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[SANET-MG] secret field tests of GM wheat Canada



The article below exposes  the absolute subservience of Canadian
regulators to Monsanto. The wretched bureaucrats and submissive
politicians  earlier squandered millions of taxpayer dollars on the
Monsanto project, and the shameless bureaucrats demanded direct and over
the table payments to themselves from corporations. The conniving
wretches in the Canadian food inspection agency have grown terrified of
"vandalism" but have not thought through the  simple honest use of
adequate security which might cost the corporations a little bit more.
Corporate control of of news media is such that there is  little public
knowledge  and no publicity on the numerous unsafe field tests of
dangerous pharm crops as well as the "food" constructions..
The Canadian regulatory machinery is operated in a manner famously
sneaky and underhanded. The practice is so successful in Canada that
government and academic bureaucrats  are beginning to be sought for
employment  in other countries dominated by corporations. The bottom
line is that the promises and pronouncements of  the Canadian government
are empty and other countries need to test all the food  or feed
exported from the country broadly to detect fraudulent contamination
with transgenes.
August 17, 2004
Monsanto ripped over wheat experiments
By COLIN PERKEL

TORONTO (CP) -- Field trials of genetically modified wheat are still
being conducted in Canada by multinational biotech giant Monsanto
despite a pledge earlier this year that the testing would be abandoned,
critics said Tuesday.

In a letter to Greenpeace Canada late last month, the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency confirmed that 16 Monsanto trials of so-called Roundup
Ready wheat are continuing "to allow researchers to complete their
research."

Greenpeace, one of several environmental groups opposed to the trials,
said Monsanto should have torn up the fields as it said it would.

"The trials are a danger for both the environment and for the potential
for release for farmers," said Pat Venditti, genetic engineering
campaigner for Greenpeace.

"It could pose a serious threat to Canada's ability to export wheat crops."

Monsanto did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday.

Genetically modifying crops involves manipulating their genetic material
to produce special characteristics. In May, Monsanto declared it would
"discontinue breeding and field-level research" into wheat resistant to
the popular herbicide Roundup.

Many export markets, Japan and the European Union among them, have
warned they would stop buying wheat from Canada if any of it is
genetically modified.

Monsanto's decision followed a campaign by critics who argue that little
is known about the impact of genetically altered crops on the
environment or human health.

Also, a government report in January suggested farmers would need to use
more pesticides if the wheat were to be widely cultivated.

Monsanto also withdrew requests to Ottawa to allow unconfined
environmental release of the crop and assessments of the wheat's safety
for animals and people.

While Ottawa insists it has tough rules to isolate the fields, critics
maintain there are no guarantees contamination of other fields won't occur.

"It is worrisome they would be doing this," said Marc Loiselle with the
Organic Agriculture Protection Fund from Hague, Sask.

"The understanding was that all trials were to be abandoned and . . .
existing test plots would be destroyed."

Citing concerns about vandalism, the federal government refused to
disclose the locations of the 16 plots.

The secrecy is another problem, said Venditti.

"If you are a farmer or producer half a mile or 100 yards from a
genetically engineered wheat trial, you have no way of knowing if what's
growing next door is genetically engineered," Venditti said.

"We don't think there should be any field trials of this crop . . .
particularly if it's not going to be commercialized."

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