28 February 2003
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THE WEEKLY WATCH NUMBER 18
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from Andy Rees, the WEEKLY WATCH editor
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Dear all
Welcome to WW18 bringing you all the latest news in brief on the GM issue, including more big setbacks for the industry. Watch out too for some great stuff on Monsanto's GM wheat in Canada, and the fight back there, and a powerful attack by a pro-GM scientist on the recent Bt cotton paper in Science claiming miraculous results in India.
PLUS: Because it seems hard to work out what's going on with the UK's GM debate I've tried to produce a beginners' guide - see TOPIC OF THE WEEK - which can be read in conjunction with all the latest news about the debate and how to take part in CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK.
Hope it doesn't leave you more confused! Do let me know what you think.
Andy <andy@gmwatch.org>
www.ngin.org.uk
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WEEKLY WATCH number 18 - CONTENTS
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SETBACKS TO THE GM INDUSTRY
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
TOPIC OF THE WEEK 1 - The UK Government's 'Public Debate' on GM crops
TOPIC OF THE WEEK 2 - The risks of GM wheat for Canada
REPORT OF THE WEEK - Pro-GM scientist attacks Bt cotton paper in Science
as "shoddy publication based on meagre and questionable field data"
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
FACTS OF THE WEEK
HEADLINES OF THE WEEK
CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
SUBSCRIPTIONS
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SETBACKS TO THE GM INDUSTRY
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GMO PULL OUT IN INDIA
Nunhems Seeds, the Indian subsidiary of Nunza BV of Holland, has suspended
work on GMOs in India, because of concerns that the Government may not
approve commercial cultivation of such crops, after the decision on GM
mustard was deferred by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee.
https://ngin.tripod.com/260203a.htm
CHINA WON'T GIVE MONSANTO A SAFETY CEERTIFICATE
Monsanto's March 2002 application for a permanent safety certification
to replace temporary certificates now in place that support $1 billion
in US soybean exports to China each year was recently turned down. https://ngin.tripod.com/240203a.htm
JAPANESE BUY BRAZILIAN TO AVOID US GM CORN SHIPMENTS
The Japanese have bought Brazilian corn in the first deal with Brazil
since the discovery of the banned StarLink corn in a US shipment last year
raised food safety concerns.
https://ngin.tripod.com/250203b.htm
STRONGER POWERS TO STOP GM IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
The Western Australian Government is preparing legislation to strengthen
its powers to stop the planting of GM crops.
https://ngin.tripod.com/260203a.htm
TASMANIAN GM BAN EXTENDED BY A FURTHER 5 YEARS
A two year ban on GM crops in Tasmania has, according to the State
Government, been extended for five years.
https://ngin.tripod.com/270203c.htm
BAYER ON THE ROCKS?
*Bayer's "shares are in freefall"
Headache for Manfred Schneider
Financial Times; Feb 27, 2003
*Headline: Drug case may drain the life out of Bayer
By Geoff Dyer and Uta Harnischfeger
Financial Times; Feb 27, 2003
"The litigation fears have sent Bayer shares into freefall. After tumbling
more than 14 per cent on Tuesday, they dropped a further 8 per cent in
late trading yesterday... [there] has been feverish speculation about the
potential liability, with some estimates going as high as $10bn... "The
Baycol affair may turn into a matter of life and death for Bayer," adds
one person familiar with the company."
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OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
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GMO opponents argue against lifting of EU moratorium
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Germany, France, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria - "outspoken
opponents of GM products" - oppose any lifting of the EU five year de facto
moratorium, until laws governing rules on the origin and labelling have
come into force.
https://ngin.tripod.com/250203b.htm
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EPA approves Monsanto's new corn
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A new Monsanto corn genetically engineered to resist rootworm can go
onto the market, the US's Environmental Protection Agency has announced.
https://ngin.tripod.com/260203a.htm
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US derailing India's biosafety regulatory system to allow import of
hazardous Bt corn-soya blend
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The US Dept of Commerce has utilized the Indian Prime Minister's Office
(PMO) to intervene in the workings of the GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval
Committee - the government regulatory body that clears all decisions to
import and release GMOs in India), by getting it to hold a special meeting
for USAID representatives, and give the go ahead to the previously banned
corn-soya blend imports by NGO agencies CARE and CRS, which is primarily
financed by USAID. Food aid is becoming the biggest market mechanism
for rejected US GM.
https://ngin.tripod.com/240203c.htm
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92% Americans want GM labelling
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According to a recent survey, US residents trust American small-farm
owners, don't favour corporate, non-family farms, or trust GM or foreign-grown
food; they want their food produced under safe environmental conditions,
and would pay more for food labeled with such assurances. For food
safety information, elected officials and business executives are mistrusted
by about 2/3 of the respondents. Nearly 92% want labels on GM foods,
only 1% do not, the other 7% are undecided. Only 25% believe GM plants
are safe and only 17% think foods from GM animals are safe.
https://ngin.tripod.com/250203a.htm
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Syngenta advancing GM wheat research in US
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Syngenta is negotiating with several US universities for help in work
on GM wheat, purportedly resistant to fusarium head blight, a fungal disease.
They hope to have a product on the market as early as 2007.
https://ngin.tripod.com/240203a.htm
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Man pleads quilty of improperly using Monsanto's cotton seed
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A Tennessee man pleaded guilty to a charge connected to "misusing"
some of Monsanto's patented cottonseed. He faces a maximum of five
years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Restitution is mandatory, and the
total loss is about $165,000.
https://ngin.tripod.com/240203a.htm
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Giant Novartis wants to get bigger
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Novartis was formed in 1996 by the merger of Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy.
Now, there is talk of a merger between Novartis and Roche, which would
mean the final merger of the one time three biggest Swiss pharmaceuticals
into one giant entity, with annual sales of $45 billion. It would
also create the world's second-largest pharmaceuticals maker, after Pfizer,
which plans to complete its acquisition of Pharmacia next month.
https://ngin.tripod.com/240203c.htm
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Bayer apparently knew of dangers of its cholesterol drug
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Newly disclosed company documents indicate that some senior executives
at Bayer were aware that their anticholesterol drug, Baycol, had serious
problems long before the company pulled it from the market. Approximately
100 deaths and 1,600 injuries worldwide have been linked to a muscle disorder
caused by the drug. The documents provide a rare glimpse inside a
major company's marketing efforts in the face of mounting indications of
trouble.
https://ngin.tripod.com/250203c.htm
And these people are going to make our food??? for more on Bayer: https://ngin.tripod.com/agrevodiary.htm
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Brazil travels to search out non-GM Argentine corn
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A group of Brazilian government and meat industry representatives will
visit Argentina to research the possibility of importing non-GM corn
https://ngin.tripod.com/250203b.htm
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Rural Education Council pesticide deaths report
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Agrochemical giants Like Dow and Monsanto must make amends for pesticide-caused
deaths by funding rural education in the developing world.
https://ngin.tripod.com/260203c.htm
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Bove gets 10 months jail for GM crop attack
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A court ordered radical French farmer-protester Jose Bove to spend
10 months in prison for damaging fields of GM crops, in his battle against
junk food and globalisation.
https://ngin.tripod.com/270203a.htm
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GM crop action court dates and trial outcomes
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Court cases are a part of the action and a great opportunity to put
GM on trial. It is essential for the sustainability of our work to support
people who have taken a risk. Please come along to watch and give
your support at case hearings and, most importantly, at the actual trials.
If you want to attend any court hearings or trials please phone first (see
each case for appropriate phone no. or call GEN 0845 456 9329) to check
the date and time as they often get changed at the last minute. For
information on court dates, see:
https://ngin.tripod.com/270203c.htm
There's also information about the outcome of trials and how to support
convicted campaigners with donations for fines.
https://ngin.tripod.com/270203c.htm
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Criticism of Thai Agriculture Ministry
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The Thai Agriculture Ministry's proposal to allow field testing of
GMOs, despite the fact that GMOs were formally banned by the government
in April 2001, met strong opposition from environmentalists and consumer
groups. They said the plan plays into the hands of the US, which wants
to push global GMO trade at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec)
forum this year.
https://ngin.tripod.com/260203a.htm
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TOPIC OF THE WEEK 1 - The UK Government's 'Public Debate' on GM crops
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See also the latest news from Clare Devereux under Camapign of the
Week
THE GOVERNMENT'S 'PUBLIC DEBATE' ON GM CROPS:
OVERVIEW:
The whole programme (three strands) was supposed to consist of:
1. a Science Review (coordinated by DEFRA)
2. an Economic / Strategic Review (coordinated by the Cabinet
Office)
3. and a Public Debate coordinated by AEBC
After September 2003, the UK government will decide whether to allow
commercial GM planting.
https://ngin.tripod.com/270203b.htm
CRITICISMS:
However, the GM debate has not had a very auspicious start, with a
leading group of independent academic experts saying late last year that
the UK's 'Public Debate' has all the appearances of a sham by a Government
that seems set on GM crop commercialisation.
This is particularly the case in view of the very limited time and budget allocated to it, and the massive level of vested interest on the Science Review panel.
There was widespread anger when it looked as though the Public Debate
would take place before the results of the UK GM Farm Scale Trials were
even out (July 2003); the government has recently backed down on this.
https://ngin.tripod.com/061102c.htm
MORE SCANDAL OVER GOVT'S GM 'DEBATE:'
However, the government has shifted its summer publication of the results
of GM Crop Trials from the rigorously peer-reviewed Journal of Applied
Ecology to the Royal Society, whose antics in relation to peer review have
brought the Society into disrepute.
https://ngin.tripod.com/300103e.htm
1. GM SCIENCE REVIEW:
OPEN MEETINGS:
http://www.gmsciencedebate.org.uk/meetings/default.htm
The declared aim of these scientific meetings is to explore, in public,
the science underlying particular GM issues. The formats will vary
but it is envisaged that 3 to 4 scientists will be invited at each meeting
to offer different perspectives on an issue. Reports of the meetings
will appear on the web site above.
https://ngin.tripod.com/270203b.htm
MASSIVE LEVEL OF VESTED INTEREST:
However, there is a massive level of vested interest on the Science
Review panel. See Weekly Watch 8, Topic of the Week: UK Govts Science Review
at:
https://ngin.tripod.com/301102b.htm
ROYAL SOCIETY ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTING TO RIG GM SCIENCE REVIEW:
A number of NGOs have accused, the once august, Royal Society of attempting
to rig the current GM Science Debate. Dr Brian John of GM Free Cymru
says: "We are gravely concerned about what is happening within the Royal
Society. . its direct involvement in pro-GM propaganda and in bad
science is a disgrace. . it is turning the "science strand" of the
GM debate into a farce."
https://ngin.tripod.com/100203b.htm
FSA ATTEMPTING TO HIJACK THE GM PUBLIC DEBATE:
The FSA also appears to be attempting to hijack the GM Public Debate
by engineering a special status for itslef within the Science Review, and
by using pro-GM publicity materials which make a nonsense of the FSA's
pretence of impartiality.
https://ngin.tripod.com/270203b.htm
2. ECONOMIC/STRATEGIC REVIEW:
For more on the insufficient Strategy Unit's Scoping Note Brief on
the Economic Strand, see Campaign of the Week, Weekly Watch 17, at:
https://ngin.tripod.com/210203a.htm
3. DEBATE ON GM FOOD TO START IN MAY:
Members of the public will get the chance to have their say on GM food
in a nationwide debate during May, June and July. The government
has agreed to provide £500,000 to fund the debate - twice the original
budget, but still a paltry sum. The programme will include:
* six national and regional conferences - three in England and one
each in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - venues to be announced
* smaller county-level meetings; a 'toolkit' to encourage discussion
right down to village and local group level; a film
https://ngin.tripod.com/270203b.htm
TWO WAYS TO HELP STOP GM PLANTING IN BRITAIN:
see: https://ngin.tripod.com/270203b.htm
1. You have until Friday 28 February 2003 to send the government
your response to their latest consultation document on GM crops. It focuses
on the economics of introducing GM crops into our food supply.
2. Take part in the GM public debate: Although it's still not
officially started, you can feed in your views on GM at
http://www.gmpublicdebate.org
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TOPIC OF THE WEEK 2 - The risks of GM wheat for Canada
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MONSANTO BREAKS ITS PROMISE & QUIETLY SUBMITS APPLICATION FOR GM
WHEAT:
On Dec. 23, while most Canadians were distracted by holiday revelry,
Monsanto quietly submitted an application to a government agency for GM
wheat, breaking its promise to listen to and address the widespread concerns
about GM wheat. If requirements are met, Canada could become the
first country to allow commercial production of this GM wheat - which has
the potential to virtually kill Canada's wheat export markets.
At around $3 billion annually, wheat is Canada's leading agricultural product. Canada exports 75% of its wheat. The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) estimates that customers for 82% of western red spring wheat, the main wheat grown in Canada, do not want to buy GM wheat. The CWB has joined with groups such as Greenpeace and the Council of Canadians - two organizations it has clashed with in the past - to present a united front opposing GM wheat.
As a spokesperson for Rank Hovis, Britain's biggest flour mill, has said, "If you do grow GM wheat, we will not be able to buy any of your wheat - neither the GM nor the conventional. This has nothing to do with principle, or with trade barriers. We just cannot sell it."
Farmers growing GM wheat will be worse off to the tune of $45.8 million, those who don't by more than $32.3 million. The only party expected to make money is Monsanto, who would generate about $157 million in net returns. For Monsanto, this application is all about economics. The company has been hemorrhaging money - a $1.69 billion loss last year compared with profits of $295 million in the same period a year earlier. The poor financial performance led to the abrupt departure in December of the company's chief executive. Sales of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide are down. The patent has expired, allowing competitors into the market, and the company's biotech strategy has so far proven to be a loser. Roundup Ready wheat would boost herbicide sales at a time when Monsanto is surely desperate to return to profitability.
GM wheat could be the final blow for many of Canada's farmers. Monsanto
shouldn't be setting public policy and determining when it's okay to grow
GM wheat.
https://ngin.tripod.com/250203d.htm
"They're trying to push a product there is no market for," said Louis Kuster, North Dakota Wheat Commissioner and a farmer himself. "It is going to be devastating to our market for foreign wheat." But, he said, "Monsanto right now holds the power." Monsanto courts farmers on gene-altered wheat, Reuters Securities News February 28, 2003
BOYCOTT ROUNDUP!:
NFU president Stewart Wells, was cited as saying at a press conference
that if farmers are opposed to the introduction of Roundup Ready wheat,
they should boycott Roundup herbicide, adding, "Monsanto is sensitive to
changes in Roundup sales. If farmers affect Monsanto's bottom line
and shareholders' profits, farmers can reverse Monsanto's decision to force
GM wheat onto the market."
https://ngin.tripod.com/250203d.htm
MAJOR PRAIRIES TOUR AGAINST GM WHEAT:
A Major prairies tour against GM wheat, with a series of 11 public
meetings in communities across the three Prairie provinces, is set to kick-off
in Winnipeg. The Council of Canadians, the National Farmers' Union,
the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate, and the Parkland Institute tour will
focus on the dangers of the genetic contamination of traditional crops,
the loss of biodiversity, the inability to save seeds for replanting, the
potential market loss for wheat farmers, and the rural-urban resistance
against GE wheat.
https://ngin.tripod.com/250203d.htm
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REPORT OF THE WEEK - Prakash-supporter attacks Bt cotton paper in
Science as "shoddy publication based on meagre and questionable field
data"
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A remarkable attack was posted on Prakash's pro-GM AgBioView listserv
concerning the recent paper in Science, claiming startling benefits from
Bt cotton growing in India [David Zilberman and Matin Qaim's, "Yield Effects
of Genetically Modified Crops in Developing Countries" - Science, Feb 7,
2003, Vol. 299]. The author of the attack, Shanthu Shantharam, is
a strong proponent of GMOs and Bt cotton. He writes, "This kind of
shoddy publication based on meagre and questionable field data in reputed
journals like SCIENCE do more harm to science and technology development,
perhaps set GMO technology backwards.
"It was equally startling as to how this report passed the muster of peer review at Science. This paper really questions the current standards of peer review in a prestigious journal like Science that has a century old reputation for high scientific standards.
"...to suggest as the authors Matin Qaim and David Zilberman do that Bt cotton has out yielded non-Bt cotton by more than 80% and link it directly to a single Bt gene is outlandish. It is obvious that the authors have no background in plant breeding and genetics; otherwise prudence would have them consult cotton breeders before staking out such a claim.
"The other weakness of the paper is total reliance on the company (Mahyco) supplied data from field tests and extrapolating it into the stratosphere.
"This paper has been published in undue haste, and considering the fact the Mahyco Bt cotton varieties were just commercialized last April and only one or two pickings have taken place, the authors and the company should have waited for another two more years and collect statistically meaningful data ...
"There is hardly any good quality science in the paper and yet SCIENCE
chose to publish it."
https://ngin.tripod.com/260203b.htm
Compare this, to the Qaim and Zilberman response to Devinder Sharma
over his critique of their paper. See:
https://ngin.tripod.com/240203b.htm
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QUOTES OF THE WEEK
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"[Monsanto] is a company that has been optimistic on the borderline
of lying," said Sergey Vasnetsov, senior analyst with Lehman Brothers in
New York. "Monsanto has been feeding us these fantasies for two years,
and when we saw they weren't real," its stock price fell. Monsanto shares
traded above $30 in early 2001 but plummeted over the summer. The stock
closed Friday at $17.07 a share.
https://ngin.tripod.com/240203a.htm
"They're trying to push a product there is no market for," said Louis
Kuster, North Dakota Wheat Commissioner and a farmer himself. "It is going
to be devastating to our market for foreign wheat." But, he said, "Monsanto
right now holds the power." Monsanto courts farmers on gene-altered wheat,
Reuters Securities News February 28, 2003
"The research follows the dollars, so who is this benefiting?" said Stephen Jones, a wheat breeder at Washington State University, one of Monsanto's partners. "The pressure is tremendous from Monsanto and these other corporations." Monsanto courts farmers on gene-altered wheat, Reuters Securities News February 28, 2003
"...those are the two big, bad bullies in the market [Monsanto and Syngenta],
so they're going to slug it out," said Bill Johnson, a weed scientist with
Purdue University."
https://ngin.tripod.com/240203a.htm
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HEADLINES OF THE WEEK: from the NGIN archive
https://ngin.tripod.com/feb03.htm
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26 February 2003
Firm stops work on GMOs in India
Powers to stop the planting of GMOs strenthened in Australia
Pro-GM scientist attacks Bt cotton paper
Saving us from their poisons with GMOs
RS wants balance
25 February 2003
92% of Americans want GM labeling
No lifting of EU moratorium say ag ministers
Japan buys Brazil corn amid StarLink fear
Bayer Knew of Dangers Long Before It Pulled Drug from Market
Canadian boycott of Monsanto?
The risks of modifiedwheat
Prairies tour against GM wheat
24 February 2003
Monsanto & Syngenta "two big, bad bullies"
China denies Monsanto a safety certificate
Re: A Scientific Fairytale
US derailing India's biosafety/Novartis wants to get bigger
21 February 2003
THE WEEKLY WATCH NUMBER 17
FOR THE COMPLETE NGIN ARCHIVE: https://ngin.tripod.com/nginlist.htm
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CAMPAIGN OF THE WEEK
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UPDATE ON GM PUBLIC DEBATE - FEB 2003
After an uncertain few months over Christmas and New Year, while issues
of timing and funding for the much awaited Public Debate on GM were resolved,
things are at last moving forward.
At the end of January Margaret Beckett responded to the Public Debate
Steering Board's (PDSB) request for more funds, with a letter allocating
£155K more.
However at the same time a letter came from the Welsh Assembly, echoed
by both Scotland and Northern Ireland, expressing a desire that the public
programme of debate should start after the elections in the devolved administrations
(1 May 2003) and should include the publication of the results of the Farm-Scale
Evaluations, expected in July. As the Government has from the outset
insisted on the Public Debate reporting in June, thereby avoiding inclusion
of the FSE results, this obviously represented a bit of a rift between
Government and the devolved administrations (DAs). At the same time
the Steering Board wrote again to Mrs Beckett saying that for our own reasons
(ie loss of time due to the funding problems) we needed to revise the timetable,
and follow the same dates suggested by the DAs, and deliver a report in
September. We have now received confirmation from Mrs Beckett of
this - with the addition of further funding from the DAs given that the
timetable now satisfies their requirements. The total budget for
the whole Debate is now £500K - twice the original figure allocated.
This is not as much as we had hoped to have, however with some compromise
we feel we can attempt a process that achieves our objectives.
Proposed Plans
The Central Office of Information have now come up with a set of proposals
deliverable within the revised budget, as follows:
the production of a 'tool-kit', the details of which are being worked
up, but it is expected that it will consist of a video, a CD-rom, and a
paper version of the creative content of the first two. This will
form the basis of three 'tiers' of public meetings:
*the first tier will be six regional meetings in early May across the
UK (three in England, one each in Scotland, Wales and NI). These
meetings will serve to launch the process and the 'toolkit', as well as
offer the opportunity for deliberative interaction between members of the
public and 'experts'
*the second tier will be larger 'local' meetings run by county councils
etc for which technical and faciliation support will be offered and which
will follow the deliberative process created by the 'tool-kt'. These
meetings will obviously be dependent on take-up by councils - therefore
how many and where they might take place can not be guaranteed. Already
Norfolk, Shropshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire have expressed interest
in hosting meetings
*the third and final tier of meetings will be grassroots events run
by local networks - ie Womens' Institutes, trade unions, universities,
schools etc. The toolkit once again will enable groups to run a deliberative
event - something novel and different from the 'standard' public meeting
concept. Once again this level of meeting will be dependent on takeup
by groups across the country for those people unable to attend any
of the above meetings a version of the intereactive element of the toolkit
will be available via the webiste and also paper version for those unable
to access the internet.
There will be a feedback mechanism for all of the above elements of the process to allow for capture and analysis of participants views there will also be ten 'reconvened' workshops, which will mirror the Corr Willbourn workshops run before Xmas. The participants will be selected in order to ensure that grassroots opinions are captured in a deliberative process echoing the bigger meetings
Timing
The debate will be launched in April, and events will start in May
(kicking off in England and a bit later in the DAs) and run through to
July. The report will be written up over the summer and delivered
at the end of September. If the FSEs results are published in July
as currently projected then these can be incorporated also - however if
this timetable slips we will need to revisit this timetable.
How to engage
Following the above proposals - but bearing in mind that it is still
early days and things are very much at planning stage - there are several
ways that individuals and organisations will be able to get involved:
go along to a regional meeting - these will be announced when the debate
is launched in April
encourage your local council - either City, District or County - to
run a large scale meeting, and go along
take up the 'toolkit' and organise your own event in your community
log on to the website (when it is up and running in May) and participate
in the interactive component request a paper version
If you require more information on any of the above please email aebc@dti.gsi.gov.uk
with queries or to register your interest in getting involved in organising
a local meeting.
General information, minutes of meetings etc, are available at the
Public Debate website www.gmpublicdebate.org.uk - and you can also register
views here (using above email address).
Information for materials to be used in the debate
The materials that will be produced to underpin the debate ie for use
in a video or CD-rom, are currently the subject of a convoluted process
designed to ensure that they are balanced, fair and present all sides of
the argument. They are based on the workshops run before Christmas
with members of the public (for the report from these see
http://www.gmpublicdebate.org.uk/minutes/docs/corrwillbourn.doc ) which
gave rise to many questions, and which also indicated a recognition that
what are sometimes presented as 'facts' often aren't - and that there are
always two or more answers to one question! The workshops indicated
the desire to have information which presented all sides of the issue.
Consequently an inclusive process of engagement with key players (including
Friends of the Earth, Soil Association and Greenpeace) is taking place
and it is hoped it will end up with materials which adequately express
the many differing views held on this issue. Although this process
is a difficult one - and novel - fingers crossed the outcome is worth it.
Food Standards Agency
In the last update I sent out I highlighted the FSAs intention to hold
parallell but unconnected events. They have now created a website
http://www.food.gov.uk/gmdebate/?view=GM+Microsite
with information on what they are doing (a citizens jury, schools debate
etc) as well as general, supposedly independent, information on GM.
Currently the activities of the FSA are of great concern to members of
the PDSB as well as NGOs as there is potential for much confusion on who
is running what and who is really reporting to Government. And it
is fair to say that the desire by the PDSB to run a process that is open,
transparent, rooted in public concerns, framed by the public and underpinned
by information that is balanced and expresses all views - is not one shared
by the FSA in practice. For more information on this get in touch
with me.
The next Five Year Freeze newsletter, due out next week, will have
more information on this, the Science Review and the Strategy Unit's economics
review. If you do not currently recieve this (in hard copy not electronic)
then email rachel@fiveyearfreeze.org with your postal details.
Any questions please don't hesitate to mail me.
Best wishes
Clare Devereux
FIVE YEAR FREEZE CAMPAIGN
The Genetic Engineering Alliance
94 White Lion Street
London
N1 9PF
Tel: 020 7837 0642/01273 822700
Fax: 020 7837 1141
clare@fiveyearfreeze.org
www.fiveyearfreeze.org
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