Austria wants review of Europe’s policy on GM corn

vienna / reuters / Austria’s minister for agriculture and the environment is calling on the European Commission to review its approval process for genetically modified food after a controversial French study linked GM corn to higher health risks in rats. The study — repudiated by many scientists — found rats fed on Monsanto’s GM corn

France says no need to revisit Monsanto maize approval

Astudy last month pointing to health risks from a type of genetically modified maize and a related pesticide did not provide grounds for questioning previous safety approvals, the French government said Oct. 22. The study by researchers at the University of Caen said rats fed on Monsanto’s NK603 GM maize (corn) or exposed to the


U.S. plans to cut GMO crop oversight

Efforts to write benefits for biotech seed companies into U.S. legislation, including the 2013 Farm Bill, are sparking a backlash from groups that say the multiple measures would severely limit U.S. oversight of genetically modified crops. From online petitions to face-to-face lobbying on Capitol Hill, an array of consumer and environmental organizations and individuals are

Death knell may sound for Canada’s GMO pigs

Without fresh funding, the animals will be euthanized 
and their genetic material put into cold storage

Pigs that might have become the world’s first genetically modified animals approved for human consumption may instead face an untimely end, as key backers of Canada’s “Enviropig” project withdrew their support for the controversial engineered animal. Scientists at the University of Guelph, 90 km west of Toronto, bred the first GMO pig that was developed


GMO proliferation an existential threat to organic farmers

Sourcing organic alfalfa seed has become more complicated since the commercial release of genetically modified alfalfa in the U.S., the executive director of the Canadian Organic Trade Association says. Although it is not yet grown commercially in Canada, the herbicide-tolerant forage crop was given a green light by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in 2005

Scientist says drought-tolerant corn a “baby step” that does little for farmers

It would be better to plant conventional corn and improve agronomic practices than switch to “drought-tolerant” corn, says a veteran plant scientist. “The technology has gotten a tremendous amount of attention. We think undue attention,” said Doug Gurian-Sherman, a plant pathologist with the Union of Concerned Scientists. “It is a modest benefit and a real


Developing nations to lead in biotech crops

Farmers in developing nations will sow more biotech crops than those in the industrialized world for the first time this year. Globally, the area planted with biotech crops rose eight per cent last year to a record 160 million hectares, or 395 million acres, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications.

Farm group decries BASF decision to move German biotech unit to U.S.

Germany’s giant association of farming co-operatives said a decision by BASF to transfer its research into crops with genetically modified organisms from Germany to the U.S. and other countries will be “disastrous for Europe as a location for agricultural industries.” The German chemical company plans to move its biotech unit in Limburgerhof to North Carolina,


Canada Working On Low-Level GM Presence Policy

Just a trace of an unapproved genetically modified (GM) plant can close borders costing grain traders and farmers millions in lost sales, something Canada knows all too well. In 2009 flax exports to the European Union (EU) were disrupted after they were found to contain low levels of CDC Triffid, a GM flax approved in

Agent Orange Case Proceeds

briefs new york/reuters Monsanto Co. has lost a bid to close part of a lawsuit alleging the company caused health injuries to residents living near a plant that made the Vietnam War-era U.S. military defoliant Agent Orange. Monsanto, which operated a Nitro, West Virginia, chemical plant from 1934 to 2000, argued it was working as