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Europe's biotech industry accused of modifying the truth Brussels, 4 May – Industry claims that Europe’s laws on genetically modified crops harm the animal feed industry are false, shows new research today. Analysis of official EU data by Friends of the Earth Europe proves that current laws function well. Only minute amounts of trade in animal feeds were directly disrupted by contamination incidents in the last five years. Read more... European Commission gives green light to genetically modified potatoes Brussels, March 2 – A decision announced today by Europe's new health and consumer commissioner, John Dalli, to give the go ahead for genetically modified potatoes to be grown in Europe, has been condemned by Friends of the Earth Europe. The ‘Amflora’ potato, designed to produce starch for industrial purposes by Germany´s chemical giant BASF, carries a controversial antibiotic resistant gene which it cannot be guaranteed will not enter the food chain. New report: GM crops failing to tackle climate change Brussels, 23 February 2010 – On the day of the release of annual industry-sponsored figures, a new report from Friends of the Earth International reveals that claims made by the biotech industry that genetically modified (GM) crops can combat climate change are both exaggerated and premature. The report examines the evidence for these claims, and exposes that GM crops could actually increase carbon emissions while failing to feed the world. This is because GM crops are responsible for huge increases in the use of pesticides in the US and South America, intensifying fossil fuel use. The cultivation of GM soy to feed factory farmed animals is also contributing to widespread deforestation in South America. Read more... India puts moratorium on GM crop Brussels, February 9 - Responding to reports that India has today halted the
commercial cultivation of a genetically modified aubergine crop (Bt-Brinjal),
following several public consultations across the country and resistance from "India's environment minister has listened to the concerns of scientists, farmers and the public and concluded that this GM crop poses real risks to human health and the environment. Read more... THE ANGRY MERMAID WINNER IS... Copenhagen, Denmark, December 15 - The winner of the Angry Mermaid Award 2009, announced by award-winning writer and journalist Naomi Klein at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen today is the biotech giant Monsanto with 37% of the total vote. Read more... Report reveals dramatic rise in pesticide use EU GMO-labelling laws judged insufficient
Brussels, November 3, 2009 - France is poised to become the latest in a growing trend of European countries to introduce GMO-free labels for food in a bid to counter weaker EU standards and to compensate for a loophole in European labelling laws. Currently, EU labelling laws mean meat, dairy and eggs from animals fed with genetically modified animal feed do not have to be labelled. Read more... Killing Fields: the battle to feed factory farms A hidden chain of destruction stretches from the factory farms in Europe to the forests of South America - where huge soy plantations, grown to feed chickens, cows and pigs in Europe, are wiping out wildlife and making climate change worse.
IRELAND ADOPTS GM-FREE ZONE POLICY
The Irish Government will ban the cultivation of all GM crops and introduce a voluntary GM-free label for food - including meat, poultry, eggs, fish, crustaceans, and dairy produce made without the use of GM animal feed. The policy was adopted as part of the Renewed Programme for Government agreed between the two coalition partners, the centre-right Fianna Fail and the Green Party, after the latter voted to support it on Saturday. Download the press release >>
Biotech industry fakes growth of GM crops in Europe
On the eve of the release of annual industry-sponsored figures by the ISAAA, a new report today from Friends of the Earth International reveals the failure of genetically modified crops around the world, and how statistics showing their increase in Europe have been manipulated. Read the full report here Figures issued by the European biotech industry lobby group EuropaBio erased the latest country to have banned growing GM crops – France – from its calculations. By doing this, the biotech industry could falsely claim an increase of 21% in the area under cultivation in the EU in 2008. Infact there has been a 2% decline over the last year, and 35% decrease for all of Europe in the last 4 years. The benefits of this kind of manipulation were made apparent when a couple of months after this data was first published, the President of the European Commission’s office quoted the false figure in a high level political meeting as a justification for the “growing interest in using GMOs in the EU” (see leaked documents here) The cultivation of GMOs remains a fraction of agriculture, with GM maize, the only GM crop approved, constituting a mere 0.21% of agricultural land in the European Union. Globally, GM crops are still confined to a handful of countries with highly industrialised, export-oriented agricultural sectors. Nearly 90% of the area planted to GM crops in 2007 was found in just six countries in North and South America, with 80% in the US, Argentina and Brazil. One country alone, the United States, plants over 50% of the world’s GM crops. Just 3% or less of cropland in India and China is planted to GM crops. Read the critique on the ISAAA inflated GM crop data
Friends of the Earth's European GMO Campaign is working to safeguard GMO-free agriculture and to ensure that European citizens have the right to choose GMO-free food. To achieve this, Friends of the Earth's national groups across Europe are working together to:
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