Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 5 • Number 15 • 2nd September 2005
GMO UPDATE: GHANA, EUROPE, MEXICO, CHINA, NEW ZEALAND
GMO UPDATE: GHANA, EUROPE, MEXICO, CHINA, NEW ZEALAND
Ghana presents biotech legislation
On 16 August, the Ghanaian Ministry of the Environment and Science presented draft biosafety legislation to the national legislature that would require all genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to pass through vigorous inspections to ensure that they conformed to the country’s regulations and standards. The draft law, named "National Bio-Safety Framework for Ghana", was accompanied by nine other documents calling for financial and technical support to build the capacity of the regulatory agencies, universities and research institutions. The framework, which was developed with the assistance of the United Nations Environment Programme and the Global Environment Fund (UNEP-GEF), is based on the precautionary principle, according to officials. Christine Churcher, Minister of Environment and Science, said the system of inspection and regulation of GMOs would hopefully allay fears that such products could be harmful to people’s health and the environment while bringing Ghana into compliance with the Cartagena Protocol, which it has ratified. If approved by the Ghanaian cabinet, the legislation would go to parliament for ratification in October 2005.
European Commission approves GM maize and oilseed rape varieties
The European Commission on 8 August approved the import of Monsanto’s GM maize variety MON863 for animal feed. EU ministers are expected to decide on whether to allow the import of MON863 for food in September 2005. Shortly thereafter, on 31 August, the Commission authorised the import of glyphosate-tolerant Monstanto’s GT73 oilseed rape for use as animal feed or for industrial purposes, making it the third variety to be adopted under the new EU Directive 2001/18/EC on the environmental release and marketing of GMOs. While the approval does not cover food use or cultivation, refined oil derived from the oilseed rape variety was already approved for food use in the EU in 1997. The GT73 approval is accompanied by a recommendation to Monsanto of how to handle accidental spillage in response to discovery of accidental presence of another GM oilseed rape variety around five port facilities in Japan. The decisions on the two GM varieties had been sent back to the Commission after they failed to garner majority support from the European Environment Council.
Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE) sharply criticised the Commission’s decision on MON863, accusing Monsanto and the EU of ignoring relevant evidence. In response to the oilseed rape approval, they pointed to a recent discovery by scientists from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in the UK that that a gene conferring resistance to a herbicide had been transferred between GM oilseed rape and charlock, a common weed. They also called on member states to use the provisions in EU law (Article 23 of the EU Directive) to impose national bans on GT73.
New findings fuel GM contamination debate in Mexico, China and New Zealand
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on 30 August, found no evidence of genes from GM maize in more than 150,000 seeds taken from 870 plants in Oaxaca Mexico, in 2003 and 2004. Exequiel Ezcurra, a co-author of the study and former official with Mexico’s Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat, concluded that "concerns about unwanted or unknown effects of this process can be discounted at present, at least within the sampled region". "If they were there, they are gone," he added. The study, however, acknowledged that the results should not be applied to other regions of Mexico, "nor is the current situation likely to remain static". The findings came four years after concerns had been raised that GM maize imports from the US had contaminated local maize varieties in a region that is considered to be the centre of origin and biodiversity for the crop. A 2001 study by David Quist and Ignacio Chapela had ignited the controversy, which was sustained by confirmation by the Mexican government that contamination had in fact taken place (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 6 December 2001).
In related news, Genescan, an international biological testing firm, said on 11 August that they had found GM rice in Wuhan and Guangdong, China, despite the fact that the commercialisation of GM rice has not yet been approved by the government. Chuk Ng, general manger of the German firm’s operation in China, said that he believed GM rice "is widely spread at least in the middle or southern parts of China". The findings confirm those made by Greenpeace in recent months that GM rice is already on sale in China without regulatory approval.
In New Zealand, a commercial consignment of maize tested positive for GMOs in the upper North Island — the sixth such find in the past three years. The testing was carried out as part of normal quality assurance procedures. Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) later announced that investigations had shown that the contamination was likely due to residues from approved GM soybean meal held in the same storage or transport facilities. While the civil society group GE-Free New Zealand welcomed MAF’s announcement that the incident had not been caused by a failure in border security, they called for a stop to imports of GMOs to prevent such "contamination" from reoccurring. "MAF themselves acknowledge that due to the complexity of the processing and distribution of bulk food stuffs, it is difficult, if not impossible, to predict how and where contamination will occur next," said parliamentary Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons. In related international negotiations under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the New Zealand government has consistently taken a defensive position in negotiations on the labelling of GM shipments, including the extent to which requirements should cover the accidental presence of GMOs (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 10 June 2005).
"’No evidence’ GM genes are still in local Mexican maize," SCIDEV.NET, 9 August 2005; "Gene-Modified Corn Gone from Mexico, Study Finds," REUTERS, 9 August 2005; "Genetically Modified Maize Not Found In Southern Mexico," SCIENCE DAILY, 12 August 2005; "Unapproved GMO Rice Found in China - Genescan," REUTERS, 11 August 2005; "China Carrefour sells illegal genetically engineered rice," FORBES, 3 August 2005; "Rice Genome Sequence Means More Food for the Future," ENS, 15 August 2005; "Ghana drafts GM safety legislation," SCIDEV.NET, 17 August 2005; "Ghana Gets Bio-safety Framework," GHANA NEWS AGENCY, 16 July 2005; "Ghana strongly favors GM crops, " GHANA HOMEPAGE, 19 August 2005; "GMOs: Commission authorises the import of GM maize MON 863 for use in animal feed", EU PRESS RELEASE, 8 August 2005; "Commission Opens Door To Import Of Controversial GM Maize," FOEE, 8 August 2005; "GE maize found in sample grown in NZ," STUFF.CO, 27 July 2005; "GM test results point to approved GM soy, NEW ZEALAND MAF, 17 August 2005; " Only stopping GE imports prevents contamination," GE-FREE NZ, 17 August 2005; "EU authorises new GMO amid safety doubts," EURACTIV, 31 August 2005; " European Commission opens door to genetic contamination," FOEE, 31 August 2005; "GMOs: Commission authorises import of GM-oilseed rape for use in animal feed," EU PRESS RELEASE, 31 August 2005.