EU-US Trade Pact Negotiations: Will US Chlorine Chicken and Genetically modified foods end up on European dinner tables?

Famous TV Chef Jamie Oliver

Famous TV Chef rJamie Oliver who is popular around the world has warned that a new trade deal presently being negotiated between the EU and America will open the door in Europe to inferior US food products, including beef pumped up with growth hormones, banned additives and pesticides.

There are also concerns that GM crops and food produced in the USA, which have not been through more strict vetting procedures in Europe, could be forced on to dinner plates of Europeans

The campaigner and chef held talks this week with British Business Secretary Vince Cable to outline his ‘massive concerns’ that the deal could seriously undermine European food and farming

"If Europe signs this TTIP deal we are signing our own death sentence, because it is hardly news that the United States faces epidemic health problems linked to poor diets and hormone infected food. Nearly two out of every five Americans today are obese as a result of the bad and polluted food they consume and Europe must not go down that same road", said a EU parliamentarian. 

When EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, who is negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership" (TTIP) between the EU and US on behalf of the EU 28 member states  was asked if chlorine chicken and genetically modified foods would end up on the plates of European consumers if the agreement is signed, she said: "No, that's a myth. we have high standards of consumer protection in the EU that will not be compromised by a trade agreement. Genetically modified foods are not allowed in Europe, hormone-treated meat is also taboo here, and chlorine-treated chickens are prohibited.

Hopefully the EU Commission and Parliament will keep a watchful eye that the EU does not fall for the "sweet talk" of the Americans. Remember they are mainly carrying out the objectives of their multi-national corporate sponsors in these crucial EU-US negotiations.

EU-Digest

EU Position On Genetically Modified Foods: Monsanto-killer or ‘Trojan Horse’? New law lets EU states ban GM crops

The European Union has approved a law that will enable the bloc’s 28 member states to restrict the cultivation of genetically modified crops, even if the EU has declared them as safe. The law comes despite furious lobbying from multinationals.

Previously, countries that opposed the cultivation of crops approved by Brussels potentially faced legal challenges. Now, any country may unilaterally ban a particular genetically modified variety of seed – or even “groups of GMOs defined by crop or trait” – and additionally demand that their neighbors do not contaminate their fields.

The EU legislation will come into force in spring next year, pending a formal agreement from the individual states. Among the states likely to find use for the statute are France, Germany, Austria and Poland, which have consistently opposed gene-splicing technologies.

Some believe that the new law will allow the deadlock over GM crops to be broken after nearly two decades of controversy. Due to opposition from the EU heavyweights, only one GM crop has been approved since 1998. About 0.1 percent of land on the continent is used to grow genetically-modified crops, specifically Monsanto’s MON810 maize.

Officials have speculated that the new nation-oriented rules will allow more leeway for proponents of GM crops, such as Britain and the Iberian states, to go ahead.

 Read more: Monsanto-killer or ‘Trojan Horse’? New law lets EU states ban GM crops — RT News

Food Safety: Labeling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Maine approved by legislature.

Thanks to thousands of Mainers speaking up, both their House and Senate voted to pass LD 718, which will label genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Maine.

The Maine House of Representatives in favor of the bill. The Maine Senate voted The bipartisan support for this issue has been incredible!

The success of this bill is now in the hands of the Maine governor LePage who must legalize the bill by signing it.

 EU-Digest 

Livestock - Growth Hormones: Russia bans imports of U.S. pork and beef

Russia has temporarily banned the imports of frozen pork and beef, as well as turkey meat and by-products from the U.S. The move was based on the presence of ractopamine - the banned growth promoter - in the products. Russia currently imports only U.S. poultry. The imports of chilled pork and beef was limited on February 4th.

Ractopamine is added to the fodder for cattle and pigs so that animals increase their muscle mass faster, with less fat. The drug is banned in 80 countries, including in the European Union and China. Scientists believe that ractopamine is toxic and can lead to diseases of the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, reproductive and endocrine systems. The drug is widely used in U.S. agriculture.

Read more: Russia bans imports of U.S. pork and beef - English pravda.ru

Influencing Europe: Wikileaks Exposes Unholy Alliance of US Government Bill Gates, and Monsanto

Many have long suspected that U.S. policy on genetically modified (GM) organisms was being influenced by the multinational corporations that profit from genetic engineering and the export-oriented agribusiness. However, recently released Wikileaks cables document just how close that relationship has become.

The U.S. Department of State has virtually become an agency for promoting the private interests of the Monsanto Corporation.

As European social movements pressure their governments for an ongoing moratorium on GM seeds and foods, Monsanto and other biotech corporations have been pushing to find new market footholds, using hybrids even in impoverished Haiti following the January 12, 2010 earthquake. They have been pursuing such goals in collaboration with USAID, the U.S. State Department and the Gates Foundation Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

As reported by Netline, Monsanto and other biotech companies have collaborated with the Gates Foundation via the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to inject genetically modified crops into Africa. The Gates Foundation has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to AGRA, and in 2006 Robert Horsch was hired for the AGRA project. Horsch was a Monsanto executive for 25 years.

As revealed by previous Wikileaks documents, the Bush administration conspired to find ways to retaliate against Europe for refusing to use genetically modified (GM) seeds, mainly by engaging in aggressive trade wars against reluctant nations.

For more: Wikileaks Exposes Unholy Alliance of US Government Bill Gates and Monsanto

Genetic Engineering: E.U. Talks Fail on Food Imports From Clone Offspring - by James Kanter

Marathon talks in Bruxelles aimed at regulating imports into Europe of meat and dairy products from animals bred from clones collapsed Tuesday because of disagreements between governments and the European Parliament over how sweeping the rules should be. 

The failure, while bemoaned by European consumer groups, is likely to be welcomed by farmers in the United States, Brazil, and other countries where cloning for food is gaining ground, as well as by food manufacturers, who will get an open-ended reprieve from any new and potentially costly labeling requirements. Negotiators for European governments accused the Parliament of “political grandstanding” in pushing for unworkable rules “that would have required drawing a family tree for each slice of cheese or salami.” The new rules, the negotiators added, risked setting off a trade war similar to the long-running battle between Europe and the United States over genetically modified crops.

But the Parliament’s negotiators, led in part by a left-wing Dutch lawmaker, Kartika Liotard, insisted on tougher rules for imports and said they were sticking to principles, citing surveys that show European public opinion is overwhelmingly against cloning for food. Ms. Liotard said at a news conference Tuesday that the Parliament’s negotiators already had softened their position from a complete ban on imports to accepting a labeling system. She referred to cloning as “pure animal abuse.” 

The collapse of the talks highlights the growing ability of the European Parliament to influence decision-making in areas like trade and privacy, a rise in influence that has fueled tension with Washington over surveillance of bank transactions to track terrorism suspects.

Note EU-Digest: Regardless of the fact that a majority of the European population does not want genetically modified food, large numbers of lobbyists from the food industry swarming all over Bruxelles are trying to change parliamentarians minds in favor of this unhealthy food, with all the methods available to them and money certainly is no object to get their point across. Europe does not want genetically modified food on their dinner tables and are counting on its political representatives to stop this onslaught by the international industrial food industry.

For more: E.U. Talks Fail on Food Imports From Clone Offspring - NYTimes.com

Save Organic Foods: Stop Monsanto's Genetically Engineered Alfalfa

In late January, the USDA announced that it is completely deregulating genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa. This decision could spell disaster for organics and the quality of our food supply.

Alfalfa has been used by farmers as livestock feed for decades because of its high protein and low fiber content. But lobbyists for Monsanto -- a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation and the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, or "Roundup" -- have succeeded in pushing the USDA to deregulate GE alfalfa.

If GE crops spread, the word "organic" will be virtually meaningless, affecting crops, the cattle who eat the alfalfa, and consumers who eat both.
 

For more: Save Organics: Stop Monsanto's Genetically Engineered Alfalfa - The Petition Site

WikiLeaks: U.S. ambassador urged Bush to start trade war with European countries against genetically modified crops

American diplomats urged Washington to punish European countries that opposed the growth of genetically modified crops, according to leaked cables.


The U.S. embassy in Paris said retaliation should be taken to cause ‘some pain across the EU’ to any governments resisting the spread of the technology.


The diplomatic message was in the latest cache of secret cables made public by the whistle blower website WikiLeaks.

For more: WikiLeaks: U.S. ambassador urged Bush to start trade war with European countries against genetically modified crops | Mail Online

Genetically Modified Food Is Dangerous: Europe in a pickle over GM crops rules - Roddy Thomson

As America chews over a bid to market "Frankenfish" salmon, Europe wants to drop scientific objections to genetically modified (GM) crops in a move even its backers admit leaves a strange taste.

With the GM industry and its opponents each sharpening their legal claws, European nations will debate a proposed rule change on Monday that would allow officials to accelerate authorisations for 15 new transgenic crops while letting those who want to keep them off their territories do so.

The continent is deeply divided on the GM issue, which has crept back up the agenda after Germany's BASF "accidentally" sowed seed from an unauthorized potato in Sweden and a furore in Britain about milk and meat from cloned cattle entering the food chain.

Note EU-Digest: Europe must vote NO to approving Genetically Modified Food and not cave in to the pressures imposed by the powerful Chemical and Food Industry lobby. 
 

For more: Europe in a pickle over GM crops rules

Genetically Modified Foods: How Safe Are They?

In the 14 years since the first GM crop was commercially launched, only 8 per cent of the world's cropped area has been converted to growing them. There are two main reasons for this: the high costs of GM seeds and several unresolved controversies. Normally , farmers save some of their harvest for use as seeds for the next crop or governments and companies provide cheap seeds of better varieties. But for cultivating GM crops, special seeds are needed. Most of these seeds have been developed by one of the world's biggest agri-business companies Monsanto ($11.7 billion sales in 2009). They claim that they have spent millions in research and development of the seeds and so they price them high. Royalty has to be paid for producing their type of seeds and farmers cannot use seeds from their fields for the next harvest. Although it is claimed that ultimately, because of higher yields or savings from lesser use of pesticides, the farmers will end up saving more money, there is hesitation because of various controversies that have dogged the GM crops since their introduction. Many governments have introduced tough regulatory mechanisms so that potential dangers from unbridled use of GM crops do not occur.

Although no direct evidence has come up of GM foods causing toxic or allergic effects, some cases of gene transfer have been found. The environmental concern is about the inserted gene "going wild" , that is, getting transferred to other plants in nature. Some studies show that such transfer does take place through pollen flows. In all these issues , long range or chronic effects have not yet been documented and this has led to caution being exercised in use of GM crops.

For more: GM foods: How safe are they? - Science - Home - The Times of India

Food, Inc: Oscar nomination for best documentary is revealing

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as citizens and where we are going from here.

To view a clip of the movie click here

For more: Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change? - About the Film

Bulgarians Rise in Protest against Genetically Modified Crops

Several hundred Bulgarians protested against the allowing of genetically modified organisms by the country’s legislation.

The protest before the National Library building was organized by the “For the Nature” coalition and an “initiative committee of citizens and parents.”

“We Don’t Want GMO”, “Bulgaria Free of GMO”, and “We Are the Real Environment Ministry , shouted the several hundred protesters which included a number of mothers with very young kids as representatives of parents’ organizations. “I am not sure whether the decision to adopt the GMO Act is the result of incompetence on part of the Environment Ministry who might have decided to harmonize Bulgaria’s legislation with that of the EU by liberalizing everything,” said lawyer Svilen Ovcharov from the “Green Advocates” association.

For more: Bulgarians Rise in Protest against Genetically Modified Crops: Bulgarians Rise in Protest against Genetically Modified Crops - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency

CBCNews: GM crops could lead to 'disaster': Prince Charles

For the complete report from CBCNEWS click on this link

GM crops could lead to 'disaster': Prince Charles

The widespread use and development of genetically modified crops could lead to "the biggest disaster environmentally of all time," Prince Charles said Wednesday in an interview with a British newspaper. New experiments with GM crops could worsen food-supply problems, the heir to the British throne told the Daily Telegraph. "What we should be talking about is food security, not food production — that is what matters, and that is what people will not understand," he said. "And if they think it's somehow going to work because they are going to have one form of clever genetic engineering after another, then again, count me out, because that will be guaranteed to cause the biggest disaster environmentally of all time."

Note EU-Digest: The EU parliament holds similar views on genetically modified crops as Prince Charles but is constantly being bombarded by lobbyists from giant multi-national chemical corporations like Monsanto to change their position on this issue. We can only hope they won't eventually cave in under the pressure.

EurActiv.com - EU - Outrage at plans to lift USA 'chlorine chicken' ban

For the complete report from EurActiv.com click on this link

EU - Outrage at plans to lift USA 'chlorine chicken' ban

Members of Parliament from all political horizons have reacted with fury to a Commission proposal yesterday (28 May) to re-allow imports of poultry rinsed with chemicals, stemming mainly from the United States.MEPs, meeting in Parliament's Environment Committee, were incensed by the decision, which they say contradicts Community food production standards. "The chlorination of chicken intended for human consumption is not acceptable for the EU […] Such food production methods are at variance with the relevant Community standards, and threatening to the EU's entire set of food production standards and rules," states an EP press release. If approved, the proposal would effectively lift an 11-year ban on US poultry, which are generally treated with these processes.

The US has been pushing for the ban to be lifted for years but to no avail. However, the issue was recently pinpointed as a top priority in the new "Transatlantic Economic Council" process, which aims to remove remaining regulatory obstacles hampering trade and investment between the two economic giants.

France is leading the opposition to the plans, saying the move would frustrate efforts to reduce bacterial infection rates, such as salmonella, in Europe. Many other European governments are fiercely opposed to any form of compromise on food safety standards, which in the EU are among the highest in the world.

AFP: France defends ban on strain of GM corn - EU must not let itself be intimidated by Anglo-American agribusiness/biotechnology giants

For the complete report from the AFP click on this link

France defends ban on strain of GM corn- EU must not let itself be intimidated by Anglo-American agribusiness/biotechnology giants

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday defended banning a strain of GM corn, as a high-profile activist ended a hunger strike in response and farmers complained politics had trumped science. "It does not mean that France does not participate in GMO research. It does not mean that there will not be GMOs in the future," Sarkozy said at a meeting of his Union for a Popular Movement party (UMP), referring to genetically modified organisms. "It simply means that with the principle of precaution at stake, I am making a major political decision to carry our country to the forefront of the debate on the environment."

Opponents of GMOs -- a fiercely contested issue in Europe -- welcomed the French government's decision, announced late Friday, to invoke a European Union procedure to bar the Monsanto 810 maize. France's Provisional High Authority on GM Organisms on Wednesday pointed to what it described as "a certain number of new scientific facts relating to a negative impact on flora and fauna". Chairman Jean-Francois Le Grand, who also holds a seat in the Senate, said evidence had emerged that Mon 810 had an effect on insects, a species of earthworm and micro-organisms. There was also concern that wind-born pollen from Mon 810 could travel further than previously thought, possibly hundreds of miles (kilometres), said Le Grand.

Note EU-Digest: This is positive action by France's President Sarkozy, as a first step to ban all genetically manipulated foods and agricultural products in the EU. Research has shown the dangers of these manipulated products, like the Monsanto 810 Maize, to the environment and possibly also humans. Introducing foreign DNA into plants to create genetically modified organisms is also not without risks. London Institute of Science and Society chief biologist, Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, says the process is imprecise. "It is uncontrollable and unreliable, and typically ends up damaging and scrambling the host genome with entirely unpredictable consequences that might unleash a deadly un-recallable Andromeda Strain". It has also been reported that there are indications that genetically manipulated agricultural food products are alarmingly increasing childhood food allergies.

In the U.S. 90 percent of the soybean crop, 85 percent of cotton and 50 percent of field corn are bio-engineered or genetically manipulated organisms (GMO). Worldwide, 60 percent of soybeans and 28 percent of cotton are GMO varieties. Monsanto and other GMO giants got unregulated free rein in the 1980s and especially after George Bush became president in 1989. His administration opened "the GMO Pandora's Box" in such a way that no "unnecessary regulations" would hamper them. Thereafter, not one single new regulatory law governing biotech or GMO products was passed in the US, despite all the risks and possible dangers to health."

This issue deserves far more scrutiny in the EU than it has been getting and the EU must not let itself be intimidated and overruled by well funded Anglo-American agribusiness/biotechnology giants public relations campaigns and pressure groups.

Bloomberg.com/IHT: EU blocks approval of genetically modified crops

For the complete report from Bloomberg.com and the International Herald Tribune click on this link

EU blocks approval of genetically modified crops

European Union governments blocked approval Wednesday of a genetically modified potato made by BASF and three corn varieties developed by Monsanto.The opposition by health regulators from some countries prevents fast-track approval of the Amflora potato from BASF for animal feed and the Monsanto corn types for feed and food. The European Commission, the 27-nation EU's executive arm, must now ask government ministers to give their verdict in a step that will add months to a process that the United States says is too slow.

Note EU-Digest : who cares what the US says. Genetically modified food should not be allowed into the EU, regardless if Monsanto, the world's largest seed producer, says that its loss had widened in its fiscal fourth quarter and that earnings in 2008 might rise less than analysts estimated. Europe must not buckle under the pressure of large corporations, especially when it is in reference to genetically modified foods.