The Evil Axis: how the US works to eliminate regulation of GM crops. US Government / Monsanto / Gates Foundation / Danforth Center / ISAAA / USAID "advocacy and education" on GM

Literature

The Evil Axis: how the US works to eliminate regulation of GM crops. US Government / Monsanto / Gates Foundation / Danforth Center / ISAAA / USAID "advocacy and education" on GM

BRIEFING NOTE

This is all perfectly cynical -- as we all know, the Gates Foundation / Monsanto / Syngenta / Danforth Center have all been involved for some years in a developing campaign to promote GM technology in developing countries and to open the door to the GM multinationals. They target specific scientists and civil service representatives -- both in order to promote the technology and to ensure that regulatory regimes are as "friendly" as possible, and based on the US model of non-regulation. How about this for a load of crap?

Quote: "The twenty scientists selected for the conference also learned the rigorous testing and approval process GM crops undergo in the U.S. before they are available for commercial application."

USAID and the US diplomatic service have had a somewhat shady role in this process of "dissemination" until now. But the direct involvement of the US Embassy in Colombo in this latest stunt means that the US is now moving out of dark diplomatic corners and into the daylight........ they must be getting desperate. Maybe Monsanto is ramping up its pressure on the US administration, with its share price falling.

The items below combine to paint a pretty sinister picture.

From GENET News:

TITLE: U.S. EMBASSY IN SRI LANKA SPONSORS BIOTECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP

SOURCE: Sri Lanka Times, Sri Lanka

AUTHOR:

URL: http://www.colombopage.com/archive_10B/Oct14_1287006834CH.php

DATE: 14.10.2010

SUMMARY: "The United States Embassy in Colombo has sponsored a seven-
day biotechnology workshop from September 27 - October 5 in Colombo. The workshop was conducted by Genentech, a leading private sector biotech company, and was addressed to scientists in research agencies and universities in the country who are involved in agricultural research into genetically modified crops. The objective of the workshop was to demonstrate the transfer of the technology from research to field application."

archive: http://www.genet-info.org/information-services.html

U.S. EMBASSY IN SRI LANKA SPONSORS BIOTECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP

Oct 14, Colombo: The United States Embassy in Colombo has sponsored a seven-day biotechnology workshop from September 27 - October 5 in Colombo.

The workshop was conducted by Genentech, a leading private sector biotech company, and was addressed to scientists in research agencies and universities in the country who are involved in agricultural research into genetically modified (GM) crops. The objective of the workshop was to demonstrate the transfer of the technology from research to field application.

The twenty scientists selected for the conference also learned the rigorous testing and approval process GM crops undergo in the U.S. before they are available for commercial application. Speakers included a Senior Lecturer from the University of Colombo who has developed a GM rice variety, other Senior Lecturers from the University, Genentech staff and an Assistant Professor who was flown in for the conference from Michigan State University.

According to Ken Kero-Mentz, the Embassy's Economic Officer, the workshop "brought together some of the best minds in agricultural research in the country. While exporting agriculture products to Sri Lanka - including GM products - is one of our commercial objectives, the Sri Lankan market is obviously a small one for the United States. More importantly, when we host events like this, we hope that the information provided will eventually reach down and assist in the development of rural farmers by improving yields and productivity and by combating pests and disease. We firmly believe biotechnology is one of the tools that could effectively address these issues."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has also previously trained local scientists and regulators on biotechnology and bio safety in collaboration with Michigan State University.

One of the participants has commented that the program helped them to rethink how biotechnology could be applied in a local perspective. "We hope to further study areas where Sri Lankan agriculture could benefit from using biotechnology."

Another shared her experience of a recent biotech regulators program in the U.S. She explained the rigorous testing and approval regulations that are administered by three U.S. agencies (the Environmental Protection Agency, Food & Drug Authority and the U.S. Department of Agriculture) for approval of GM crops. She stated that "U.S. companies must provide a large amount of information to the regulators and companies are extremely careful as any mistake could result in fines which would bankrupt the company." The approval process for GM crops in the U.S. can take up to ten years.

The Embassy hopes that regular discussions between regulators and scientists take place to spur efforts to develop appropriate crops and the required bio safety framework in order to proceed with the application of biotechnology in local agriculture.

-------------------------------------

Monsanto is also stepping up its brainwashing campaign (actually they call it "GM advocacy and education") -- this time in Australia, which it sees as fair game. The same techniques that it has used -- in partnership with the Gates Foundation, Danfporth Center, ISAAA and USAID -- in Africa and other parts of the Developing World.

The buying up of seed catalogues is just part of the strategy -- the pother parts involve close alliances with "Charitable" organizations and biotechnology lobby groups (which it funds anyway) and insinuation into US and other national government agencies and regulators. This is all perfectly cynical -- but then we never did expect Monsanto to do anything other than in the corporate self-interest.......

------------------------------
Monsanto steps up its campaign for acceptance of GM
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201008/s2996789.htm
Monday, 30/08/2010

Global biotechnology company Monsanto has begun an education and advocacy campaign to change the opposition many Australia consumers have to genetically modified food.

Speaking at the NSW Farmwriters Forum in Sydney, Monsanto's head in Australia, Peter O'Keefe, argued that organic and permaculture production was "not viable" on a large scale, and Australia was falling behind other countries in productivity improvements because of the reluctance to embrace GM technology.

He said something had to be done to turn around the poor global performance of wheat against other crops, which he said was caused partly by public opposition to GM crops and "crippling" government policies in Australia.

Monsanto has just reached agreement with Grains Research and Development Council to own 20 per cent of the WA research company Intergrain, a move that the GRDC and Monsanto say will produce a "revolution" in the grains industry.

The agreement gives Monsanto access to a large number of Australian varieties, while Integrain has access to Monsanto's research technology.

---------------------------------

TITLE: BT/FSBR EGGPLANT COLLABORATORS ENHANCE SKILLS IN BIOSAFETY AND BIOTECH COMUNICATION

SOURCE: International Service for the Aquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, USA

AUTHOR: Crop Biotech Update

URL: http://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/online/default.asp?Date=8/6/2010#6496

DATE: 09.08.2010

----- archive: http://www.genet-info.org/information-services.html -----

BT/FSBR EGGPLANT COLLABORATORS ENHANCE SKILLS IN BIOSAFETY AND BIOTECH COMUNICATION

Researchers and collaborators of the Fruit and Shoot Borer Resistant (FSBR)/Bt eggplant project, members of Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBC) and regional plant quarantine officers from seven Bt/
FSBR eggplant multi-location trial sites in the Philippines underwent a biosafety and biotech communication skills enhancement training on July 27-28, 2010 at Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. Organized by the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project (ABSP) II, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) Biotechnology Information Center, the training was part of a series of capacity building and technology acceptance initiatives related to the Bt/FSBR eggplant product development. The workshop was also supported by the Department of Agriculture Biotech Program Office (DA-BPO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

A communication workshop module tailored specifically for the project allowed the participants to improve their skills to effectively share information, respond proactively to inquiries, and anticipate public's information needs in relation to issues raised about the Bt eggplant technology. Dr. Anabelle Novero, IBC Chair from University of the Philippines Mindanao shared the difficulty of scientists and academicians to convey science-based information related to Bt technology in layman's perspective. Dr. Eduardo Tulin, IBC Chair from the Visayas State University, expressed the importance of being equipped with factual, science-based information and the necessary communication skills in addressing possible inquiries related to the Bt/FSBR eggplant. Continues.....

See also:

OPEN LETTER from GM Free Cymru

http://www.gmfreecymru.org/open_letters/Open_letter10Jan2009.html

Gates Foundation awards Funds for pro-GM political lobbying and removal of regulatory obstacles
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
PO Box 23350
Seattle, WA 98102
(206) 709-3100
info@gatesfoundation.org

10th January 2009

Dear Friends,

Gates Foundation awards Funds for pro-GM political lobbying and removal of regulatory obstacles

We have been alerted by an article in "Truth about Trade and Technology" (a pro-GM trade newsletter) that you have awarded a substantial grant ($5.4 million) for what will effectively be pro-GM political lobbying, designed to break down regulatory obstacles to GM planting programmes in Africa and elsewhere in the world (1). This is not the impression one gets from the very bland press release from the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, but TTT is in no doubt at all, having talked to the grant recipients, as to the purpose of the award.

http://www.truthabouttrade.org/content/view/13106/54/

Quote: "The funding will help the center secure the approval of African governments to allow field testing of genetically modified banana, rice, sorghum and cassava plants that have been fortified with vitamins, minerals and proteins............."

The only mention in the Donald Danforth Center press release (2) is to the formulation of "a regulatory strategy" and otherwise the statement is full of obfuscation, dissembling and carefully manipulated spin. For example, there is not a single mention of GMOs or genetic engineering, and the term "appropriate technologies" is used instead. That is thoroughly dishonest. The use of the name "BioSafety Resource Network" (BRN) is yet another example of a name designed to encourage confidence and complacency and to mask activities which involve disruptions of plant genomes with unpredictable consequences and potentially damaging health effects. There appears to be virtually no science involved in this project, with the funding devoted almost exclusively towards lobbying, diplomacy and attempts to loosen up regulatory frameworks. This activity is essentially political, and designed to drive forward GM technology in countries which are currently rightly sceptical about it. This is NOT the type of activity which should be funded by a charitable foundation, especially since the recipient organization has very close links with Monsanto, widely seen as one of the most corrupt and evil organizations in the corporate world.

Is the Gates Foundation totally unaware of the dangers associated with GM "biofortification" techniques and of the failure of Golden Rice? Is it unaware of the science which shows clear evidence of health and environmental harm associated with GM foods and crops? Is it unaware of the socio-economic impacts of GM crop plantings on a substantial scale, with industrial monocultures replacing balanced local farming economies, and with corporate feudalism leading to mounting farm debts, bankruptcies and suicides among farmers? These "wonder" GM crops fortified with minerals, proteins and vitamins absorb huge amounts of research effort and millions of dollars of funding, while others look on with amazement at the obsession with a bright and shiny technical fix for an invented grubby little problem.

The GM industry, and its "charitable arms", have thee simple objectives -- namely to "lower the standards for the risk assessment of genetically modified (GM) seeds worldwide, to put moral pressure on the critics of GM seed, and break consumer rejection." The ultimate aim is commercial and political, involving nothing less than the corporate control of the global food system -- and it is a sad thing indeed that the Gates Foundation should be closely involved in promoting this despicable agenda.

I will appreciate your comments on the foregoing analysis,

Yours sincerely,

Dr Brian John GM Free Cymru

----------------------------------------------------

(1) It was confirmed by Dr Adrian Dubock (Syngenta; member of the Humanitarian Board for the Golden Rice Project; Golden Rice Project manager) at a Tufts University / Friedman School Symposium on Sept 25th 2008 (chaired by Prof Rob Russell) that there would be focus groups in developing countries, attempts to work with state-run and independent feeding programmes, and other forms of pressure exerted to get Golden Rice into the food supply as rapidly as possible and to impress upon developing nations what an "obstacle" their regulatory regimes are. https://secure.nutrition.tufts.edu/lectures/symposium_2008/dubock/

(2) DANFORTH PLANT SCIENCE CENTER RECEIVES $5.4 MILLION GRANT FROM THE GATES FOUNDATION Jan. 7, 2009 Source: Donald Danford Plant Science Center news release http://www.danforthcenter.org/about/partners.asp

the community pressure group campaigning to
keep Wales free of genetically-modified crops

GM-Free Cymru

Literature