-Caveat Lector-
Guardian (London)Wednesday October 13, 1999
Monsanto herbicide 'could damage ecosystem'
Paul Baldwin
Environmental campaigners last night demanded a Europe-wide ban on the
world's biggest selling weedkiller - the bulk of which is supplied by US
biotechnology firm Monsanto - after warnings that it could could kill
insects and spiders vital to agricultural ecosystems.
The call from Friends of the Earth came after a leaked European Union
draft document warned that the chemical gly-phosate, a key ingredient of
Monsanto's glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup, could harm insects which
act as a natural check on crop pests.
The American multi-national also produces genetically engineered
glyphosate immune seed crops designed to be used in conjunction with the
weedkiller.
Yesterday it was revealed that the confidential EU report concluded that
glyphosate should not be approved for use in Europe, warning "harmful
effects" on insects and spiders "cannot be excluded".
Unrelated research in Sweden has also linked the chemical herbicide with
the cancer known as non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
A spokesman for Monsanto said the company "refutes absolutely" both claims
about glyphosate, which he labelled the most benign herbicide in the
world.
=================
Guardian (London)Wednesday October 13, 1999
Biotech industry attacked
Jane Martinson in New York
International consumer activists accused the American biotechnology
industry and US government of "bio-colonialism" yesterday and vowed to
step up their campaign against genetically modified foods in the United
States.
In their first joint meeting, six international organisations accused the
US government of backing big businesses such as Monsanto and Du Pont
through its trade policy.
The organisations made a pledge to campaign intensively against the
biotechnology industry and the American government in the weeks leading up
to the November meeting of the World Trade Organisation in Seattle.
Sylvia Ribeiro, a campaigner for Rural Advancement Foundation
International, said that a handful of companies were forcing farmers in
poor countries to adopt their products.
"We see this technology as a new bio-colonialism," she said at the meeting
in New York yesterday. "A group of companies are imposing it and its
consequences on many billions of people."
Benedikt Haerlin, global co-ordinator on biotechnology for Greenpeace,
said: "Monsanto is an ambassador for this technology, basically force
feeding Europeans and not giving them the choice."
Share prices for big biotechnology companies have fallen sharply in the
past few months as European lobbies have led consumers to reject GM foods.
Companies are terrified about the possible impact of the American consumer
following the European example. Transplanted seeds are used in half of the
soybean and a third of the corn crop in the US.
These seeds are used in the manufacture of some of the country's
best-known foodstuffs - from Heinz ketchup and the syrup in cola drinks to
McDonalds' hamburger buns.
In recent weeks Monsanto, one of the companies most affected by the
European revolt, has called for those on both sides of the argument to
attempt to reach some "common ground" on the use of the technology, which
it claims has beneficial side-effects.
Mr Haerlin indicated that such accommodation is some way off, however.
He said that Greenpeace needed much more scientific evidence about the
effects on the environment of injecting genes into crops - as well as on
health - before it could agree to its use. "You should never say never,"
he said.
However, he added that there was unlikely to be enough research "within
the next five or 10 years".
The organisations' strategy group includes Britain's Intermediate
Technology Development Group as well as campaigners from South Africa and
Asia.
Patrick Mulvany, the food security policy adviser for the ITDG, said the
campaigners would also reject the Amnerican government "dumping" any
unwanted crop on the developing world.
"It would be irresponsible and immoral simply to dump this stuff as food
aid," he said.
The ITDG is a member of the genetic engineering alliance, which is
proposing that there should be a five-year freeze on the use of organisms
which are genetically modified.
The joint strategy group is planning a multi-pronged assault on the US
consumer through a combination of press events and legal action.
However, with a limited budget at its desposal it is unlikely to be able
to launch a large advertising campaign. Mr Haerlin said his annual budget
for the issue at Greenpeace was just $250,000.
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