news

Telegraph: Supermarkets selling meat from animals fed GM crops

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:13:57 +0200

“Supermarkets across Britain are routinely selling food from animals reared on genetically modified crops without having to declare it on labelling, it can be disclosed.” This news brought by The Telegraph also applies to all other coountries in the EU and abroad. Most consumers are eating products from GM fed animals without knowing it. EU labeling laws do not protect consumers from GM products. Producers happily profit from this loophole in labeling laws.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/7852762/Supermarkets-selling-meat-from-animals-fed-GM-crops.html

New video on Monsanto blockade

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:52:13 +0200

See the film of the Monsanto Blockade on the 17th of May near Rotterdam in The Netherlands:
http://www.vimeo.com/12529960

responsible soy label faces global opposition

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 20:55:19 +0200

New scheme to certify biofuel and animal feed opposed by 235 civil society groups

A proposed new label for responsible soy will not stop deforestation, 235 civil society groups from across the globe warned in a letter today, ahead of a conference set to finalise the labeling scheme in Sao Paulo, Brazil. [1]

The 235 groups, including Friends of the Earth International and Corporate Europe Observatory, have written to oppose the Round Table for Responsible Soy (RTRS) certification scheme, which they say could facilitate soy oil being used to meet the EU target for biofuels. This is despite evidence that soy biodiesel is worse for climate emissions than fossil fuels. [2]

The scheme will also label genetically modified (GM) soy as responsible, despite growing evidence of its risks to human health and the environment. GM Soy resistant to the herbicide glyphosate is increasing the use of other dangerous chemicals as weeds develop resistance to glyphosate. [3]

These chemicals have had devastating impacts on local communities in South America. The spread of soy has also led to violent evictions of small farmers [4].

The RTRS label has also been rejected by major players in the Brazilian soy industry, such as ABIOVE and APROSOJA, who are reluctant to sign up to even weak rules on preventing deforestation. [5]

Kirtana Chandrasekaran from Friends of the Earth International said: This scheme is a farce it will brand genetically modified soy grown on deforested land as responsible. Companies that use it will just anger civil society and consumers in Europe and South America who are demanding GM-free food and genuine solutions to deforestation and climate change.

Vast tracts of tropical forest and grasslands are being destroyed every year in South America due to large scale soy production for animal feeds and biofuels in Europe [6].

In Europe factory farming relies on cheap soy imports for animal feed , causing pollution, health impacts and loss of rural livelihoods. Soy is also imported for use as biofuel.

Kirtana Chandrasekaran added:

Rather than giving a 'responsible' label to an irresponsible product, we must overhaul factory farming in Europe. This would be good news for farmers, consumers and the environment and will reduce Europes global footprint. We need action to do this, not a green scam.

Nina Holland from the Brussels-based Corporate Europe Observatory said: In South America communities are fighting against soy expansion that takes ever more land and resources. Only corporations such as Monsanto and Cargill stand to benefit from industrial soy production and they are also the predominant force behind this greenwashing label.

Friends of the Earth Europe and International and Corporate Europe Observatory and 235 other organisations are calling for:

• phasing out industrial plantations of soy and instead promoting agro-ecological farming systems of local crops

• genuine land reforms and land rights in soy producing countries

• reducing overconsumption and waste in the industrialised world

• abandoning intensive meat, dairy and egg production systems and moving towards low-input livestock systems

• stopping the promotion of agrofuel production as a climate solution for rich countries and instead developing better transport systems that reduce demand for energy and fuel.

NOTES:
[1] According to the RTRS principles agreed previously, responsible soy can be grown on land that has been deforested as recently as May 2009. Responsible soy can even be grown on land that will be deforested in the future. See www.responsiblesoy.org

[2] The RTRS is trying to gain accreditation under the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) that contains the widely opposed 10% agrofuel target. However recent research from the European Commission showed that soy biofuels can cause 4 times more emissions than fossil fuels. See Soy production and certification: the case of Argentinean soy-based biodiesel, Tomei, Semino et al, 2010.

[2] For further information on the impacts of the RTRS and the full list of 235 signatories, see:
http://www.corporateeurope.org/system/files/files/openletter/2010_RTRS+Letter+-+Final-signatures+%281%29.pdf

[3] Figures from the United States Department of Agriculture show that 26% more pesticides are used on GM crops compared to conventional crops. In Brazil glyphosate use has increased almost 80% in the years of planting. See http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2008/Feb13_GM_crops_pesticide_poverty.html

[4] For more information on the environmental and social impacts of soy please see: http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/livestock_impacts.pdf

[5] ABIOVE - representing 72 percent of Brazil's soybean processing volume and APROSOJA which represents soy producers from Mato Grosso state - responsible for around 30 percent of national production in Brazil - have turned their backs on the RTRS due to disagreements on the inclusion of even the very weak deforestation clause see http://www.nevedi.nl/UserFiles/File/ABIOVE%20uit%20RTRS.pdf

[6] The EU uses over 16 million hectares of farmland every year, mostly from South America, to feed its livestock and increasingly to fuel its cars See http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/livestock_impacts.pdf

Monsanto stock value -40% this year

Fri, 28 May 2010 14:59:50 +0200

Monsanto stock value plunged from € 86 in January to € 50.
The Roundup sale has collapsed due to imports of cheap Chinese herbicides.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/industrials/monsanto-shares-slide-outlook-cut/

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b835d036-69de-11df-8432-00144feab49a.html

Brazilian Farmers: Monsanto restricts access to conventional soybean seeds

Tue, 18 May 2010 22:44:30 +0200

The Brazilian Association of Soy Producers (APROSOJA) and the Brazilian Association of Non Genetically Modified Grain Producers (ABRANGE) consider engaging the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade), of the Ministry of Justice, against Monsanto. According to the two organizations, the U.S. company is restricting the access of farmers to conventional (non-GM) soybean seeds.
"They are imposing a sales ratio of 85% of GM seeds to 15% of conventional seeds. Seed production has to serve the market. You cannot monopolize or shape the market," complained the new president of APROSOJA, Glabuer Silveira.
The farming industry estimates that approximately 55% of the soybean seed planted in the country are genetically modified. Silveira said the problem is not the use of biotechnology but the withdrawal of the farmer’s option to plant conventional seed. "Monsanto has about 70% market share in Brazil. The problem is they don’t have the market but that they want to shape it. We are not taking the right option."
Some producers are afraid to become dependent on the U.S. company if GM seeds dominate the market since Monsanto is entitled to royalties on biotechnology supplied to them. "The seed producers say it's taxation by Monsanto. They are around us and by the end of the day they charge whatever they want, "says soy farmer Peter Riva, of Sorriso, Mato Grosso.
Silvio Munchalack, corn and soybean producer from Nova Mutum, also in Mato Grosso, says that until a few years ago he did not plant GM soybeans, but it is becoming increasingly difficult. "The Mato Grosso Foundation provides conventional seeds, but not for everyone. Now everything has to be GM," says the farmer, who last season managed to buy only 40% of conventional seeds out of the total planted on his property.
Besides the fear of future reliance on a single company, which has caused some producers to prefer planting conventional soybeans, is that they are becoming more profitable, primarily due to the premium European and Asian countries pay for this type of product.
The executive director of ABRANGE, Ricardo de Souza Tatesuzi, complains of abuse of economic power and lack of transparency in the collection of royalties. "The invoice does not show they are charging royalties. The patent law allows them to charge whatever they want."
Contacted by Agência Brasil, Monsanto said that the "information is unfounded."
Despite the denial, the president of APROSOJA said he will try to have one last discussion with the company. "Let's get an understanding. If that fails, we’ll go to Cade," he says, adding that the meeting needs to occur soon to have the matter resolved before the next harvest.
Edited by Juan Carlos Rodriguez
English Translation and highlighting courtesy of TraceConsult /