genetic engineering

By Dr. Sue Mayer, Executive Director, GeneWatch UK

Summary

In May the journal Nature revealed that Syngenta had inadvertently produced and distributed a variety of GM maize, Bt 10, which did not have regulatory approval. Several hundred tonnes of the Bt10 maize was grown and distributed in the US between 2001 and 2004 and possibly exported elsewhere.

Summary

Greenpeace has discovered that GE rice seeds have been sold and grown commercially for a number of years. The GE rice is illegal, and has not been approved as safe for either human consumption or the environment. It has entered the Chinese food chain and environment, and may have contaminated Chinese rice exports.

Summary

Swiss chemical giant Syngenta has admitted it sold hundreds of tonnes of an illegal variety of GM maize to farmers in the USA over the past four years. The illegal GM crop, called Bt10, was modified with a gene from the soil bacterium bacillus thuringiensis, which makes the crop produce its own pesticide to kill insects.

Summary:

As European Commissioners gather to debate the future of Genetically Modified (GM) crops and food in Brussels, environment and consumer representatives have exposed an EC Recommendation, guiding member states on GM crops, as legally and fundamentally flawed. The NGOs are calling for the Recommendation to be withdrawn and are calling for an urgent meeting to discuss its legal status and content.

Summary

At a time when GM food continues to cause controversy worldwide, and the legitimacy of the WTO itself has come under question, the WTO GM dispute between the US and EU looks set to be one of the most challenging in the WTO's history. The outcome of the WTO GM dispute will have major ramifications for the development of the environmental, social and health aspects of trade policy and is likely to have both substantive and symbolic importance worldwide.