Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the widely used herbicide Roundup.
Apologies for any formatting problems.--Tom
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1.ARGENTINA: "I expected a reaction but not such a violent one"
2.BRAZIL becomes world's biggest consumer of pesticides as GM acreage
expands
3.PERU: Illegal GM corn confirmed
4.BRAZIL: World's largest soy growing operation buys non-GMO grain firm to
expand trade in Europe
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1."I expected a reaction but not such a violent one"
GRAIN, Seedling, July 2009
http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=618
In April 2009 Andres Carrasco, an Argentinian embryologist, gave an
interview to the leading Buenos Aires newspaper Pagina 12, in which he described
the alarming results of a research project he is leading into the impact of
the herbicide glyphosate on the foetuses of amphibians. Dr Carrasco, who
works in the Ministry of Science's Conicet (National Council of Scientific
and Technical Investigations), said that their results suggested that the
herbicide could cause brain, intestinal and heart defects in the foetuses.
Glyphosate is the herbicide used in the cultivation of Monsanto's genetically
modified soya, which now covers some 18 million hectares, about half of
Argentina's arable land. [1]
Carrasco said that the doses of herbicide used in their study were "much
lower than the levels used in the fumigations". Indeed, as some weeds have
become resistant to glyphosate, many farmers are greatly increasing the
concentration of the herbicide. According to Pagina 12, this means that, in
practice, the herbicide applied in the fields is between 50 and 1,540 times
stronger than that used by Carrasco. The results in the study are confirming
what peasant and indigenous communities – the people most affected by the
spraying – have been denouncing for over a decade. The study also has
profound consequences for the USA's anti-narcotics strategy in Colombia,
because the planes spray glyphosate, reinforced with additional chemicals, on the
coca fields (and the peasants living among them).
Three days after the interview, the Association of Environmental Lawyers
filed a petition with the Argentine Supreme Court, calling for a ban on the
use and sale of glyphosate until its impact on health and on the
environment had been investigated. Five days later the Ministry of Defence banned the
planting of soya in its fields. This sparked a strong reaction from the
multinational biotechnology companies and their supporters. Fearful that
their most famous product, a symbol of the dominant farming model, would be
banned, they mounted an unprecedented attack on Carrasco, ridiculing his
research and even issuing personal threats. He was accused of inventing his
whole investigation, as his results have not yet been peer-reviewed and
published in a prestigious scientific journal.
Carrasco was firm in his response: "When one is dealing with a subject of
limited public interest, one can keep the study secret until all the last
details have been resolved. But when one uncovers facts that are important
for public health, one has an obligation to make an effort to publish the
results urgently and with maximum publicity." Even so, he was clearly taken
aback by the strength of the reaction. "It was a violent, disproportionate,
dirty reaction", he said. "I hadn't even discovered anything new, only
confirmed conclusions that others had reached. One has to remember, too, that
the study originated in contacts with communities that have suffered the
impact of agro-chemicals. They are the undeniable proof of the impact." He is
not intimidated: "If I know something, I will not shut my mouth."
[1] See: GRAIN, Twelve Years of GM Soya in Argentina – a Disaster for
People and the Environment, Seedling, January 2009,
http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=578
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2.Brazil becomes the world's biggest consumer of pesticides
GRAIN, Seedling, July 2009
http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=618
Brazil's consumption of pesticides and herbicides grew by 25% in 2008 to
734 million tonnes, worth US$7.1bn. For the first time ever, the country
overtook the previous world champion, the USA, which consumed 646 million
tonnes, worth US$6.0bn. In what few would see as a coincidence, that same year
Brazil recorded its largest area ever planted with GMOs, almost of all of
which are crops that have been genetically modified to be resistant to
herbicides. Indeed, 45% of the herbicides and pesticides were used in the
cultivation of soya, most of which is genetically modified.
One might have expected the Brazilian authorities to be concerned about
the impact on public health of such extensive use of poisonous substances on
the country's farming land. After all, Anvisa (Agência Nacional de
Vigilancia Sanitaria), the country's biosafety agency, recently said that 15% of
the countryÂ’s foodstuffs contained excessive chemical residues. According
to official figures, 5,300 people were made ill and 162 people were killed
by agricultural chemicals in 2007. But, remarkably, the increase has been
celebrated, at least by the industry. José Otávio Mentem, a lecturer at the
University of São Paulo and the executive director of ANDEF (Associação
Nacional de Defesa Vegetal), the body that represents the herbicide
manufacturers, said: “the fact that Brazil is leading the world in its use of
herbicides shows … that the country is achieving the much-needed
sustainability in the economic, social and environmental fields by generating work in
the countryside, by promoting
food
security and, moreover, by supplying energy from renewable raw materials.”
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3.GM corn confirmed [in Peru]
Latin America Press, 23 July 2009
http://www.lapress.org/articles.asp?art=5906
*Government is analyzing data showing transgenic corn in five key valleys.
Peru's government is reviewing a study that shows genetically-modified
corn has been detected in five key agricultural valleys. Peru´s decade-old
biosafety law still lacks the supplemental legislation required to empower the
government, particularly health and agricultural authorities, to regulate
genetically-modified products is still pending.
Currently, genetically-modified products in Peru, a signatory of the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety cannot be planted, harvested or sold, because of
the legislative void, even though there is no established penalty for
doing so.
In a report published by El Comercio newspaper on July 13, said the
National Institute of Agrarian Innovation, or INIA, a branch of the Agriculture
Ministry that is tasked with supervising the entry and sale of transgenic
products in Peru, is evaluating the study by Antonietta Gutiarrez, a
biosafety expert at the Agrarian University of La Molina.
In the study, Gutierrez, who has studied genetically-modified organisms
for some 15 years, examined 319 samples from dried corn storage centers in
five regions — the northern Piura, Lambayeque and La Libertad departments,
and the central-coastal Ancash and Lima departments.
She found genetically-modified corn in five major Peruvian valleys,
particularly in the Barranca Valley, north of the capital. Two varieties included
MON863 and MON810, produced by Monsanto, the world´s largest seed
producer.
Most of Peru's imported corn comes from Argentina and the United States. A
free trade agreement with the United States went into effect on Feb. 1,
worrying some about a flood of genetically-modified corn entering Peru, fears
partly based on the infiltration of transgenic corn in Mexico, where corn
is the most important crop.
Still, if the government does back Gutierrez's findings, it does not yet
have the authority to take action.
"If the presence of transgenic corn is proved in Barranca, INIA will be
limited to exercise its legal authority because it we still do not have
regulations," Susi Salazar, an Agriculture Ministry agronomist was quoted as
saying in the report.
4.Brazil's Amaggi buys Norwegian non-GMO grain firm
Reuters, July 13 2009 [shortened]
http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idUSN1317759420090713
SAO PAULO - Brazil's Amaggi Exportacao e Importacao, the world's largest
soybean growing operation, said on Monday it bought a 51 percent equity
stake in Norwegian non-GMO oilseed company Denofa to expand operations abroad.
Denofa has a 430,000-tonne-per-year soy crusher in Fredrikstad, Norway,
and a rapeseed oil processor in Poland. The value of the deal was not
disclosed.
The Brazilian company, which handles grains trading and soy crushing, set
up a European division last year, with a first office in Rotterdam.
"This acquisition is in accordance with Amaggi's strategical plan of
increasing its non-GMO program," the company said in a statement.
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