| Germany: Biotech Foods ''Conquer'' Supermarkets Environment News Service August 2nd, 2000 A German government backed consumer foundation has reported that over one-third of food products it tested contained either genetically modified (GM) soya or maize (corn). |
| India: Government Under Fire for Allowing GE Cotton Trials by Ranjit Devraj, Inter Press Service July 26th, 2000 The Indian government's decision to allow field trials of the controversial genetically-engineered (GE) cotton has come under flak from farmers' rights activists who allege this would ruin thousands of tillers in the country. |
| USA: Former Monsanto Lobbyist Appointed to Represent Consumers on GE Food Issues by Tom Abate, San Francisco Chronicle July 24th, 2000 Leading consumer and environmental groups are fuming because the Clinton administration has appointed a former Monsanto Corp. lobbyist to represent U.S. consumers on a transatlantic committee set up to avoid a trade war over genetically engineered foods. |
| EU: Ban on Controversial Pesticide Recommended Environment News Service July 18th, 2000 The controversial insecticide lindane could be subject to a partial ban by the Europe Union's 15 member countries within 18 months. |
| EU: Commission Bows to US Pressure on GMOs Environment News Service July 13th, 2000 The European Union is trying to regain the public's confidence in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by strengthening the laws that govern their release onto the market. |
| Pakistan: Corporate Farms Worry Food Activists by Muddassir Rizvi, Inter Press Service July 7th, 2000 ISLAMABAD -- The Pakistani government is inviting foreign business into the country's farms, giving rise to fears that this will finish off millions of small tillers and reduce national food supply. |
| Brazil: Activists Outraged by Decision on GM Crops by Mario Osava, Inter Press Service July 4th, 2000 RIO DE JANEIRO -- The Brazilian Consumers Defence Institute (IDEC) asked the courts to issue arrest warrants for the members of a government scientific commission that gave the go-ahead to imports of transgenic corn, on the argument that the decision was released in violation of the law. |
| UK: Corporate Control of the Genome Only the Beginning by George Monbiot, The Guardian (UK) June 29th, 2000 Nearly everyone debating the mapping of the human genome now agrees on one thing: that the identification of our genes invokes an unprecedented danger, as it might assist a handful of companies to seize something which belongs to all of us. I wish this were true. |
| Canada: Farmer v. Monsanto by Fred Bridgland, Environment News Service June 19th, 2000 Saskatchewan, Canada -- On the Great Plains of Canada, farmer Percy Schmeiser has engaged in a David v. Goliath battle which could save farmers and consumers around the world from a genetically modified food nightmare beyond anything they have experienced so far. |
| Corn Growers Submit Recommendations to USDA on Agricultural Biotechnology News and Views (American Corn Growers Association) May 8th, 2000 The American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) has submitted comments to the United States Department of Agriculture's Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology. These comments include sixteen (16) recommendations that will protect agricultural producers in this whole debate over genetically modified (GMO) crops. |
| USA: Over 2,500 Challenge Biotech Industry To Debate by Raphael Lewis and Jamal E. Watson, Boston Globe March 27th, 2000 Despite fears of violence in the streets, an estimated 2,500 chanting, costumed demonstrators kept their promise to march peacefully through the Back Bay yesterday as they voiced their opposition to the spread of biotechnology. |
| Malaysia: Consumer Groups Press for Labelling of GE Food by Anil Netto, Inter Press Service March 13th, 2000 Buoyed by a string of recent campaign successes, consumer groups around the world are now demanding mandatory labelling of genetically modified (GM)food as they mark World Consumer Rights Day on Mar 15, reflecting growing concern about the unregulated production and trade of GM food crops. |
| Europe: Protests Against GE Foods Spread Across Continent Environment News Service March 8th, 2000 In time for the spring planting season, the pressure group Friends of the Earth Europe is launching its biggest ever campaign on foods and crops made from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in 22 countries across Europe. |
| USA: Union Carbide CEO Fugitive in Bhopal Suit by Chris Hedges, New York Times March 7th, 2000 Warren M. Anderson, chairman of the Union Carbide Corporation during the 1984 chemical disaster at Bhopal, India, has apparently gone into hiding to avoid a summons to appear in a Manhattan federal court as part of civil proceedings against him and the company, say lawyers who have hired a private investigator to locate Mr. Anderson. |
| Scotland: Consumer Advocates Throw Down Gauntlet on GE Foods Agence France Presse February 29th, 2000 Genetically-modified foods face a consumer revolt if biotech corporations, scientists and policy-makers fail to overhaul the way they vet the safety of these novel products, consumer watchdogs said Tuesday. |
| USA: Farmers Desert Genetically Modified Crops by Julian Borger, The Guardian (UK) February 17th, 2000 US farmers have just finished buying seed for the coming growing season, and early studies suggest that a significant proportion are abandoning GM. A market survey reveals that US farmers plan to plant 16% less genetically modified (GM) corn than they did last year. |
| WORLD: Critics Fear New Treaty Subordinates Biosafety to Trade by Danielle Knight, Inter Press Service February 1st, 2000 Environmental groups, while praising aspects of the first worldwide treaty governing trade in genetically modified organisms (GMO), criticise the scope of the agreement and worry it could be subverted by powerful free trade interests. |
| India: Construction Industry Uses Toxic Waste by Nidhi Jamwal, Down to Earth January 31st, 2000 Ignorance is bliss. This seems to be the state of mind of the Indian government for several environment-related issues, including that of hazardous waste like phosphogypsum (PG). A byproduct of the fertiliser industry, PG is used liberally by the construction industry and its use is promoted by the government. |
| Canada: Biosafety Talks Trigger Demonstrations and Debate Environment News Service January 24th, 2000 Delegates from 130 nations arriving this morning at the International Aviation Building in Montreal to restart talks on a set of rules for the transborder movement of genetically modified organisms were greeted by protesters and police. But temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius below zero kept demonstrators subdued and police idle. |
| INDIA: Setting the Record Straight
by Joshua Karliner December 4th, 1994 A Conversation with Edward A. Munoz, former Managing Director of Union Carbide India, Limited. An interview with the former head of Union Carbide India conducted by Joshua Karliner, Executive Director of CorpWatch, in association with the Bhopal Action Resource Center of the Council on International and Public Affairs. |