News

2014-09-28 |

UN Meeting on the Use of Living Modified Organisms opens on Monday

Meeting on the Safe Use of Living Modified Organisms
- First of three major United Nations meetings opens Monday
Pyeongchang/Montreal, 26 September 2014 – On Monday, delegates from around the world will convene for the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP MOP 7). The meeting will discuss and adopt further decisions to contribute to ensuring the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology and consider the issue of integrating biosafety into other relevant national initiatives to enhance further implementation. The Cartagena Protocol, an additional agreement to the Convention on Biodiversity, entered into force on 11 September 2003. To date, 168 countries are Parties to the Protocol. The Supplementary Protocol, an additional agreement to the Cartagena Protocol, was adopted in Nagoya, Japan in 2010. To date, 26 countries are Parties to the Supplementary Protocol. It will enter into force 90 days after 40 Parties have acceded or ratified it. The latest country to accede to the Cartagena Protocol and the Supplementary Protocol is the United Arab Emirates on 12 September 2014.

2014-09-26 |

FAO highlighted

New approaches to food systems needed to cope with climate change
FAO Director-General addresses UN Climate Change Summit
23 September 2014, New York - Overcoming climate change is central to achieving a sustainable future for the planet's growing population, and food security must lie at the heart of that effort, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said here today in a speech at the UN Climate Summit.

2014-09-25 |

ProTerra expects an increase in Non-GMO soya

Interview: GMO debates clouding bigger picture on sustainability (Agra Europe)

The role of biotechnology in the food supply chain remains a highly divisive issue in Europe and while the need for more ‘sustainability’ in agriculture is widely agreed on, there is little consensus on how this can actually be achieved. In an exclusive interview with Agra Europe, ProTerra Foundation Executive Director Sibyl Anwander discusses sustainability issues, arguing that GMO safety is not yet clear, that herbicide resistance and resource efficiency are the real challenges and that global crop supply chains need more transparency and stability.
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ProTerra is involved in the ‘Brussel Soy Declaration’, for retailers supporting more production of non-GM soya in Brazil, and the ‘Danube Soya Initiative’, aiming to reduce EU dependence on imported soya for feed and boost cultivation of non-GM soya in the Danube region. How can the reliance be reduced – are the two initiatives having an impact?
EU soyabean imports are actually slowly decreasing, especially from the US. This is partly due to a fall in meat consumption since the economic crisis began, and more EU production.

The Danube Soya Initiative is gaining in importance, partly due to the incentives created by the EU’s recent CAP reform [the forthcoming ‘greening’ payment - see below].

For ProTerra, we are expecting an increase in non-GMO soya for next year, given the negotiations between the German retail sector and the poultry industry. If an agreement in the whole retail sector can be achieved, there could also be an impact later in the pork market. There is also rising interest from the aquaculture industry, for non-GMO fish feed.

The big market growth is in China, but China is starting to care if its feed imports are GM or non-GM and is concerned about the competitiveness of domestic production. There have also been food health crises in Chinese cities and the emerging middle class, wealthier and better informed, are willing to pay more for their food.
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2014-09-22 |

Join Canadian Biotechnology Action Network in Alberta

What’s Next for GMOs? What’s Next for GMOs?

Join CBAN at events in Alberta, Oct 2-3, Calgary and Edmonton

What's Next for GMOs? Genetically Modified Food and Our Future
Do genetically modified (GM) crops and foods have a future in Canada? How would farmers and consumers be impacted by a GM "non-browning" apple or GM alfalfa? Bring your questions and participate in this important discussion!

Featuring: Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, Ottawa

Oct 2: University of Calgary. Thursday October 2nd, 4:00-5:30PM. Science Theatres 145. Presented by Blush Lane Organic Market and Sunnyside Organic Market.

Oct 2: Calgary. Thursday October 2nd, 7- 9PM Ambrose University. Free Admission, Please register at Blush Lane Organic Market www.blushlane.com Refreshments & Door Prizes! Presented by Blush Lane Organic Market

Oct 3: Edmonton. Friday October 3rd, 7- 9PM Roots on Whyte Community Building. Free Admission, Please register at Blush Lane Organic Market www.blushlane.com Refreshments & Door Prizes! Presented by Blush Lane Organic Market

Share the event pages on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/cban.canadian.biotechnology.action.network
Or contact us for posters! Thank you for helping to promote these events.

2014-09-22 |

Georgian parliament passes law on live GM organisms

The Georgian parliament passed a law on "Live genetically modified organisms". The law was supported by 65 deputies and opposed by two deputies.

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