From: Liston Bateson (by way of Chris Gupta <chrisgupta@alumni.uwaterloo.ca>)
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/australiandeadlinetostopGM26mar04.shtml
March 26, 2004

 

----- Original Message -----
From: Liston Bateson (by way of Chris Gupta <chrisgupta@alumni.uwaterloo.ca>)
To: Recipient list suppressed
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 7:08 PM
Subject: Reminder Your urgent attention for submissions to Australia on GE foods

Please pass this on to your NZ and Australia Contacts.

Thanks

Chris Gupta

Greetings and Salutations,

Please note that the DEADLINE for submissions against the Monsanto GE wheat (A524) application (A524) to Food standards Australia NZ has changed to 12 APRIL- so that means we have more time to make submissions!! and get others to do so!


Submissions needed against Monsanto GE wheat application (A524)- deadline
12 April 2004 & Monsanto GE beet application (A525)- deadline 31 March

ACTION submissions as possible against Monsanto's GE wheat and GE beet applications to Food Standards Australia NZ (FSANZ)- deadline: 31 March (GE beet) and 12 April (GE wheat).

Action Alert: Stop Monsanto's GE wheat contaminating our food in NZ- deadline for submissions: 31 March 2004

Monsanto has applied to FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand) for permission for the use in food of wheat genetically modified to provide resistance to glyphosate. ("Food derived from herbicide-tolerant Wheat MON 71800")

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/standardsdevelopment/applications/applicatio na524foodd2349.cfm and GE sugarbeet

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/standardsdevelopment/applications/applicatio na525foodd2350.cfm

There is concern about the safety of GE food and inadequate GE labelling in NZ.

Write a submission- Monsantos GE wheat application #A524 (by 12 April) You can email your submission to: slo@foodstandards.gov.au

check out MONSANTO PROFILE courtesty Corporate Watch:

http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/genetics/commercialisation/monsanto.htm#Cur rentSituation

If you want to keep GE wheat out of our diet in NZ here's how to make doubly sure your views count...

First, write a submission to the Food Standards authority, giving them your reasons for keeping GE wheat out of our food supply before the 12 April

SUBMISSION to : Food Standards Australia New Zealand, PO Box 10559, Wellington Fax 04 473 9855 Email: slo@foodstandards.gov.au (www.foodstandards.gov.au) see

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/standardsdevelopment/applications/applicatio na524foodd2349.cfm

(Currently no GE wheat is grown, but this attempt to have it approved for food suggests they want it grown in Australia and possibly New Zealand. If this happens, it will be impossible to keep genetic contaminants will increase in staples like bread, flour etc)

See proforma submission form by GE FREE NZ (on their website www.gefree.org.nz ) to help people write submissions- but note that they may not have updated the submission deadline to 12 april as yet.

some ideas for submissions:

I oppose Monsanto's GE wheat application A524.

I oppose the approval of GE wheat for human consumption in New Zealand and Australia.

GE crops pose unknown risks to the environment and are known to contaminate conventional varieties and lead to an increase in herbicide use.

There are no long-term health assessments on the impacts of GE food. GE crop foods should not be regarded as safe on the basis of information from the biotech industry or by the un-scientific concept of 'substantial equivalence'.

I don't want to eat GE wheat or have the GE free status of wheat compromised through contamination by GE varieties.

Then take a minute to email a copy of your submission to the chairman of the US wheat growers biotech committee, Darrell Hanavan. His email is dhanavan@qwest.net

The committee was set up to recommend a GE policy for US wheat growers.

US wheat farmers are very nervous about growing GE wheat, and want to see "customer acceptance prior to commercialization" of GE wheat.

That's why New Zealand is now being asked to approve GE wheat as a food before it has even been grown commercially anywhere in the world - as part of a campaign to get consumer acceptance around the world.

US wheat growers are particularly sensitive about overseas markets, given the StarLink contamination fiasco.

So hearing directly from New Zealand consumers is just the kind of feedback they're looking for.

Darrell Hanavan Chairman of the U.S. Wheat Associates/National Association of Wheat Growers Biotechnology Committee dhanavan@qwest.net

Green Party: "Action alert - stop Monsanto contaminating our food" http://www.greens.org.nz/

Biotech Info (Source: World-Herald) "Wheat industry is cautious on biotech introduction" http://www.biotech-info.net

Biotech Info (Source: US Wheat Associates) "U.S. wheat calls for identity preservation system before commercialization of GM wheat" http://www.biotech-info.net