25/May/21

 

The EU Commission has published a report setting out plans to change EU GMO regulation. According to this report, plants derived from New GE (new genomic techniques, genome editing), could be exempt from EU regulation if their intended characteristics are already known from conventional breeding and no transgenes have been inserted. In addition, it proposes that potential benefits should be taken into consideration in the respective approval processes. However, a Testbiotech analysis calls the proportionality of the planned changes into question, as they will have a serious impact on the interests of consumers, farmers, breeders and food producers. On the other hand, any potential benefits are likely to be minor or insignificant. GMWatch

 

 

EU agriculture ministers will discuss the future of a new generation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), starting tomorrow. These key discussions are the lead-up to a decision on whether or not new GMOs should be subject to safety checks or labelling before being allowed on the EU market. On the agenda of tomorrow’s agriculture council is a study released by the European Commission in April which suggests that there are "strong indications that the current 2001 GMO legislation is not fit for purpose for some NGTs ["new genomic techniques"] and their products", and proposes a new consultation process to rewrite the laws. GMWatch

 

 

A scathing report, released on 24 May by a federal oversight agency, revealed that high-ranking officials in the Trump Environmental Protection Agency purposely excluded scientific evidence of the herbicide dicamba's drift risks before reapproving its use in 2018. The Office of the Inspector General found that the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs failed to include the required internal peer reviews of scientific documents and that "senior-level" staffers "changed" and "omitted" research-based evidence of the drift risks of the pesticide that has already damaged millions of acres of crops. GMWatch

 

 

 

In 2001 the Royal Society of Canada issued a report making 53 recommendations to address the alarming lack of transparency and scientific rigour in the country's GMO regulatory system. But the recommendations were largely ignored by the Canadian government. This year marks the 20th anniversary since that report. It is therefore ironic that Health Canada chose 2021 to further weaken an already faulty regulatory system by proposing changes to how it will conduct GMO risk assessment, writes film maker Aube Giroux. Sadly, these are not the changes recommended by the Royal Society, but those pushed for by agbiotech/pesticide corporations and their lobby group CropLife Canada, to reduce regulatory hurdles and make it easier to get new GMOs to market quickly and quietly. GMWatch

 

 

Aube Giroux is offering GMWatch readers 50% off the rental of her multi-award-winning film on GMOs, Modified. The promo code is GMWATCH50 and it gives you 50% off the online rental of the film at http://modifiedthefilm.com (click "rent" on the main page, then the code is applied at checkout), or the direct link for the discount is also accessible here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/modified/ The discount code is valid until July 31 of this year. GMWatch

 

 

Three of the world’s biggest food corporations (Bunge, Cofco and Cargill) have bought soy from companies whose supply chains have been linked to deforestation and fires in the Brazilian Amazon, an investigation has revealed. Almost all of this soy will be GM and it's mostly used for animal feed. Unearthed; comment by GMWatch

 

 

In the wake of the announcement of Bill and Melinda Gates' divorce, news outlets have described Bill Gates as a serial philanderer, if not a sexual predator — allegedly seeking out romantic relationships with his subordinates and failing to investigate sexual harassment perpetrated by a senior employee. But fully reckoning with Bill Gates means not just focusing on how he treats women — vital as that is — but also confronting our own deep-seated worship of wealth and hardwired belief in hero narratives, writes Tim Schwab. The Nation