Right now – and for a very short time – we have a rare window of opportunity to put the issue of genetically engineered food in the UK food system in front of would-be MPs and demand that they take action. The UK’s GMO campaign groups have come together to make it simpler for citizens to write to their candidates and urge them to commit to ensuring that forthcoming regulations for the Act include provisions for mandatory labelling, greater regulatory transparency and ongoing – and meaningful – public engagement on an issue of deep public concern. Take action now at the link above! GMWatch

 

 

The campaign of the AGROLINK Association to ban glyphosate-containing herbicides in Bulgaria, started 7 years ago, has ended successfully. The use of these chemicals is banned in areas used by the general public or by vulnerable groups: public parks and gardens, sports and recreation grounds, school and children's playgrounds, as well as near health and educational facilities. The category of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) has been changed from non-professional to professional only, which means that only distributors, consultants and professional users holding a certificate issued by Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) can purchase and use these chemicals. GMWatch

 

 

Bayer has lobbied Congress over the past year to advance legislation that could shield the company from billions of dollars in lawsuits, part of a national campaign to defeat claims that its weedkiller Roundup causes cancer in people who use it frequently. The measure threatens to make it harder for farmers and groundskeepers to argue that they were not fully informed about some health and safety risks posed by the herbicide. By erecting new legal barriers to bringing those cases, Bayer seeks to prevent sizable payouts to plaintiffs while sparing itself from a financial crisis. At the heart of the lobbying push is glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Some health and environmental authorities contend it is a carcinogen, but the federal government does not. Under local laws, thousands of plaintiffs have filed lawsuits targeting Roundup over the past decade, claiming they were never warned that regular exposure could cause them to develop deadly diseases, such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Throughout the legal wrangling, Bayer has maintained that its weedkiller is safe, though it agreed to pay roughly $10 billion in a landmark settlement that concluded thousands of cases in 2020 without any admission of wrongdoing. Yet tens of thousands of additional claims remain unresolved, prompting Bayer to mount a nationwide lobbying campaign in hopes of reducing its risk of future liability. The Washington Post

 

 

Many scientists and environmental campaigners don't agree that GM crops can promise food security or help fight the climate change-induced extreme droughts and floods that are decimating agriculture. New GMOs will continue to perpetuate an "agro-industrial system" that "bears substantial responsibility for the climate crisis", Anneleen Kenis, lecturer in political ecology and environmental justice at Brunel University, London, said. Kenis's research argues that GMOs often involve "large-scale monocultures" of limited crop varieties that also require great amounts of artificial fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation. DW

 

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