Articles

Alongside numerous organisations from all over Europe, Corporate Europe Observatory supports the European Citizens Initiative #StopGlyphosate. You can sign the petition at the bottom of this page. We hope to collect signatures from at least one million EU citizens to urge the European Commission to propose the following to national governments:

Ban Glyphosate-based herbicides

The exposure to these has been linked to cancer in humans, and has led to ecosystems degradation. Glyphosate is still one of Europe’s most widely used pesticides, and its negative impacts on the environment and biodiversity are clearly documented. In addition, a growing body of scientific evidence demonstrates that glyphosate is also a serious threat to human health. EU Regulation 1107/2009 prohibits the use of pesticides when there is sufficient evidence in laboratory animals that these substances can cause cancer, based on IARC criteria. Therefore, the EU approval for glyphosate must be withdrawn.

#StopGlyphosate

Nairobi — Kenya is withholding approval for field trials of genetically modified (GM) maize because some officials argue that a ban on GM imports applies to controlled growing tests as well, according to a person familiar with the deliberations.

Talks involving representatives from the health and environment ministries and the Kenya’s National Biosafety Authority (NBA) reached a deadlock in meetings held to discuss applications last week, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.

Do you want GMOs in the EU’s fields? If not, tell your Minister now to block them!

Mid-March, the European Commission will propose to the Member States’ experts to allow two GM maize varieties (Bt11 from Syngenta and 1507 from Dupont) and to renew the authorization of one further variety- Mon 810 from Monsanto.

If enough member states’ experts are not voting against, there is a high risk that these regulations will pass, even though a clear majority of EU citizens is against the use of biotechnologies in fields and food. These GM maize would then be cultivated in the fields of several EU countries, and probably contaminate fields of neighboring countries.

The member states have the possibility to STOP GMOs from the fields NOW. If they are serious about environment and food safety they have no reason to hesitate! There are ample reasons not to allow GM cultivation in the EU. Tell your Minister that he/she has the choice to make the difference!

Despite continuing interest in organic feed production, organic crops production is not keeping pace, says analyst.

However, non-biotech or non-GM feed crops have been expanding more quickly to meet increased market demand, said Dan Kowalski, director in the knowledge exchange division at CoBank.

He published a report recently on both organic and non-GMO specialty grains, assessing the impact and opportunity for growers. It is estimated that it would require an additional one to five million acres of US agriculture land to meet the domestic demand for organic corn and soybeans for feed.

US feed producers have been turning to imports organic feed ingredients to meet their needs, he said.

“US producers still have financial incentive to grow organic crops,” he told FeedNavigator. “However, the strong US dollar, and lower costs associated with organic production in some other countries could cause more foreign organic acreage to be added. If organic production continues to rise overseas, and imports are abundantly available in the US, it will drag on prices, reducing domestic incentive for growers.”

GMO-free production

The Swiss parliament has approved a plan to extend the current moratorium on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture from 2017 to 2021. However, it wants nothing to do with cabinet proposals to create GMO zones in certain parts of the country after 2021.

On Wednesday, the Senate approved changes to the law on genetic engineering that would set in motion the extension of the GMO ban until 2021. A motion to extend it until 2025 was rejected. The House of Representatives had previously agreed the extension to 2021.

The current moratorium ends this year and the cabinet had previously said more time and debate was required on the use of GMOs in Swiss agriculture.

In 2005, the Swiss people voted for a five-year ban on GMOs, which was then extended by parliament in 2010 until 2013 and once again in 2012 until 2017.

A former Environmental Protection Agency official may not be able to escape testifying about his alleged role in helping Monsanto Co. suppress inquiries into whether its Roundup weed killer causes cancer.

A manager who left the agency’s pesticide division last year has become a central figure in more than 20 lawsuits in the U.S. accusing the company of failing to warn consumers and regulators of the risk that its glyphosate-based herbicide can cause non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

A government agency in Brazil, the world's second largest producer of GM crops, has cited over 750 studies, including some from India, to highlight "hazards and uncertainties" related to commercial cultivation of such varieties of crops.

The report comes amidst anti-GM activists in India upping the ante against commercial cultivation of GM mustard and the country's biotech regulator- Genetic Engineering Approval Committee- awaiting a final report from a sub-committee.

The report 'Transgenic Crops hazards and uncertainties: more than 750 studies disregarded by the GMOs regulatory bodies' was conducted by Special Secretariat for Family Farming and Agrarian Development of Brazil.

New review from Brazilian Ministry of Agrarian Development highlights hazards and uncertainties of GM crops

The Brazilian Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) has just published an important new online book in English: “Transgenic crops hazards and uncertainties: More than 750 studies disregarded by the GMOs regulatory bodies”. It examines research showing hazards to human and animal health, as well as risks to the environment, and agronomic or socioeconomic problems.

To take an example of the kind of scientific publication neglected by risk assessors, but which this book highlights, a study from China shows how GM Bt cotton failed to reduce insecticide sprays, even though this is the supposed advantage of Bt crops. The study examined the effects of pesticide applications on pests (aphids and acarid mites) and predators (ladybeetles and spiders) in both GM Bt insecticidal cotton and non-GM cotton. The study found that Bt cotton did not cause changes in populations of acarids, while its effects on aphids were inconsistent. Although insecticides were not applied against the main pest, cotton bollworm, on GM Bt cotton, the total number of insecticide applications in three years was no less than the total applied on non-GM cotton. The study concluded that “the use of Bt cotton should be evaluated carefully in China”.

As the linked article below this article points out, Monsanto’s new super-toxic GMO dicamba-resistant cotton is already wreaking havoc across the U.S. But even beyond Monsanto’s latest “Frankencotton,” there are a myriad of reasons why we need to start paying as much attention to what we wear as we do to what we eat.

We are not only what we eat, but also what we wear. The U.S. is the largest clothing and apparel market in the world, with 2016 sales of approximately $350 billion. The average American household spends about four percent of its income on clothing, more than one-third of what we spend on food.

If Americans are what we wear, then we—even the most rebel youth, conscious women, organic consumers, and justice advocates—judged by what we wear (not just what we say) are increasingly corporatized. The fashion statement we’re apparently making with what we wear is that we don’t care. A look at the labels in our clothing, or the corporate logos on our shoes, reveals that the brand name bullies, the transnational giants in the garment and apparel industry, reign supreme.

Earlier this month, Corporate Europe Observatory joined a broad pan-European coalition in launching a European Citizens Initiative (ECI) to ban glyphosate and improve the weak EU pesticides approval procedure. We hope this builds enough public pressure on the European Commission and national governments, including the UK government, that they take into account our concerns when they decide whether or not to relicence glyphosate in June (and under what conditions).

The broad-spectrum plant-killer glyphosate (trademarks: Roundup, Weedol...) has been in the news over the past two years, in particular because of an unusual public conflict that erupted between the EU's food safety agency (EFSA) and the World Health Organisation's cancer research department (IARC) on whether the substance causes cancer in humans, and at which dose. Given that glyphosate is the most widely-used weed-killer, this is a serious question for farm workers and gardeners, but also for consumers and everyone who lives in cities where it is still used it to kill unwanted plants in streets, school playgrounds and public parks.