Germany's GMO policy vacuum stretches on

German coalition still making decisions on GMO crop policy

* Minister wants opt-out clause on GMO crop cultivation

HAMBURG May 9 (Reuters) - Germany's policy silence on GMO crops still hangs over its near six-month old coalition, with few signs of common ground between the ruling parties.

Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks told German radio on Friday there was no agreement on the issue between her SPD party, which opposes crops with genetically-modified organisms along with the southern conservative party CSU, and Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU, which favours them.

"Up to now we have not had a unified opinion about this in the government," Hendricks told Hamburg-based radio station NDR Info.

"But I believe we will see an opt-out rule which means that each country in the EU can decide whether it wishes to allow use of genetically-modified organisms in its own country which have been approved by the EU," she said.

Germany's indecision is in contrast to France, where parliament on Monday gave final approval to a law prohibiting the cultivation of any variety of GMO maize.

Hendricks told the radio station she personally supports the opt-out concept for GMO crop cultivation and would work with the EU in Brussels to achieve it.

She said she believed the German government would also eventually support an opt-out GMO crop policy.

Longstanding differences between EU countries on GMO policy resurfaced in February when they failed to agree whether to approve a GMO maize variety, Pioneer 1507, developed by DuPont and Dow Chemical, leaving the way open to the EU Commission to approve it for cultivation.

The debate on the future of GMO policy is continuing at EU level, with Greece, which holds the rotating EU presidency, working on a compromise with an opt-out that would allow individual countries to ban such crops. (Reporting by Michael Hogan, editing by William Hardy) Reuters

France Definitively Bans Genetically Modified Corn

Paris:  France definitively banned the growing of genetically modified corn on Monday after its highest court and Senate both confirmed an existing ban. 

A grouping of leftist senators including members of the ruling Socialists, Greens and Communists approved a law banning MON810, a type of GM corn produced by US firm Monsanto, that had already been passed by the lower house of parliament, overcoming opposition from right-wing members. 

At the same time, the Council of State rejected a request from corn producers to overturn the ban on MON810. 

The council said the applicants from the General Association of Corn Producers (AGPM) had failed to make the case that they faced an urgent economic crisis as a result of the ban, pointing to the fact that only a small portion of French corn is grown with GM seeds. 

With Paris having twice put temporary bans on GM crops -- in 2011 and 2013 -- AGPM said Monday's verdicts were "not a surprise".

The agriculture ministry banned MON810 -- the only insect-resistant GM corn allowed to be grown in the European Union -- in March. 

Its authorisation is currently under review by the EU as part of a wider look at the use of GM crops, but member states have the right to ban them regardless of rulings from Brussels.

France is pushing to cut Brussels out of the process entirely, with future GM authorisations taken only at the national level. NDTV

ADM to expand production capacity of non-GMO modified lecithin

ADM to expand production capacity of non-GMO modified lecithin

Archer Daniels Midland Company plans to significantly expand its production capacity of non-genetically modified lecithin by expanding capacity at its soybean processing facility in Latur, India.

It will also add new rapeseed processing capabilities to its existing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

Lecithin is an emulsifier used in a wide variety of food processing applications, including bakery, confectionery, chocolate, and as a release agent in several food systems.

ADM currently offers non-GMO lecithin, but this expansion will complement ADM's current North American production and allow ADM to produce non-GMO lecithin locally for customers in Europe and Asia.

"Our customers are seeing increasing consumer demand for non-GMO ingredients," said Dan Larson, vice president, Lecithin for ADM Foods & Wellness. "This investment shows ADM's commitment to meeting our customer's evolving ingredient demands in a very dynamic marketplace."

"In addition to helping our customers meet current consumer demands, this effort demonstrates the prevalent market focus of the Foods & Wellness group at ADM," said Bruce Bennett, vice president, ADM Foods & Wellness. "It also adds a new dimension to our value proposition in the lecithin market and provides a good foundation for future growth in the non-GMO specialty ingredient segment." foodbev.com

Monsanto's ‘healthier environment’ ads banned in South Africa

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of South Africa has ordered biotech titan Monsanto to withdraw its ads on local radio in which the company boasts the supposed benefits of GM crops, including a “healthier environment” and “more food sustainably.”

The authority's order for Monsanto to withdraw its commercial on Radio 702 will take immediate effect, according to a press release on the entity's website.

According to the ASA, the claims made by the leading producer of genetically engineered crops are unsubstantiated.

The move follows a complaint to the ASA lodged by the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) about the commercial.

In the ads, the agricultural giant claims that GM crops “enable us to produce more food sustainably whilst using fewer resources; provide a healthier environment by saving on pesticides; decrease greenhouse gas emissions and increase crop yields substantially.”

The compliant was supported by Judith Taylor from the environmental and anti-nuclear organization Earthlife Africa, according to the ASA.

Monsanto responded to the complaint but was unable to provide input from an independent and credible expert confirming the ostensible benefits of GM crops, as is required by South African advertising law.

“We are elated with this decision. Monsanto has already been warned by the ASA as far back as 2007, that it needs to substantiate its claims from an independent and credible expert in the matter of GM Food/M Wells/ 8739 (18 June 2007) regarding its claims of the so called benefits of GM crops. However, it appears Monsanto does not have much regard for South African law as it is hell bent on disseminating false information to the South African public, “ said Mariam Mayet, executive director of the ACB, according to its press release.

The ASA has warned Monsanto that “it should ensure that it holds proper substantiation for its advertising claims” or risk the expansion of further sanctions on the company – the products of which have already been banned in several countries.

France is among those countries which have enacted a recent ban. The nation's agricultural ministry on Saturday banned the sale, use, and cultivation of Monsanto’s genetically modified maize MON 810. France insists that GM crops pose significant environmental risks. Another ban was imposed by China when the country last year refused no fewer than five shipments of American corn allegedly over concerns that it could have been tainted by a biotech variety of the crop. rt.com

French parliament bans genetically modified maize

France’s lower house of parliament passed a law Tuesday prohibiting genetically modified (GM) maize from being grown, citing environmental concerns. The law can be applied to any GM strain that is adopted at EU level.

The law follows a decree last month, which halted the planting of Monsanto’s insect-resistant maize MON810, which will be allowed for cultivation in the EU, Reuters reported.

But if any strain of GM crop is adopted in the future at EU level – including Pioneer 1507, which was developed by DuPont and Dow Chemical – it will be subsequently banned in France.

Pioneer 1507 could be approved by the EU later this year, after 19 of the 28 EU member states failed to gather enough votes to block it.

The law adopted Tuesday by France's lower house (National Assembly) is similar to one rejected by the upper house (Senate) in February, which was seen as unconstitutional.

“It is essential today to renew a widely shared desire to maintain the French ban. This bill strengthens the decree passed last March by preventing the immediate cultivation of GMO and extending their reach to all transgenic maize varieties” Jean Marie Le Guen, the minister in charge of relations with parliament, told the National Assembly.

The current Socialist-led government in France, like the previous conservative one, has opposed the growing of GM crops because of public suspicion and protests by environmentalists.

Le Guen called for an EU system that would make sure that the decisions of member states not to adopt GM crops could not be challenged legally.

A debate on the future of EU policy is going on at EU level, with the European Commission suggesting an opt-out that would allow individual countries to ban GM crops.

The French ban on GM maize will now have to go to the Senate for approval. However, even if it is rejected again, the National Assembly will have the final say.

While France is against genetically modified crops, the UK argues that without them, Europe risks becoming “the museum of world farming.” Spain also says its own farmers have to be able to compete with those outside the EU – many of whom are growing GM crops.

GM crops, though still unpopular in Europe, are widely grown in the US and Asia. rt.com

.

EPA advances approval of powerful weed killer for Dow’s ‘Agent Orange’ GMO crops

The US Environmental Protection Agency has revealed a proposal for mass use of Dow Chemical’s herbicide 2,4-D on the company’s genetically-engineered corn and soybeans. The GE crops were developed to withstand several herbicides, including 2,4-D.
Dow would be allowed to sell the herbicide if the EPA approves it following a 30-day public commentperiod.
The 2,4-D chemical, combined with glyphosate, makes up the herbicide Enlist Duo. 2,4-D also makes up half of the toxic mix in the now infamous 'Agent Orange,' used by the United States during the Vietnam War, which is thought to have resulted in the deaths of an estimated 400,000 people and birth defects in 500,000 others.
Dow’s genetically-engineered corn and soybeans – known as Enlist – have received preliminaryapproval from the US Department of Agriculture. Should Enlist crops win ultimate authorization, the USDA said that would increase the annual use of 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) in the United States from 26 million pounds per year to possibly 176 million pounds.
The crops are designed to withstand high doses of glyphosate – brought to market by biotech giantMonsanto as their Roundup weed killer – and 2,4-D. Dow’s corn and soybeans thus earned the derogatory name 'Agent Orange' crops by opponents of both the highly-toxic chemical mix and the controversial use of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in large-scale agriculture.
Scientists, human and environmental health advocates, farming organizations, and food transparency groups have urged government regulators to think twice about unleashing more 2,4-D.
In 2012, seventy health scientists sent a letter to the EPA asking it to block approval of Dow’s 2,4-D-resistant corn and soybeans for commercial sale.
Medical researchers have linked exposure to 2,4-D, and other chemicals like it, to increased rates of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, endocrine disruption, and low sperm counts, among other conditions. Higher rates of birth anomalies have been found where there is heavy use of 2,4-D.
Health concerns had prompted the Natural Resources Defense Council to petition the EPA to halt use of the herbicide, though that effort was defeated in 2012.
“With this decision it is clear that the EPA is serving the interests of Dow Chemical and the biotech industry rather than protecting our health and the environment,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety.
In an agribusiness chemical arms race, Dow’s development of 2,4-D-resistant crops came about once first-generation genetically-modified crops made by Monsanto evolved to resist the company’s Roundup herbicide. The flood of new GE crops increased the use of glyphosate, which has its own linksto a host of ill health effects, and glyphosate-resistant “superweeds.”“2,4-D is not a solution to glyphosate-resistant weeds,” Kimbrell said. “Weeds will rapidly evolve resistance to 2,4-D as well if these crops are approved, driving a toxic spiral of ever-increasing herbicide use. Dow’s Enlist crops are a textbook example of unsustainable farming, profiting pesticide companies to the detriment of American farmers, public health and the environment.”Nevertheless, Dow maintains that farmers need an answer for “hard to control” weeds.

“Enlist Duo herbicide will help solve the weed control challenges growers are facing, and will be another option to further reduce the potential for development of herbicide-resistant weeds,” said Damon Palmer of Dow AgroSciences, a subsidy of Dow Chemical Company. rt.com

Vermont Signs GMO Label Bill Into Law

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a bill requiring foods with genetically modified ingredients to bear labels on Thursday. The law, which will be enforced in July 2016, faces a potential lawsuit from food manufacturers and federal legislation could stop states from attaching such labels. Both Maine and Connecticut have similar laws, which won't take effect until other states sign on as well. The dailybeast

Genetically Modified Foods Confuse Consumers

Genetically modified foods have been around for years, but most Americans have no idea if they are eating them.

The Food and Drug Administration says they don't need to be labeled, so the state of Vermont has moved forward on its own. On Thursday, Gov. Peter Shumlin signed legislation making his state the first to require labeling of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.

What about the rest of the country? And does labeling matter?

There's a lot of confusion about genetically modified foods and their safety.

Some people feel very strongly about GMOs. Opponents, who at times have protested in the streets, say consumers have the right to know whether their food contains GMOs. The Vermont law is their first major victory.

The food industry and companies that genetically engineer seeds have pushed back against the labeling laws, saying GMOs are safe and labels would be misleading.

"It's really polarizing," says New York University's Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition and food studies. "There's no middle ground."

A look at the debate and some of the facts about genetically modified foods:

———

WHAT THEY ARE

GMOs are not really a "thing," Nestle says, and that's hard for the average consumer to grasp. You can't touch or feel a GMO.

Genetically modified foods are plants or animals that have had genes copied from other plants or animals inserted into their DNA. It's not a new idea — humans have been tinkering with genes for centuries through selective breeding. Think dogs bred to be more docile pets, cattle bred to be beefier or tomatoes bred to be sweeter. Turkeys were bred to have bigger breasts — better for Thanksgiving dinner.

What's different about genetically modified or engineered foods is that the manipulation is done in a lab. Engineers don't need to wait for nature to produce a desired gene; they speed up the process by transferring a gene from one plant or animal to another.

What are the desired traits? Most of the nation's corn and soybeans are genetically engineered to resist pesticides and herbicides. A papaya in Hawaii is modified to resist a virus. The FDA is considering an application from a Massachusetts company to approve a genetically engineered salmon that would grow faster than traditional salmon.

———

IN YOUR GROCERY CART

Most of the genetically modified corn and soybeans are used in cattle feed, or are made into ingredients like corn oil, corn starch, high fructose corn syrup or soybean oil.

Even in some of those products, the manufacturing process itself may remove some of the GMOs.

A few fruits and vegetables are engineered — the Hawaiian papaya and some squash and zucchini, for example. Only a small amount of sweet corn, the corn we eat, is genetically modified.

But there's no genetically modified meat or fish, like the fast-growing salmon, in the market now; the Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve any.

———

THE RISKS

The vast majority of scientific research has found genetically engineered foods to be generally safe.

An Italian scientist's review of 10 years of research, published in 2013, concluded that the scientific research conducted so far has not detected "any significant hazard directly connected with the use of GM crops."

ABC News