weeds by spraying the herbicide directly over entire fields, killing weeds without harming the crops. Roundup Ready varieties of corn and soybeans became popular with farmers in the mid-1990s, and the company did not anticipate the outcry surrounding its GMO wheat research. But U.S. states that grow spring wheat, the first type of wheat for which Monsanto has created a genetically modified version, threatened moratoriums, and farmers fretted that even if they did not grow GMO wheat themselves, customers opposed to biotech would shun them for fear of getting contaminated grain. To ease grower fears, Monsanto has pledged that it will not introduce GMO wheat until the industry is ready. The company promised to wait for regulatory approval in the United States, Canada and Japan as well as agreements for major export markets and for grain handling protocols. "We think that there are a series of milestones that if we can achieve, we'll set up a responsible and successful introduction of biotech wheat," Michael Doane, Monsanto's head of wheat industry affairs, told Reuters. Monsanto's apparent willingness to go slow has helped it win some support among farmers. In North Dakota, which grows nearly half of the United States hard red spring wheat crop, the state farm bureau in November said it was moving away from earlier stringent opposition to GMO wheat, adopting a policy to "support a cautious approach" instead. Many farmers will be watching this week's meetings. "There isn't a wheat producer out there who isn't affected by this," said Neal Fisher, North Dakota Wheat Commission administrator. "We know there are a lot of challenges ahead for us. Certainly, the debate goes on." 01/27/03 17:19 ET *************************************************************** EU calls for U.S. restraint over biotech complaint By Jeremy Smith BRUSSELS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission urged the United States on Tuesday to show restraint before launching a trade dispute over biotech foods, saying such a move would only anger sceptical consumers. Washington has made threatening noises about taking its frustrations with a EU moratorium on new genetically modified organisms (GMOs), including foods and pharmaceuticals, to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). "If consumers see that something is done to force a situation which they do not want, I think the effects would be adverse," said David Byrne, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection. "My advice would be: hasten slowly on this issue," Byrne told a news conference after a meeting of EU farm ministers. His comments were the latest EU defence of its GMO policy after top U.S. trade officials branded it immoral, for prompting African nations to reject biotech products even though they might be facing starvation. U.S. farmers say the moratorium, in place for four years, costs them hundreds of millions of dollars each year. They have urged President George W. Bush to take the case to the WTO. The Bush administration has not yet decided, although industry sources have said senior U.S. officials are due to meet again on Tuesday to discuss the issue. In the meantime, EU legislation on permitted thresholds on GMO traceability and labelling have slowly advanced through the bloc's labyrinthine decision-making process. Byrne has repeatedly called for an end to the moratorium and has tabled tighter legislation which he says will provide enough control for EU markets to be opened to new biotech products -- dubbed "Frankenstein foods" by more sceptical consumers. Only a handful of GM crops are allowed to be imported or grown in the EU where there is widespread consumer concern about possible risks to health or the environment. Both sides have fought a war of words or months. Just last week, the EU's overseas aid chief accused the United States of spreading "very negative lies" about Europe's stance on GMOs. Byrne said he had spent considerable time trying to explain the EU's position on GMOs to U.S. government and industry officials, with only limited success. "There has been a varying degree of understanding," he said. "That decision (to file a WTO complaint) is not going to be taken in the near future...but of course, any member of the WTO can seek to bring a panel, it's their prerogative." 01/28/03 11:57 ET -- With kindest regards, Barry Carter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 2319 Balm Baker City, Oregon 97814 Phone: 541-523-3357 Web Pages: Forest - http://www.subtleenergies.com/ormus/bmnfa/index.htm ORMUS - http://www.subtleenergies.com/ormus/whatisit.htm pleasure and pain are merely surfaces (one itself showing,itself hiding one) life's only and true value neither is love makes the little thickness of the coin -E.E. Cummings
