A report by France's food safety agency ANSES on plants derived from new GM techniques (new genomic techniques, NGT) has been blocked by President Macron's government under political pressure, writes Stéphane Foucart, science correspondent at Le Monde. He calls this "one sign, among others, of the rift between the scientific community and the government". The report is the second one by ANSES on the EU proposals to deregulate new GMOs. ANSES's first report on the subject was devastating – it concluded that the deregulation proposals lacked any scientific basis. Foucart points out this is not the first time that those in power have blocked the publication of an expert report – an act that constitutes a "breach of a democratic pact between scientific expertise on the one hand and those in power on the other": "In the autumn of 1997, Nature devoted an uncompromising cover story to the attempts by Claude Allègre, then Minister of Research, to block publication of the expert report on asbestos by the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm)." GMWatch

 

 

As summer approaches, Indigenous communities in New Brunswick are looking ahead with frustration to another season of glyphosate spraying. Glyphosate is a herbicide sprayed aerially in industrial forestry to suppress the growth of the deciduous plants, like hardwoods and berries, that spring up in the wake of clear-cuts and outcompete planted softwood seedlings. It is also applied along power line routes. But Indigenous leaders say the practice affects the ability of their communities to harvest the land. Wolastoq Grand Chief Spasaqsit Possesom (Ron Tremblay) says in his community of Neqotkuk (Tobique) First Nation, members used to harvest along the transmission lines. “And now we can't because of the spraying that NB Power is doing, and we don't dare to consume the berries and the nuts and medicines that grow [along] those power lines,” he said. Spasaqsit Possesom says the Indigenous communities were never consulted about the spraying. “This form of forest management is like committing eco-genocide on the rest of the flora and fauna.” Canada's National Observer

 

 

Make sure all your Hungarian friends and contacts know about this new publication from FoE Hungary: New GMOs, Greenwashing — Myths and Facts. Hungary continues to be a real GMO-free leader! FoE Hungary

 

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