The government of Upper-Austria announced that it will appeal the EU Commissions decision against its law to ban GMO growing.<br /><a href="http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:21159">CORDIS: News service</a>

Canadian farmers with first hand experience growing genetically modified (GMO) crops say the technology will damage the organic food sector and leave fields strewn with `super weeds' grown from stray, leftover seeds.</p><p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3743928">Reuters</a>

The Green Party of Malta wants to keep the island GMO free. A spokesman said 'Malta must withstand any pressure from the US, the EU and the seed companies to give in and open the door to genetically modified crops.'<a href="http://www.independent.com.mt/daily/newsview.asp?id=21906">The Malta Independent Daily Website</a>

The European Consumers Bureau, representing 36 consumer organisations within the EU and accession countries has published a position paper on the co-existence of GMO and non-GMO products and agriculture. BEUC believes that strict non-gmo production "can only be achieved when the GM contamination of the input - in this case the seed - is minimal, i.e. 0.1% or the detection limit (technically "0")."><a href="http://www.zs-l.de/saveourseeds/downloads/beuc_position_31_10_03.pdf">BEUC position paper</a>

As the EU Commission today informed the permanent representatives of the Council, it has changed its legal assessment and now accepts that the proposed Directive on labelling GMOs in seeds can only be adopted by a qualified majority of member states within the Standing Committee responsible for deliberate releases of GMOs into the environment (Directive 2001/18). Until now the Commission intended to push through the GM Seeds Directive under a technical procedure in the Standing Committee on Seeds, where it would have been adopted unless a qualified majority of member states voted against it. The FT calls it a U-turn on modified seeds.The Save our Seeds Initiative today celebrates an important success, but the contamination thresholds proposed by the Commission still remain unchanged.</p><p><a href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=753&e=9&u=/nm/20031023/sc_nm/environment_eu_gmo_dc">Reuters - EU Rethinks Strategy on Agreeing Gene Seed Rules</a></p><p><a href="http://www.zs-l.de/saveourseeds/downloads/zsl_20_10_en.pdf">Save our Seeds press release</a>

Co-op UK which comprises farming (34.000 ha), food production and supermarkets with an annunal income aorund 5,5 billion Euro has announced a fully integrated and strict non GMO policy for its entire operation. Co-ops chief executive said: "On the strength of current scientific knowledge and the overwhelming opposition of our members, the Co-op is saying no to commercial growing of GM crops in the UK.And we would urge other consumer-led businesses to follow this precautionary approach." The groups move is likely to put pressure on other supermarket groups to eliminate GM ingredients from their food produce.<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3209424.stm">BBC NEWS - Business - Co-op goes GM-free</a><br><a href="http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3686054">Reuters: European Supermarkets wary about carrying GMO food</a>

The Brazilian state of Parana, which last week declared itself a transgenics-free territory, is holding some 800 trucks - some of them from Paraguay - carrying genetically modified soy, its government said Wednesday.</p><p><a href="http://www.zawya.com/printstory.cfm?storyid=295u0812&Section=Markets&page=Commodities&l=004000031023">Bloomberg: Brazilian state impounds cargos of transgenic soy</a></p><p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3697665&pageNumber=0">Reuters: Brazil battle over biotech soy threatens top export</a>

In an information note to the permanent representatives of the member states the EU Commission unveils the different steps and their timing to re-start approving the commercialisation of GMOs within the coming months. The plan will be discussed at a meeting of the representatives on Wednesday in Brussels. The first authorisation is planned for either Nov 10 or December 12th.</p><p><a href="http://www.zs-l.de/saveourseeds/downloads/eu_com_gmo_20_10_03.pdf">EU Commission: Information note on forthcoming decisions on GMOs and GM food, feed and seed</a>

According to "Nature" latest editions editorial "for the past few years, there has been one forecast that scientific soothsayers have been able to rely on: that controversy will rage over genetically modified (GM) crops. So to say that agribiotech is now in for a volatile time might seem like an empty prediction. But there are good reasons to believe that the fight over GM crops is coming to a head."<a href="http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v425/n6959/full/425655a_fs.html">Nature 425, 655 (16 October 2003): Time to choose</a>

The EU Commission and the Member States are currently discussing within the Standing Committee on Seeds the proposal for a Directive regarding the adventitious presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in seeds. EuroCommerce, the European trade representation of the Retail, Wholesale and International Trade, is concerned that the proposed thresholds for seed lots will lead to growing contamination of the whole of the food and feed supply chain and therefore will considerably reduce the freedom of choice available to consumers between GM and non-GM food.</p><p><a href="http://www.eurocommerce.be/index.jsp?ptp=tDetail.jsp&pci=952&pti=88&psk=01">EuroCommerce press release</a>