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Agnet April 14/04 -- II
Greens claim GM food ban will be lifted
Europe’s trust in food revealed
Syngenta granted fifth in a series of transgenic Bt patents; suit filed against competitors
New initiatives in rice to double India's agri-income output
Agricultural pesticide use, familial cancer, and risk of non-hodgkin lymphoma
PANUPS: Resource Pointer #361 (Environmental law, policy and management)
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Greens claim GM food ban will be lifted
April 14, 2004
Ireland.com
http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/3010751?view=Printer
European Green Party leader, Mr Danny Cohn-Bendit was cited as criticizing he Irish Government and its EU Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, of being anti-consumer and pro-industry, and that Ireland was giving in to international pressure and looked as if it would preside over the introduction of GM food in Europe.
He was referring to the decision on whether or not to allow the sale of tinned GM sweetcorn at the meeting of agriculture ministers at the end of this month.
Ireland, he said, was one of six EU countries which has voted in favour of lifting the ban at a civil service level, but the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has denied that any decision has been taken.
Europe’s trust in food revealed
April 14, 2004
Green Consumer Guide
A study to discover the issues behind levels of consumer trust in foods has shown that UK, Danish and Norwegian citizens have a generally high level of trust in their foods, while Italians and Germans are the most sceptical consumers. The two-year investigation offers a valuable insight into labelling, organic and GM-content factors.
The EU-funded research also found that fruit and vegetables are among the most trusted types of foods, and meat products, fast-food outlets and processed products are trusted the least across Europe.
"Today, consumers expect healthy and safe food and increasingly demand to know where their food comes from. That is why we are focusing on a new ‘farm to fork’ approach in the EU's Research Programmes, focusing on consumers' interests and points of view on food," said European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin. "Food production must meet consumers' expectations as well as environmental, health and competitiveness objectives. This requires an ambitious research agenda with strong public-private cooperation at the European level," he added.
Syngenta granted fifth in a series of transgenic Bt patents; suit filed against competitors
April 14, 2004
From a press releasee
WASHINGTON -- The United States Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, DC has issued US Patent No. 6,720,488. This patent is the fifth in a series of transgenic patents issued to Syngenta in the field of insect resistant corn. All five patents cover synthetic Bt genes that provide useful products to corn growers by conferring resistance to two economically important insect pests: the European corn borer (ECB) and the corn rootworm (CRW).
Three of the previously issued patents* are the subject of a lawsuit Syngenta filed on July 25, 2002 in Federal District Court in Wilmington, DE. The lawsuit charges that Monsanto, DeKalb Genetics, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Dow AgroSciences and Mycogen Seeds are infringing one or more of these patents with their YieldGard(R) and Herculex(TM) product lines. The lawsuit is expected to go to trial in November 2004.
Syngenta has filed a new lawsuit in Federal District Court in Wilmington, DE seeking damages and injunctive relief against the same defendants for the infringement of the latest patent.
www.syngenta.com
New initiatives in rice to double India's agri-income output
April 12, 2004
Press Trust of India Limited
Via Checkbiotech
http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=news&doc_id=7559&start=1&control=220&page_start=1&page_nr=101&pg=1
NEW DELHI - To enhance India's food security by doubling grain production, the Government has embarked upon an ambitious plan of crop intensification, genetic modification and evolving new varieties of rice.
Rice, which is India's staple diet, is also the most diversified crop of the country with an acreage of a mammoth 44 million hectares.
"We have released new rice varieties for the fragile ecosystem, slender grain basmati type varieties have been developed and increasingly degraded area is being brought under cultivation", Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Mangala Rai, said here.
He said while the 'CSR 23' was highly suited for salt affected soils, 'Sukara Dhan 1' was for upland hills and 'Sumati' for coastal saline areas.
ICAR has also been working on long, slender, super fine grained aromatic rice hybrids like the Pusa RH-10 which gives a massive yield of 6-7 tonnes per hectares and has been introduced in 3,000 hectares this year.
Another such variety with Basmati-like qualities is Yamini (CSR30) whose cultivation is fast spreading in the traditional basmati growing areas.
At the same time, quality genetic material of small scented varieties of rice were also being worked upon which are highly popular in varied regions of the country.
"We have the technology to increase output and crop-by-crop it has been identified including rice", he said.
Agricultural pesticide use, familial cancer, and risk of non-hodgkin lymphoma
April 2004
Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers Prevention Vol. 13, Issue, 4, pp. 525-531
Brian C-H Chiu1,2, Dennis D. Weisenburger3, Shelia Hoar Zahm4, Kenneth P. Cantor4, Susan M. Gapstur1,2, Frederick Holmes5, Leon F. Burmeister6 and Aaron Blair4
1 Department of Preventive Medicine and 2 The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL; 3 Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE; 4 Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD; 5 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS; and 6 Department of Biostatistics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Requests for reprints: Brian C-H Chiu, Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 680 North Lake Shore Drive, Suite 1102, Chicago, IL 60611-4402. Phone: (312) 503-4672; Fax: (312) 908-9588. E-mail: bchiu@...
To investigate whether the association between agricultural pesticide use and the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is modified by a family history of hematopoietic cancer, including leukemia, myeloma, and lymphoma, we analyzed pooled data on white men from three population-based, case-control studies of NHL conducted in Iowa/Minnesota, Kansas, and Nebraska. Information on the agricultural use of insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides; a family history of cancer; and other risk factors was obtained by interviewing 973 cases and 2,853 controls or, if deceased, their next-of-kin (37% of cases, 43% of controls). The NHL risk was estimated by odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for age, state of residence, type of respondent, and use of hair dye. Compared to men with no family history of cancer, the ORs (95% CIs) of NHL was 1.5 (1.3–1.8) for men with a family history of nonhematopoietic cancer, and 2.7 (1.9–3.7) for those with a history of hematopoietic cancer among first-degree relatives. This positive association was noted for each group of NHL defined according to the Working Formulation, and was most pronounced for small lymphocytic NHL. Among direct respondents, farmers who used pesticides and had a positive family history of cancer or hematopoietic cancer were not at elevated risk of NHL, compared to nonfarmers who had no family cancer history. However, among proxy respondents, ORs were elevated for farmers who had a positive family history of hematopoietic cancer and used animal insecticides (OR = 4.6; 1.9–11.2), crop insecticides (OR = 4.7; 1.6–13.4), or herbicides (OR = 4.9; 1.7–14.2), although the interaction of family history of cancer and agricultural pesticide use was not statistically significant. In summary, the joint effects of the family cancer history and pesticide use were limited to proxy respondents with wide CIs and, thus, provide little evidence that a family history of cancer modifies the association of agricultural exposures with NHL.
PANUPS: Resource Pointer #361 (Environmental law, policy and management)
April 14, 2004
Pesticide Action Network Updates Service
http://www.panna.org
For copies of the following resources, please contact the appropriate publishers or organizations directly.
EarthRights Legal Manual, Volume 1: Litigation - A How-To Guide for Non-Lawyers, 2003 EarthRights International. A practical guide for activists interested in using the legal process to seek environmental justice. Topics covered include international and domestic law, plaintiffs, defendants, obstacles, evidence, and practical considerations. Appendices define legal terms and present significant cases. 72 pages. US $15. Contact EarthRights Internationa 1612 K. St. N.W., Suite 401, Washington D.C. 20006; phone (202) 466-5188; fax (202) 466-5189; email infousa@...; Web site http://www.earthrights.org/.
Understanding Environmental Policy Practices: Cases From Africa, 2003 James Keeley and Ian Scoones. Examines the creation of environmental policies in Africa and and questions the reliance on policy frameworks and environmental science from developed countries. Argues for increased public and community participation in policy making. Includes numerous case studies from throughout Africa. 240 pages. US $29.95. Contact Earthscan Publications Ltd., 120 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JN, UK; phone (44 01 90) 382-8800; fax (44 02 07) 278-1142; email earthinfo@...; Web site http://www.earthscan.co.uk/.
The North American Environmental Law and Policy Series, Volume 10, 2003 North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Part 1 discusses public access to government-held environmental information in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico including environmental assessments, permits, legislative and policy developments, enforcement and compliance actions, and emissions inventories. Part 2 covers the Precautionary Principle and its potential use in environmental regulatory law including conservation and controls. 268 pages. Available for free download at:
http://www.cec.org/pubs_docs/documents/index.cfm?varlan=english&ID=1027.
Contact Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 393, rue St-Jacques Ouest, Bureau 200, Montréal (Québec), H2Y 1N9 Canada; phone (514) 350-4300; fax (514) 350-4314; email info@...; Web site http://www.cec.org/. Land Tenure and Natural Resources Management: A Comparative Study of Agrarian Communities in Asia and Africa, 2001 Keijiro Otsuka and Frank Place (editors). Surveys and compares the evolution of land tenure institutions and property rights systems in Asia and Africa and reveals this strategy as effective for use throughout the developing world. Examines the use of land tenure policies and common property management as strategies to combat deforestation and maintain community control over land and natural resources. 424 pages. US $38. Contact The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363; phone (410) 516-6900; email webmaster@...; Web site http://www.press.jhu.edu/.
Dictionary of Environmental Law, 2000 Alan Gilpin. Uses accessible language and case studies to elucidate key terms and concepts in international environmental law from acid rain to zoning ordinances. 392 pages. US $135. Contact American International Distribution Company, 2 Winter Sport Lane, P.O. Box 574, Wilmington, VT 05495; phone (800) 390-3149; fax (802) 864-7626; email eep.orders.aidcvt.com. We encourage those interested in having resources listed in the PANUPS Resource Pointer to send review copies of publications, videos or other resources to our office.
PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and reporting on pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the mainstream media. It's produced by Pesticide Action Network North America, a non-profit and non-governmental organization working to advance sustainable alternatives to pesticides worldwide.
You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and all contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit http://www.panna.org/donate.
Agnet is produced by the Food Safety Network at the University of Guelph and is sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Plants Program at the University of Guelph, Agricultural Adaptation Council (CanAdapt Program), AGCare, Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors, ConAgra Foods Inc., Meat Livestock Australia, Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited (Canada), Monsanto Canada, National Pork Board, Syngenta Seeds, Inc. USA, JIFSAN, CropLife Canada, Canadian Animal Health Institute, Burger King Corporation, Southern Crop Protection Association, Ag-West Biotech Inc., Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, Syngenta Crop Protection, Feedlot Health Management Services, Institute of Environmental Science Research Limited , National Food Processors Association, Tactix Government Consulting, Inc., CanAmera Foods, Global Public Affairs, and Agri Business Group, Inc.
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