AGRICULTURE-BRAZIL: Environmentalists Win One on the GMO Front

Environmental activists in Brazil have won a battle, but the war on genetically modified organisms continues in this country, a world leader in production of soya, which is increasingly a transgenic crop.

AGRICULTURE-BRAZIL: The Ever More Tangled GM Crop Debate

Genetically modified soya is running into new difficulties in Brazil, with hundreds of trucks blocked from transporting their soya shipments to port, and farmers without authorisation to use the herbicide indispensable for protecting this crop.

DEVELOPMENT: GM Crops Suffer Another Blow

Genetically modified crops have proved a danger to wildlife in two out of three major experiments carried out in Britain.

GM FOODS: Mexican Maize Meets Banned Variety

Contamination of Mexico's maize by genetically modified (GM) varieties, including the banned StarLink, is much more widespread than previously reported, according to a new study sponsored by a coalition of indigenous and farmer groups.

LATIN AMERICA: The Conquest of Transgenic Crops

Genetically modified crops already cover more than 18 million hectares in Latin America, promoted by a handful of transnational corporations that impose prices and conditions, while the debate about their cultivation, trade and consumption is charged with threats, lawsuits and cash.

AGRICULTURE-BRAZIL: GM Soya Threatens Local Seed Industry

The Brazilian government's decision to temporarily allow farmers to plant genetically modified soya seed that was smuggled into the country "is our death sentence," says Narciso Barisón Neto, head of a seed-producers' association in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

DEVELOPMENT: Britain Set To Seal Future of GM in Europe

The future of GM crops in Europe has been in the balance for some time, but that balance is now tilted more in favour of the anti-GM lobby following the results of a government-sponsored consultation process last week.

AGRICULTURE-BRAZIL: GM Soya Illegal, but Government Approved

Genetically modified soya is gaining ground in Brazil through an illegal channel that has now been given the green light by the government itself.

AGRICULTURE-ARGENTINA: The ‘Green Desert’ of Soya

Soya has become Argentina's number-one export, and the area planted with this crop is expanding each year at the expense of livestock and other traditional crops like maize, wheat, cotton, potato and lentils.

CANADA: Farmer Ready for Final Court Battle Against Monsanto

Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser will get his last chance in January 2004 to defeat agribusiness and biotechnology giant Monsanto, when the Canadian Supreme Court is to hear a case that could affect farmers the world over.

HEALTH: Scientists Link GM Crop Weed Killer to Powerful Fungus

Scientists are expressing alarm after finding elevated amounts of potentially toxic fungal moulds in food crops sprayed with a common weed killer widely used with genetically engineered (GE) plants.

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Transgenic Soya Advances in Legal Battle

A judge has annulled the ban on producing and selling genetically modified soya in Brazil without prior studies of its environmental and health impacts, imposed by another court in 1998. But environmental and consumer activists pledge that the legal battle will continue.

SCIENCE-MEXICO/U.S.: Potatoes Debut Blight-Fighting Gene

Potatoes armed with genes resistant to the crop's leading enemy, late blight, are undergoing trial by fire in Mexico by being exposed to the disease in open field tests. So far, the potatoes have been winning, though it is only a partial victory.

ENVIRONMENT: Hidden GM Crops Sow Fresh Dispute

The discovery of an undeclared plantation of genetically modified crops in Italy has given a new twist to the controversy over these crops.

AUSTRALIA: Federal Gov’t Okays GE Canola, But States Block It

Despite the go-ahead given by the Australian government for the commercial release of genetically engineered canola, intense opposition from farming and environmental groups has prompted most state governments to impose a moratorium on its planting.

ENVIRONMENT-US: Groups Seek Halt to Bio-Pharming Field Trials

Even as the United States sues the European Union in the World Trade Organisation for shunning genetically engineered crops, the administration of Pres. George W. Bush has itself become the target of a lawsuit by groups seeking a ban on open field trials of plants designed to produce pharmaceutical drugs.

ENVIRONMENT: EU Draws Closer to U.S. over Biotech Foods

New genetically modified foods may be sold in the European Union for the first time, bringing the 15-nation grouping a step closer to ending a trade row with the U.S.

DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Aid Operations Hampered by GMO Controversy

As more than 14 million people in Southern Africa face the threats of starvation, aid operations in the region continue to be hampered by the controversy about the uses and dangers of genetically modified foods.

RIGHTS-FRANCE: Anti-GM Farmer Becomes a Hero

The arrest of farmer José Bové in a little town in southern France is beginning to do more damage to the government than to him.

HEALTH: Africans Challenge Bush Claim that GM Food Good for Them

As the transatlantic dispute over the future of genetically modified (GM) food heats up, African activists say it is time to publicly challenge the image that the Bush administration is presenting on the issue.

DEVELOPMENT-BRAZIL: Scientists Lead Charge in Favour of GMOs

Scientists in Brazil are on the move to defend continued research of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), enlivening a debate that is already having major impacts on the world agricultural markets.