More moves against GMOs in China and Russia
Date Added to website 16th May 2014
There are yet more moves against GMOs in China and Russia. Of particular interest is the demand in Russia for criminal liability to be placed on producers, sellers, transporters and farmers for damage done to members of the public or to the environment; and also for concealing or deliberate distortion of information about environmental impacts of GMOs. That's really interesting -- since many of the studies purporting to show that GMOs are safe are already known to be fraudulent. Monsanto will not be best pleased if it is to be help criminally responsible in the future..... since under the American system it can get away with saying that safety and other issues are "none of its business."
(1) Russian Lawmakers Want to Impose Criminal Liability for GMO-related Activities
Posted on May 15 2014 by Sustainable Pulse
Russian lawmakers want to equate GMO-related activities that may harm human health or even cause death to terrorist acts and impose criminal liability on producers, sellers and transporters of genetically modified organisms, the newspaper Izvestia writes in its Thursday issue.
Source: itar-tass.com
A bill to this effect was submitted to the Russian State Duma lower parliament house by the Duma agrarian committee and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) faction, who claimed that the government's bill referred to parliament was too mild. The bill's initiators say liability for GMO-inflicted harm should be expanded to state and local self-government officials. Under the bill, criminal responsibility should be applicable to companies and government officials only, while individuals should be subject to disciplinary liability.
The bill also provides for fines for concealing or deliberate distortion of information about environmental impacts of GMOs. Thus, individuals will be punished by a fine ranging from 500 to 1,000 roubles (14.5-29 U.S. dollars), government officials – by a fine of 1,000-2,000 roubles, and legal entities – by a fine of 10,000-20,000 roubels.
Kirill Cherkasov, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma agrarian committee, said that tough regulation should be imposed in the area of gene engineering, since imports of GMO-containing products had increased dramatically after Russia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). He said that the State Duma would issue a package of amendments to the national laws regulating technical and economic aspects of GMO-related activities by its autumn session.
(2) Chinese are 'unwitting GM guinea pigs'
Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Si Huan http://www.ecns.cn/2014/05-14/113855.shtml
Chinese people have been "experimented upon" over the past 10 years through unwittingly eating genetically modified rice, Greenpeace said Tuesday.
In a new report, the environmental lobby group said GM rice is being illegally sold on the Chinese mainland and accuses research institutions of playing a major role.
Last November, Greenpeace activists visited randomly chosen supermarkets and wet markets in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, buying rice and rice products.
Tests found that four of the 15 samples were genetically modified — including three containing a GM variety developed by Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan.
"Chinese people are being experimented upon and our right to know what to choose is being infringed," said Wang Jing, food and agriculture project director of Greenpeace East Asia.
"This brings huge threats to our health and environment.
Illegal trade
"Evidence shows Huazhong Agricultural University and other scientific research institutes are mainly responsible for the illegal trade in GM rice," added Wang.
Rice variety BT Shanyou 63 contains codes for a toxin in Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) soil bacterium which makes the plant resistant to attacks by moths and butterflies.
China gave safety approval for this variety of rice in 2009 but it has not gone into commercial production, even though billions of yuan has been spent on research.
Greenpeace exposed a trade in GM rice in Hubei some 10 years ago.
In 2004, Zhang Qifa, a professor at Huazhong, admitted that a local company was selling farmers BT Shanyou 63 grown in the university's 100-hectare experimental plot.
Following the trail, Greenpeace discovered that GM rice was being illegally sold around the city.
Plowed up
After media exposure, the provincial government punished those involved and plowed up the test plot.
However, BT Shanyou 63 has still been widely found in the provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Anhui.
And since 2006, more than 100 batches of food exported to Japan, South Korea and European Union have been found to contain BT Shanyou 63, Greenpeace said.
The green group urged the authorities to improve controls and monitoring.
China, the world's largest rice producer and consumer, has long planned to introduce GM rice. However, the public has expressed safety fears.
While genetic modification in crops can provide resistance to disease, pesticides and climatic conditions, opponents say risks have not been adequately identified.
In March last year, government scientists announced a further delay in the introduction of GM rice and corn.
"The crops have to be accepted by consumers and farmers," said Peng Yufa, a member of the GM crop biosafety committee under the Ministry of Agriculture.
Peng said that may take five years to achieve.