Spread of GM Crops Out of Control in Many Countries – New Report

Posted on Nov 12 2013 - 6:21pm by Sustainable Pulse

Today Testbiotech published the first global overview showing how genetically engineered plants (GM crops) such as maize, rice, cotton, oilseed rape, bentgrass and poplar trees are spreading uncontrollably.

This is happening in regions and countries such as the USA and Canada, Middle America, Japan, China, Australia and Europe. In many cases, the plants have escaped far beyond the fields into the environment. In some regions, the transgenes have already moved into populations of wild relatives.

Read the Full Report: Transgene escape – Global atlas of uncontrolled spread of genetically engineered plants

The overview was published to coincide with the international conference on coexistence with genetically engineered plants (GMCC), starting today in Lisbon, Portugal. EU Commissioner Toni Borg who is responsible for market authorisations of these plants, will give a video speech at the conference sponsored by companies such as Monsanto and others.

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“Coexistence between genetically engineered crops and biodiversity is not possible if crops are spreading into wild populations without control. Industry is contaminating biodiversity and our future seeds – who will hold them responsible?” says Margarida Silva from the GMO-free Platform in Portugal.

There are various reasons for transgene escape. Apart from commercial cultivation and experimental field trials, losses from the import and transport of viable grains for food and feed production are a source of uncontrolled dispersal. The consequences cannot be reliably predicted, and from the cases documented in the overview it is evident that no prediction can be made on how these plants will behave in the long-term or interact with biodiversity.

“EU Commissioner Tonio Borg who is currently pushing for the authorisation of genetically engineered plants in the EU, should be aware of the consequences of this technology on a global scale”, says Christoph Then for Testbiotech. “We need regulations to ensure that the release of genetically engineered organisms is prohibited unless they can be removed from the environment if required.”

A legal dossier published recently by Testbiotech clearly shows a lack of global regulation. The precautionary principle as established in the European Union can only be implemented if there are effective measures in place to remove genetically engineered organisms from the environment if this is urgently required. But even within the EU, a regulatory framework is needed to clarify how this can be implemented in practice.

The Testbiotech report “Transgene escape – Global atlas of uncontrolled spread of genetically engineered plants” was realised with the support of the Gregor Louisoder Umweltstiftung, Munich, Germany.

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11 Comments so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. GMOsRnotNice November 13, 2013 at 02:52 - Reply

    It wouldn’t surprise me if this situation is by design: the Monsanto/GMO Saturation Technique can be used with pesticides, herbicides, advertisements, op ads, internet shilling, “scientific” obfuscation, academic obfuscation. The quote below concerns “market saturation.”

    “The hope of the industry is that over time, the market is so flooded (with GMOs) that there’s nothing you can do about it. You just sort of surrender.”

    —Don Westfall, biotech industry consultant and vice-president of Promar International, Toronto Star, January 9 2001.

    • harry s monster November 13, 2013 at 16:04 - Reply

      Of course it was..that factor would definately be considered to muscle their way in. The whole thing is engineered for the market not the product itself. So most of its engineering is aimed at its market consumption and capture..Look at the efforts made in payola in Washington as a clue..

  2. Jennifer Mansfield November 13, 2013 at 02:55 - Reply

    People want to know what to do–how can the local consumer (besides boycotting GM GMO products and “voting”) make a radical advancement in the direction of eliminating GM GMO farming (?) We are masses of individuals lead by a few incredulous corporations and politicians who have deceived the general public over almost two decades with marketing and media professing that our food is “healthy”. We are in the midst of lawsuits against big food corporations and signing petitions to halt FSMA regulations that will obliterate organic farming. What can we do as individuals coming together to SPEED this AWARENESS and ACTION !(?)! Concerned Citizen of the USA.

    • time to do something November 13, 2013 at 15:20 - Reply

      Sounds like time to act…maybe a few thousand GMO fields need to accidentally catch fire…by lightning strikes or something…just speculating…

      • Concerned November 14, 2013 at 20:46 - Reply

        🙂

  3. GMOsRnotNice November 13, 2013 at 03:06 - Reply

    Anybody paying attention even years ago was well aware that this would eventually happen.

    Now, how is humanity going to deal with the worldwide GMO plague?

    Please share your ideas and being to implement the best of them.

    Here are a few that I have seen:

    1) Save organic heirloom seeds — at home, in community seed banks, and secure places.
    2) Start community farms — but know if there are toxic GMOs nearby.
    3) Grow food at home.
    4) Grow food in greenhouses.
    5) Demand nationwide labeling laws.
    6) Cancel subscriptions to newspapers supporting this deadly technology.
    7) ?
    8) ?
    9) ?

    • Shawn Lewis November 13, 2013 at 22:24 - Reply

      – attend community farmer’s markets to support local growers. let them know that you are opposed to genetially modified products.
      – Write to companies who market “organic” products and let them know that you will not purchase their products if they contain genetically engineered ingredients (apparently, the “organic” rules do allow the manufacturer to include a percentage of non-organic ingreditents)

  4. Peter Gurba November 13, 2013 at 23:31 - Reply

    how about the GMO grass that is sown in golf courses and around homes ate thy killing the birds and wild life too???????????? seems Weed & Grass Killer don’t react with them any more….. life in unconsciousness

  5. jim edwards November 22, 2013 at 19:36 - Reply

    “We need regulations to ensure that the release of genetically engineered organisms is prohibited unless they can be removed from the environment if required.”

    Because you have a resolution, (= mouth w/out teeth) to put Genie back n her bottle, does not mean that she is going to obey your piece of paper. This monster is out, it’s destroying the God made / Evolution made seeds, and they admittedly don’t know how long the GMO will viable. SO, Monsanto/DuPont/Bayer et al, your money maker monster destroys the food bearing seeds that evolution/god made, and then YOUR crap fails, where does that leave the five billion people who are needing food??? Famine of biblical proportions maybe?

    See Rev.6 5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

    6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

    7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

    8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

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