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Biotech / Medical : Monsanto Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dan Spillane who wrote (2207)	6/24/1999 5:44:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2539

EU Nears Ban on Modified Food Approvals, Strict Rules (Update1) Bloomberg News June 24, 1999, 5:22 p.m. ET EU Nears Ban on Modified Food Approvals, Strict Rules (Update1) (Adds U.S. objections, paragraphs 3-4.) Luxembourg, June 24 (Bloomberg) -- European Union environment ministers agreed that new genetically modified seeds shouldn't be grown or sold in the 15-nation bloc until stricter rules on their labeling and sale are in place, German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin said. ''Until strict ecological standards take effect, no new genetically modified organisms should be released into the environment,'' said Trittin, who chaired a meeting of the ministers. ''We want a self-imposed agreement that such things won't be decided.'' A ban on the sale of genetically altered food would set up a showdown with the U.S. government, which has already criticized the EU for taking up to 18 months to approve the food now. The issue is crucial to U.S. farmers because up to 40 percent of some of their crops are genetically modified, and the EU is the second- largest buyer of U.S. food products, after Japan. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky today underlined her displeasure with the EU position by telling the Senate Agriculture Committee the approval process ''has completely broken down,'' creating a ''serious problem'' for the U.S. Yet a ban would also violate EU rules on approval of genetically modified products, and the ministers are trying to find a legal loophole to allow for a moratorium on new approvals, EU Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard said. Deep-Seated Concern The planned ban, which reflects deep-seated European concerns over the health risks of genetically altered corn or soy designed to resist pests, would delay the approval of products engineered by Novartis AG of Switzerland, Rhone-Poulenc SA of France and others. Bjerregaard said a ''de facto moratorium'' is already in place, as no new genetically altered seeds have won EU approval in the last year. Still, the formal move by EU governments to block their approval further shuts makers of the products out of European markets. The French Agriculture Ministry said yesterday it would push for a moratorium because the current EU rules on approval, drawn up in 1990, fail to set clear labeling guidelines and establish exactly what defines a product as ''genetically modified.'' The environment ministers, meeting today and tomorrow in Luxembourg, are likely to reach ''political agreement'' on the revised rules, Bjerregaard said. The agreement will trigger a lengthy series of procedural steps including formal drafting of the rules and approval by the European Parliament. Greenpeace Happy Greenpeace, an environmental group, said it ''welcomed'' the EU decision and predicted the ban will last ''at least until the year 2002.'' The EU decision comes as heightened public concern over ''Frankenstein Food'' -- as British tabloid newspapers have dubbed the products -- has led supermarket chains such as J Sainsbury Plc of the U.K., Carrefour SA of France and the Federation of Migros Cooperatives in Switzerland to form a committee to ensure such ingredients are clearly labeled. The moratorium would derail pending EU approvals of a Novartis strain of genetically modified maize and a Rhone-Poulenc rape seed. Companies that make genetically altered products -- a worldwide market that is estimated to grow to account for about a fourth of the $32 billion crop-protection industry by 2005 -- say they support consumer information through better labeling and guidelines on how to trace genetic modifications throughout the food chain. They contend, however, that there's no evidence such products can harm consumers' health or alter the makeup of surrounding crops. Consumer Caution Consumer advocates and environmental groups urge caution because no one has studied the long-term effect on animals and humans of eating such plants. Opponents also say growing them may change the genetic makeup of surrounding crops. ''This is a clear step in the right direction,'' Greenpeace said in a statement. ''We certainly hope that this will be the first step toward a consistent ban on the release of GMOs in the future.'' The moratorium -- and the tightened rules under discussion - - would apply to genetically modified seeds and other base ingredients but not to ready-to-eat foods. The new rules would scrap permanent approval for genetically modified products, replacing it with temporary authorization that would be regularly reviewed in light of new scientific evidence. They'd also subject genetically engineered products to more thorough risk assessment, monitoring and labeling, and would require public consultations before a new product could be released onto the market.

To: Dan Spillane who wrote (2207)	6/24/1999 9:00:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 2539

Genetically altered honey could help the medicine go down Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Reuters News Service LONDON (June 23, 1999 9:21 p.m. EDT nandotimes.com) - Dutch researchers are breeding genetically modified plants that could someday produce nectar for making honey containing drugs or vaccines, New Scientist magazine said Wednesday. Scientists at the Center for Plant Breeding and Reproduction Research in Wageningen are adding genes for various drugs to the plants to produce a healing nectar. They discovered a genetic switch, or promoter, that activates the genes in the nectary of the plant where the nectar is made. The switch is specific to the nectary so the drugs are produced only in the nectar. "It's a production system that would require very little purification," Tineke Creemers told New Scientist. The genetically modified honey could either be fed to patients or the drugs could be taken from it. Creemers and her colleagues are using a similar system to grow genetically modified petunias to produce a vaccine against a dog disease called parvovirus. "Once the plants are fully grown and begin producing nectar, bees will be unleashed on them to produce honey that the researchers hope will contain the vaccine," the magazine added. The study is restricted to greenhouses so the researchers can guarantee the bees are only feeding on the modified plants. The scientists are also looking into whether the sugar in honey will act as a preservative which could be a big advantage for vaccination programs in tropical countries which lack large supplies of refrigeration equipment. search.excite.com\|ss=genetically+modified;http://www2.nando.net:80/noframes/story/0,2107,63244-100396-714943-0,00.html