23/July/20

 

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) has delayed its vote on the proposed release of GM mosquitoes due to concerns over COVID-19. The decision to delay the vote follows public outcry and scientific dispute over the risks posed to public health and the environment by this experimental release. The approval would have permitted the British company Oxitec to release 750 million GE mosquitoes over a two-year period in Monroe County, Florida, starting as soon as this summer. Friends of the Earth; comment by GMWatch

 

 

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has denied a petition to vacate the registration of Corteva Agriscience's Enlist Duo herbicide, a 2,4-D-choline and glyphosate premix designed for use over 2,4-D-tolerant Enlist crops. The court ruled that EPA only needed to fix one oversight with the Enlist Duo registration regarding the herbicide's risk to monarch butterflies. The herbicide's registration will remain intact in the meantime. Stephanie Parent, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, which made the legal challenge together with other groups, said, "We're extremely disappointed because this ruling blatantly ignores the fact that the EPA relied on data so faulty it was rejected by the National Academy of Sciences." DTN Progressive Farmer

 

 

Farmers’ popularity has shot up. The National Farmers Union (NFU) has increased this goodwill by campaigning to prevent the import of US foods produced in ways that would be illegal in the UK. But the tentative trust the public feels towards farmers would surely evaporate if consumers realised the NFU was lobbying hard for ‘gene editing’ – that’s turbocharged genetic engineering, only with a less threatening name. The NFU backed an amendment to the Agriculture Bill that would allow ministers to change the law in England. It would mean that gene editing would not be classified as GM, and could just be slipped quietly into our food system, even though the underlying safety risks it poses are the same. [GMW: People in the UK can take action against the amendment here.] The Grocer