Background information and Dossiers

SOS Dossiers:

Further Background Papers

Too close to comfort
Friends of the Earth Europe report on corporate lobby power and its access to the European Commission, focussed on the key biotech lobby group EuropaBio. Examples of the very cosy relationship between the companies who stand to make profits from agricultural biotechnology and policy makers at the European Commission (November 2007).

The global GM Contamination Register
       Records all incidents of contamination arising from the intentional or accidental release of genetically modified organisms (by GeneWatch UK and Greenpeace International ongoing)

Genetically Modified (GM) Crops and Foods: Worldwide overview in Regulation, Prohibition and Production
       An ongoing monitoring project of the Centre on Food Safety and the International Forum on Globalisation, list and graphic overview (last updated September 2005)

Contaminating the Wild
US field trials of experimental genetically engineered (GE) crops pose unassessed risks to wildlife, yet government regulators have inadequate safeguards to protect the environment from genetic contamination. The report examines the history of field trials of GE crops and warns that potential hazards will increase with increasingly powerful and unpredictable engineered genes. (Center for Food Safety, June 2006)
Recommendations for the Early Food Safety Evaluation of New Non-Pesticidal Proteins Produced by New Plant Varieties Intended for Food Use
US Food and Drug Administration (June 2006)
" We encourage you to submit to us your food safety evaluation of a new protein prior to the stage of development at which a new protein might inadvertently enter the food supply, for example, via pollen flow or commingling as you increase the size or extent of field testing."

US State legislature on Agricultural Biotechnology 2005
An overview on the content and fate of 117 pieces of legislation addressing GMOs in agriculture introduced at State level in the USA, published by the PEW initiative in June 2006.
Deficiencies in the US Federal Regulatory Oversight of Genetically Engineered Crops
A critical review of the present system of federal US GM approvals and safety regulations prepared by Brian Toker in June 2006

Tracking the trend towards market concentration: The case of the agricultural input industry
       Study prepared by the UNCTAD secretariat, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (April 2006)

Presenting scientific advice on GMOs: Reporting uncertainty and assumptions
       An analysis of the The European Food Safety Authority's GMO risk opinions by GeneWatch UK (April 2006)

Pharma crops, state of field trials worldwide
A brief overview by Andreas Bauer: Umweltinstitut München e.V. - Munich Environmental Institute, www.umweltinstitut.org(February 2006)

Audit report: APHIS Controls Over Issuance of Genetically Engineered Organism Release Permit
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General "Current (USDA) regulations, policies and procedures do not ensure the safe introduction of agricultural biotechnology". The USDA audit report says the agency "lacks basic information" on where field tests are or what is done with the crops after they are harvested (January 2006)

Backgrounder on the WTO Dispute: U.S. vs. EC BioTech Products Case
        Written by Steve Suppan, IATP, (September 2005)

The Myth of Coexistence: Why Transgenic Crops Are Not Compatible With Agroecologically Based Systems of Production
        Prof. Miguel A. Altieri, University of California, Berkeley in Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society (August 2005)

Adventitious presence
       Commentary of the US Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) on adventitious presence of GMO in seeds and harvest (July 2005)

Global Traceability and Labeling Requirements for Agricultural Biotechnology-Derived Products: Impacts and Implications for the United States
A report prepared by the USDA Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (May 2005)

Withering on the vine: Will Agricultural Biotech's promises bear fruit?
A report on US approvals of "second generation" GM crops shows a sharp decline in new GM traits and varieties since 2000, by Gregg Jiaffe, CSPI (January 2005)

Preparing for the Future
Scenarios regarding the future use of GMOs in agriculture, report prepared by the USDA Advisory Committee On Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (May 2005)

Setting up a genetically modified organism land register
        The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors proposes simple and effective means to trace GMO growing (2005)

Monsanto Ratstudy: 13-Week Dietary Subchronic Comparison Study with MON 863 Corn in Rats Preseded by a 1-Week Baseline Food Consumption Determination with PMI Certified Rodent Diet #5002 ( ~1100 pages)
Monsanto Ratstudy: Summary of the Study (11 pages)

Differential effects of glyphosate and Roundup on human placental cells and aromatase
        New finding on the toxicity of "Roundup" by Sophie Richard, Gilles-Eric Seralini et. al., in Environmental health perspective (Feb 2005)

Throwing Caution to the Wind
        A review of the European Food Safety Authority ( EFSA) and its work on genetically modified foods and crops. (November 2004)

Guiding principles to address the possibility of unintentional presence of trangenes in ex situ collections (gene banks)
      Results and contributions to the workshop "Technical issues associated with the development of CGIAR policies to address the possibility of adventitious presence of transgenes in CGIAR ex situ      collections" from 30 August - 1 September 2004 in Rome, Italy.

Greenpeace briefing: "Ge-contamination, the ticking time-bomb"
        A very well referenced assessment of incidents of contamination of non-GM crops with GMOs worldwide (September 2004)

Field Testing of Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States
Between 1987 and 2004 USDA has approved 10,296 GMO experimental field releases on f 47,219 fields. The percentage of field tests conducted with genes considered Confidential Business Information and thus hidden from public has increased from 0% in 1987 to 70% in 2004. Since 1991 418 field releases of crops engineered to produce pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, or other so-called biopharmaceuticals. 77 page overview by the TexPIRG Education Fund (April 2004)

Studie der Österreichischen Agentur für Gesundheit und Ernährungssicherheit
        Die Produktion von Saatgut in abgegrenzten Erzeugungsprozessen zur Vermeidung einer Verunreinigung mit Gentechnisch Veränderten Organismen
        im Kontext mit der Koexistenz von konventioneller Landwirtschaft mit oder ohne GVO und ökologischer Landwirtschaft (Juni 2004)

Avis juridique sur le pouvoir d'appreciation revenant a la Commission Europeen en vertu de l'article 21,2 de la Directive 2001/18
        Professeur. Dr. N. de Sadeleer (April 2004)

Gone to Seed, Transgenic contaminants in the traditional seed supply
       Union of Concerned Scientists, Laboratory testing of traditional (non-GE) seeds of corn, soybeans, and canola (Feb 2004)

Genetically modified crops - a decade of failure (1994-2004) part 1-4
       A global assessment by Friends of the Earth International (Feb 2004)

Genetic engineering and liability insurance - the controversy continues
        Thomas Epprecht, Swiss-Re (world's second biggest re-insurance company) explains which GMO damages can be covered by insurance and which can not (July 2003)

Concepts for coexistence in Europe
        Study prepared for the government of upper Austria by Werner Mueller (2003)

Conference report: GMOs coexistence or contamination?
       Transscript of a European Converence in Brussels organised by Friends of the Earth and the European Greens (May 2003)

Risk dialogue in genetic engineering: How the insurance sector found its voice
         by Rolf Tanner and Thomas Epprecht in GAIN: Geneva Association Information Newsletter ( May 2003)

Pharm and industrial crops the next wave of agricultural biotechnology
       A short overview and introduction to pharmaceutical crops by the Union of Concerned Scientists

Genetically modified crops, molecular and regulatory facts
      The BATS centres complete inventory of GMOs approved world wide with details about the DNA transformation and the countries approvals,
      March 2003

The division of powers between the EU and the Member States with regard to deliberate release of GMOs (the new Directive 2001/18)
       legal analysis of Directive 2001/18 and the member states power to act under this Directive by Patrycja Dabrowska in German Law Journal - European & International Law (May 2002

Pioneer confirms it can deliver non-GMO seeds at 0,1% detection level
        Letter of Pioneer Austria, March 2002

Rechtliche Aspekte und methodische Ansätze im Zusammenhang mit dem Nachweis von GMO-Verunreinigungen in Saatgut
      Vorträge zum Thema Gentechnik im Saatgut auf der Jahrestagung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Landwirtschaftlicher Versuchsanstalten, 2001

Gentechnik geht uns alle an
       Eine übersichtliche, kritische und gut illustrierte Einführung in die Grundlagen und Prinzipien der Gentechnik und ihre derzeitgen Anwendungsgebiete        vom Ökologie-Institut Wien im Auftrag des österreichischen Umweltministerium: Was Sie schon immer über Gentechnik wissen wollten und sich nicht zu        fragen trauten...

Verunreinigungen mit GMO in Saatgut (von Nicht-GMO-Sorten), aktuelle Entwicklungen in EU, OECD, ISTA
       von Dipl. Ing. Leopold Girsch, Österreichisches Bundesamt und Forschungszentrum, Institut für Saatgut

Strategies for Organic Farmers to Minimize and Manage Risks of Genetic Modification by Pollen Drift (english)
        Von RA Hanspeter Schmidt, Freiburg

Arbeitsgruppe Grüne Gentechnik und Ökologische Landwirtschaft (UBA) (deutsch)
       "Der Konflikt zwischen ökologischer Landwirtschaft und dem Anbau von gentechnisch veränderten Pflanzen - Der Rechtsrahmen in Deutschland und         Vorschläge zur Verbesserung"(16.1.2002)

An illustrated example of emergence of multi-herbicide tolerant weedy canola (oilseed rape) by Percy Schmeiser

Saskatchewan Organic farmers lawsuits against Monsanto and Aventis for genetic contamination
      Organic farmers can no longer grow Canola (oilseed rape) because there are no GMO free seeds available any more


Zufälliges und technisch unvermeidbares Vorhandensein von GVO in konventionellen / nicht-GVO Produkten Stand und Perspektiven       der Europäischen Rechtsetzung und Politik
      Präsentation von Garlich von Essen, European Seed Association (ESA), Brüssel