14/December/21

 

WWF Netherlands has stated that it has lost confidence in the ability of the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) to stop deforestation. The admission comes 16 years after WWF International launched this agribusiness-dominated forum to make soy production more environmentally and socially responsible. In particular, the RTRS certification programme was supposed to ensure that soy certified under its label was produced without deforestation. But WWF Netherlands told the Dutch TV documentary series Zembla: "We have seen that this certification has not worked to combat deforestation." GMWatch and other NGOs warned as long ago as 2009 that the RTRS was little more than a greenwashing exercise that would perpetuate environmental and public health abuses. GMWatch

 

 

In July 2020, the Center for Food Safety (CFS), along with co-plaintiffs that include natural grocers, filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). At the centre of the suit was the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard. It was signed by President Obama in 2016, to identify for consumers, through clear labeling language, which foods on grocery shelves contained genetically engineered (GE) or genetically modified (GMO) ingredients. Lawyers for CFS, who filed their opening brief in the case at the tail end of November 2021, contend that the law’s rules, as they’ve since been written by USDA, do anything but — in large part because they mandate the use of the word “bioengineered” and prohibit the better-understood and -recognized terms GE and GMO, which they say will confuse consumers. The Counter; in-text comment/correction by GMWatch is here