A High Court has temporarily barred the government from importing and subsequent distribution of genetically modified (GMO) crops and food until a case filed by the Kenyan Peasants League, a social movement, is heard and determined. “That pending hearing and determination of the application the honourable Court issued an inductive order prohibiting the importation and distribution of the GMO crop and food,” reads the ruling. Capital Business

 

 

In a country where agricultural production is dominated by smallholders, the decision to allow genetically modified crops and animal feeds into Kenya as a means of combatting perennial hunger ignores other safer and more accessible alternatives such as conservation agriculture, according to writer Betty Guchu. She says, "If we are to look only at the procedures established by the National Biosafety Authority for the importation of GM products into the country, then we may conclude that Kenya lacks the infrastructural and qualified human resource capacity to monitor their research, use and importation." She adds, "The government would do well to promote conservation agriculture among smallholders as a means of mitigating both against food insecurity and the effects of climate change, rather than hastily reaching for GM technologies that the country is ill-equipped to safely handle." The Elephant

 

 

Figures for the area in the EU under MON810, the only transgenic GMO crop authorised for cultivation, have just been published. And it’s a downward spiral: A third less than last year. In Spain, as in Portugal, the transgenic surface area has fallen below 100,000 hectares for both countries combined. At the international level, it is more difficult to get a sense of the actual situation in the fields. Curiously, the ISAAA, a pro-GMO organisation that has been scrupulously recording the transgenic planting areas in the world since 1996, stopped this work in 2020. Its last report therefore mentions the areas in 2019. This report noted a slight decrease, between 2018 and 2019, of 1.3 million hectares (-0.7%), from 191.7 million hectares to 190.4 million hectares. Inf'OGM

 

 

In the first quarter of 2023, Australia/New Zealand food safety authority FSANZ will propose new definitions of "gene technology" and "new breeding techniques" in the Food Standards Code, to facilitate deregulation. These changes would allow many GM foods, made using existing, emerging and future gene technologies, to enter the food supply without prior assessment, regulatory approval or public knowledge. In 2021, FSANZ invited comments on its proposals to:
* revise and expand the process-based definition for "gene technology" to include all GM methods other than conventional breeding; and
* revise the definition for "food produced using gene technology" to exclude certain GM foods from pre-market safety assessment and approval, using product-based criteria that ignore the process of production.
FSANZ's website has a summary of the 1,734 submissions, two documents that massage public opinion and acceptance of the changes, and the expert advisory group with vested interests and conflicts of interest. You can view the submissions here. You can read GE Free NZ's submission here and Prof Jack Heinemann's submission here. GE Free NZ (no overall link)

 

 

The GMO-Free Europe conference took place in Brussels on 17 November. You can find the presentations of the speakers, as well as full recordings of the event, with translation to English, French and German, at the event website. You will also find short interview statements of some of the speakers, namely Jan Plagge, Martin Häusling, Sarah Wiener, Fabrizio Fabbri, and Pat Thomas. [GMW: Viewers of this material who have followed events in the UK Parliament will doubtless be shocked at the sophisticated and informed level of the debate in the EU compared with England.] GMO-Free Europe

 

 

There is heavy pressure to close the Italian market to Canadian wheat due to glyphosate contamination. In Italy, no pasta maker admits using Canadian wheat. And in Canada no farmer admits spraying his wheat. But the contamination of pasta continues. The last tests published by Il Salvagente showed glyphosate in the spaghetti of seven major Italian brands. Under pressure from these organisations, in 2018, Barilla stopped buying foreign durum wheat for the domestic Italian pasta market. Barilla is the largest pasta maker in Italy and in the world, with 4 billion euros in annual sales, or $5.4 billion Canadian, according to Forbes. Glyphosate is used in Canada to dry down wheat before harvest. The Toronto Star

 

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