| | 22/November/22
| UK citizens demand robust regulation of GMOs as radical legislation advances As the UK Government pursues a radical weakening of GMO regulation, a new poll shows that a significant majority of citizens living in the UK believe GMOs should be traceable and labelled. The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill is currently advancing through the House of Lords, but the results of the poll suggest there would be little support for weaker regulations of so-called “precision bred organisms” compared to other GMOs in foods and farming. According to a YouGov Poll, commissioned by UK civil society group Beyond GM, the overwhelming preference of citizens in the UK is for all GMOs in the farming and food system to be regulated, traceable and labelled:
• 79% of citizens in the UK think that precision bred crops, animals and foods should be clearly labelled on the food package
• 83% think precision bred organisms should undergo safety testing before being put on sale
• 80% think they should undergo environmental safety testing
• 79% think they should be traceable through the farming and food system. GMWatch International: Urgent Action Alert on genetically engineered trees The US Department of Agriculture has released a draft Environmental Impact Statement and draft Plant Pest Risk Assessment recommending the approval of unrestricted planting of genetically engineered (GE) trees in wild forests. Please submit comments to the USDA rejecting the uncontrolled release of GE trees into wild forests. Your comments are needed to stop this disaster before it starts. Submit comments here. For more information and sample comments, see this. Global Justice Ecology Project 420,000 EU citizens demand regulation and labelling for new GM foods The petition to keep new GM foods strictly regulated and labelled in the EU has got nearly 420,000 signatures. The petition is now closed. Well done to all those who organised it! GMWatch comment on petition hosted by Demeter International Bill Gates' lies on GMOs exposed Following Kenya's decision to allow GMO cultivation and imports, GMO promoter Bill Gates told Kenyan TV, "Every piece of bread I’ve ever eaten is from genetically modified wheat, every piece of corn I’ve eaten is GMO". But researcher Timothy A. Wise replied in a tweet, "Justifying Kenya approval of GMO maize imports, Bill Gates offers ignorant lies about eating only GM wheat (which hasn't been available) and only GM corn, which in US feeds animals and ethanol factories. Your sweet corn, Bill, ain't GMO. BIG LIE from Mr Science." @TimothyAWise on Twitter Small-scale farmers drowned out by agribusiness lobby at COP27 "Small-scale farmers are being hit first and worst by climate change," says Million Belay of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA). "They struggled to have their voices heard at COP27, among the record high agribusiness lobbyists, and the expense. They demanded support and finance for diverse and resilient agroecological food systems to help adapt to the floods and droughts they are facing. But they leave with very little." IPES Food Law firm obtains $537.5 million class settlement for 2,442 public entities in Monsanto water contamination lawsuit The law firm Baron & Budd, P.C. has announced final approval of a nationwide class action settlement with Monsanto Company, Pharmacia, LLC, Solutia, Inc., and Bayer arising from environmental contamination caused by PCBs. The $537.5 million settlement provides cash payments to a class of 2,442 government entities across the country. “This settlement will provide funds directly to public entities burdened with reducing PCBs from stormwater and sediment,” said co-Lead class counsel and Baron & Budd shareholder Scott Summy. “This groundbreaking settlement marks the first time a product manufacturer will pay damages for stormwater contamination, and the class members include counties, cities, ports and other government entities.” BusinessWire Is US National Institutes of Health hiding data that could reveal origins of SARS-CoV-2? US Right to Know has submitted a freedom of information request to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) asking for any SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-related sequences that are not publicly accessible. In 2021 it emerged that early SARS-CoV-2 sequences had been deleted from the NIH's Sequence Read Archive (SRA) because the researchers requested it. On July 31, 2022, 163 spike protein sequences from SARS-like coronavirus strains that had been submitted in 2018 were released. These sequences were then removed by August 10, and no longer appear when the same search terms are used as before. Early genomic data for SARS-CoV-2 and related coronavirus strains are crucial for understanding the origins of COVID-19. Karolina Corin of US Right to Know on Twitter @kccorin We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible by readers’ donations. Please support our work with a one-off or regular donation. Thank you! __________________________________________________________ Website: http://www.gmwatch.org
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