EU farm commissioner Franz Fischler on Sunday criticised Italy for being out of step with European Union policy on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).'Italy`s zero tolerance as far as contamination of wheat with genetically modified organisms is concerned, is not in keeping with the position of the European Commission,' Fischler said, referring to the EU`s executive body.</p><p><a href="http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/030817172130.42n981va">EU Business - EU aide slams Italy`s zero tolerance for GMO seeds</a>:

Update: The US has now formally requested panels for the GM moratorium case against the European Union and the EUhas rejected the request (which they can do just once). This means that if the US, Canadaand Argentina don't back off, panels will automatically be set up from 29 Augustand the whole case would go through the WTO system which could take some 18months. The GE industry, some farmers organisations and US congress members areputting a lot of pressure on the US administration to expand the complaint toinclude the new labeling and traceability rules. WTOrules however would require toopen a new case on this.<a href="http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/03/1165§0§RAPID&lg=EN&display=">EU Commission Press Communique (eng, fr, d) 18th Aug</a><br><a href="http://www.zs-l.de/gmo/news/2003_05_01_news_archiv.html#200283119">background on the WTO case</a>

In the first public survey of farmers' attitudes toward GM crops, Biotechnology Australia found 74 per cent of 500 people quizzed said they would not consider growing genetically altered crops at this stage.Forty nine per cent said they were generally opposed to GM crops, while 23 per cent said they were supportive while another 17 per cent answered neither.</p><p><a href="http://news.ninemsn.com.au/Sci_Tech/story_35883.asp">Farmers say no to GM crops in survey</a>

Washington, DC- Gene flow is not unique to genetically modified crops (GM), but the possible spread of transgenic DNA to wild and domesticated relatives raises a new set of issues for scientists and policymakers to consider, according to a new issue brief released today by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology.The brief, titled "Have Transgenes, Will Travel: Issues Raised by Gene Flow From Genetically Engineered Crops," summarizes the ecological and economic concerns experts mention when considering what could happen if novel traits from transgenic crops spread to other populations.<a href="http://pewagbiotech.org/resources/issuebriefs/geneflow.pdf">PEW Initiative briefing on gene flow</a>

A year long court ban to plant Monsantos Roundup Ready soybeans has been waived by a single judge of an appellate court. The minister of environment pointed out, that no GMO could be marketed without a proper environmental impact assessment, which was still missing for Monsantos beans. This comes at a moment when the Lula government is preparing new legislation on GMOs.</p><p><a href="http://www.hirehealth.com/ci/servlet/com.ci.news.DisplayNews?NEWS_ID=243645">IPS: ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: TRANSGENIC SOYA ADVANCES IN LEGAL BATTLE</a>

Mount Vernon, Iowa - Laura Krouse is stumped.She does not know how her old-fashioned, open-pollinated corn picked up traces of newfangled, genetically modified corn two years ago, or why her corn tested clean of the GMO genes a year ago.All she knows is that it is critical for her business - Abbe Hills Open Pollinated Seed Corn - that the corn be free of the genes from genetically altered corn.</p><p><a href="http://desmoinesregister.com/business/stories/c4789013/21933370.html">DesMoinesRegister</a>

Coming back from a fact finding mission in Canada, former minister Michael Meacher writes: "co-existence'' - a framework to ensure that organic and conventional farming can survive and prosper alongside GM farming - is a mirage. In Saskatchewan, organic oilseed rape has been wiped out by cross-contamination from Monsanto`s 'Roundup Ready' GM canola. If it is impossible to separate off organic oilseed rape in the vast spaces of the Canada prairies, it is inconceivable that it can be kept separate in the very much smaller land area of Europe.Even more disturbing is that pollution of organic crops does not come primarily airborne, from pollen, but from contamination of the seed supply.</p><p><a href="http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=430971">Michael Meacher in the Independent</a>

GM crops can be more damaging to neighbouring flora and fauna than ordinary strains of sugar beet, maize and oilseed rape, the Government`s farm trials have shown.</p><p><a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=429820">Independent: GM crops do harm surrounding flora and fauna, farm trials likely to reveal</a>

Estonia`s first scandal over GM products erupted late last month when it was revealed that unauthorised GM maize seeds had been sold to local farmers.Daily newspaper Aripaev alleged that a company connected to ex-Minister of Agriculture Jaanus Marrandi had sold about 500 tonnes of imported GM maize seeds to Estonian farmers this year without informing them of the seeds' true nature.The farmers were either about to plant the seeds in the next few weeks or had already done so, according to reports. Many farmers said the maize harvested was to be used to feed cows whose milk is supplied to local dairies.The Ministry of Env said no comment would be made until an investigation into the case had been completed. However, officials confirmed that the maize seeds sold to the farmers were GM.The investigation is not over yet, but we recommend that farmers who bought this GM maize do not sow it until we have reached a final decision,the ministry said.AgraFood East Europe,June 2003

Farmers who have grown genetically modified oil-seed rape on their land as part of the government's trials have been warned not to grow conventional oil-seed on the same land this autumn for fear of contaminating it.The Department of Environment issued the warning yesterday to prevent farmers growing crops that might become unsaleable in Britain because they contained too much GM material.In a statement the department said research showed that seeds persisted in the soil in greater quantities than previously thought<a href="http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,9061,1006219,00.html">Guardian Unlimited Politics - Special Reports - Alert on spread of GM seeds</a>