Moratorium on GM crops in the US Federal elections

A coalition of civil society groups in North America, coordinated by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, is calling on all candidates and Parties in the US federal election to support a moratorium on approval of new GM crops and that food risk assessment procedures are reviewed and strengthened as per  international standards. The call came after the DVD release of the controversial documentary-- 'The World According to Monsanto'. The film shows the devastating impacts of GM crops around the world. Canada and the US are currently the only two countries in the developed world that refuse to impose mandatory labeling of GM food. The coalition urged citizens to contact their local candidates for the Federal election and demand that they support an immediate moratorium on all new GM crops and foods.

Greenpeace has called on the Philippines to enact a legislation to ban the commercialization of GM rice. The call was made during a photo exhibition showing the importance of rice in Filipino life and culture and why it must be protected from risky genetic modification. According to Greenpeace, GM crops threaten human health, environment, and farmers’ livelihoods. The Philippines is a center for rice biodiversity and Greenpeace believes that rice is now under threat. Currently no GMO rice is authorized for commercialization in the Philippines but the environment group has documented that such experimental rice from the US has entered the country’s food chain at least twice in the past three years. Government authorities however deny the allegation.     

GM potato “of no use” in South Africa

A pest-resistant strain of GM potato, earmarked for possible commercial release in South Africa will be of no use to local spud farmers, said the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB). It will also increase risk to the farmer in an already volatile agricultural sector. The statement came in response to the Agricultural Research Council’s (ARC) application for permission to release the potato commercially. A formal objection was made by the ACB and includes concerns expressed by key industry players like Potato SA, McCain Foods Limited,  McDonald’s, etc. The GM potato in question is the tuber moth resistant potato, SpuntaG2, for which the ARC was seeking permission to release under the GMO Act. ACB questioned the release saying tuber moth is not high on the list of problem pests for South African farmers. However ARC maintains that GM potato will help reduce tuber moth damage in the field as well as in stored potatoes. 

Kenyans warned of dangers of importing GMOs

Ten civil society groups in Kenya have warned the general public that there is strong scientific proof that GM foods are detrimental to human health. The warning comes in the wake of government’s plan to import GMOs. The government planned to import GMOs to save millions of Kenyans facing starvation and said there is no scientific evidence that GMOs are harmful to human health. The civil society groups on the other hand slammed the government for not consulting the public while drafting the bio safety bill now before parliament to legalize the use of GMOs. They warned of serious loopholes in the Bill and emphasized the need to be addressed before passing it into law. The civil society groups warned that the introduction of GMOs would lead to the collapse of sustainable local agriculture.