The agony of GM

22/04/2017  by  David

By Drs. Sirinathsinghji and Eva Mae-Wan Ho

More than two thirds of EU countries have chosen to ban GM crops; Monsanto shares have fallen 25%, increasing its losses and has slashed its workforce by 12%.

It extends throughout Europe the ban on GM crops.

Most member countries of the EU (two thirds) have decided to ban the cultivation of genetically modified foods after entry into force of the new legislation passed last spring, which allows each of the Member States could to title Individual restrict the cultivation of GMOs in their territory.

After the deadline of 3 October 2015, the spokesman for the European Commission Enrico Brivio announced that 19 of the 28 EU members have opted for the exclusion clause: Austria, the Walloon region of Belgium (implying more than half of the territory of Belgium); Great Britain (Scotland, Wales and  Ireland  North), Bulgaria , Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany,  Greece , Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia. Germany has a partial exclusion option, but still allows research of transgenic crops without commercial use. In total, these countries account for about 70% of the EU population and more than two -thirds of its farmland.

Serbia and  Russia , which are not EU members, have also shown signs of rejecting this technology. Serbia only allows the marketing of non - GM soy. Switzerland, which is not a member country of the EU, has established a moratorium on GM crops, which is currently in effect.

Other similar exclusion proposals are being considered on imports of genetically modified food and feed for animal feed, but has not yet been finalized.

Security concerns, conflicts of interest, corruption in approval and lack of demand

Scotland was the first to consider the exclusion clause when the Secretary for the Environment, Richard Lochhead, said they intended to take the precautionary principle, which states that when there is reasonable suspicion of damage, lack of full scientific certainty or consensus, should not bedelayed preventive action, adding: "there isno evidence of a significant demand for GM products by Scottish consumers and we areconcerned that by allowing the cultivation of GMOs could damage our clean, green image, putting question the production value of 14,000 million pounds in the food and beverage industry. The  Government Scotsman is concerned about the long -term effects of GM crops,

Lobbying the  UK  in favor of GMOs, as Sense about Science, he wrote a letter signed by several organizations, including some universities, saying that Scotland was losing the train of innovations, such as fish meal enriched with GM or transgenic potatoes, even though Scotland has some of the most renowned and great diversity of wildlife river salmon rivers. They have completely forgotten the lack of scientific consensus on the safety of GM crops. The risks of these crops were summarized in the article published by ISIS in response to the letter of Sense about Sicence ( Open letter in support of the ban on GM crops in Scotland, SiS 68 ), along with another open letter also he supported the decision of Scotland, signed by dozens of independent scientists, referring to conflicts of widespread interest in approvals of GM crops, noting that GM crops have led to an increased use of pesticides and little improvement in yields and safety problems for health and the environment. The law is very permissive, in the best case scenario: GM crops are not tested with partners pesticides, as is the case of glyphosate-tolerant crops. And in the worst case, there is corruption, such as risk assessments are mainly left in the hands of Chemical Industry ( see Scandal in the re - evaluation of glyphosate in Europe, SiS 63 ). Recently 300 scientists signed a letter stating the evidence of damage to health and the environment, published in a peer - reviewed journal (see Scientists declare that there isno consensus on the safety of GM, SiS 60 ) and ban GMOs now (special Report ISIS).Prevent contamination of non - GM crops is also an important issue.

Germany's concerns expressed in its application, signed by Dr. Robert Kloos, Minister of Food and Agriculture: "The cultivation of genetically modified maize is incompatible with the common use of agricultural land in Germany. Would adversely affect conventional maize cultivation and ecological. Increase the risk of domestic agricultural products, including seeds of conventional and organic corn may be contaminated with ingredients from genetically modified maize ... This demand must also take into account local biodiversity, landscape features and operation of specific ecosystems ... ".

These prohibitions are one of the consequences of the classification of glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans" by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2015 ( Consequences of the classification of glyphosate as probably carcinogenic by the WHO, SiS 67 ). They have intensified around  the world campaign to ban or eliminate gradually the use of this chemical, and have filed lawsuits against Monsanto for false security claims.This will affect sales of the flagship product of Monsanto.

Monsanto shares continue to fall since 2014, but now the situation worsens

Shares of the giants of agricultural biotechnology, such as Monsanto, have been declining since 2014, when China, the world's largest importer of GM seeds and products began to refuse orders corn because they were contaminated with GMOs not approved. At the same time, the growing popularity of non - GM and organic food, and increased problems with plants resistant to glyphosate and resistant to Bt crops pests have led to a growing number of American farmers to return to non - GM crops or organic production. Consideration of glyphosate by the WHO may be the straw that breaks the glass "see  End transgenic now , SiS 66).

In January 2015, Monsanto announced that its profits had fallen by 34% in the first fiscal quarter; an additional loss of 15% was announced for the second fiscal quarter in April 2015.

Vice President of Monsanto Monsanto sold 27,580 shares, more than 40% of its portfolio securities.

On 7 October, Monsanto announced it would cut its workforce by 2,600 jobs (12%) to restructure and reduce costs over the next 18-24 months. It is expected that the initial phase save 275 to 300 million pounds at the end of fiscal year 2017, with a total cost of approximately 858-900 million. They are developing additional plans to save an additional $ 100 million. In the fourth quarter, Monsanto announced a loss of $ 495 million, compared with losses of 156 million dollars in the first quarter last year.

To increase your problems, Monsanto shares have fallen 25% since spring 2015, while the market prices of corn and soybeans have fallen below production costs. Attempts to purchase the  company rival pesticide giant Syngenta, collapsed in August. His future does not look very bright."There is no doubt that 2016 will be a tough year for this industry , " said Chief Financial Officer Pierre Courduroux in a recent speech to investors. Monsanto earnings per share forecast for the new fiscal year to $ 5.10 5.60, well below analysts' forecasts, which stood at 6.19 dollars. In addition, a share buyback program was announced worth 3000 million. 

Philpott also summarized the situation:"Investment in research and development in the agrochemical and biotechnology sector are not paying off, no new successful products, so the few companies left in this area ( there are six) are going to eat each other. "

References

Majority of EU nations seek opt-out from growing GM crops. Reuters.com, accessed 7 October 2015 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/10/04/us-eu-gmo-opt-out-idUKKCN0RY0M320151004

Serbia Will Not Allow GMO Cultivation Of Crops. Inserbia.info, accessed 7 October 2015 http://inserbia.info/today/2015/09/serbia-will-not-allow-cultivation-of-gmo-crops/

Serbia Promotes itself as exclusive non-GMO soy producer. EUfoodlaw.com, accessed 7 October 2015 http://www.eurofoodlaw.com/food-technology/serbia-promotes-itself-as-exclusive-non-gmo-soy-producer-1.htm

Russia to Ban Genetically Modified Organisms in Food Production.Themoscowtimes.com, accessed 7 October 2015

GM Crop Ban. News.scotland.gov.uk, accessed 7 October 2015 http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/GM-crop-ban-1bd2.aspx

Letter to research from Scottish Government Organizations.Senseaboutscience.org, accessed 7 October 2015http: //www.senseaboutscience.org/news.php/451/letter-to-scottish-government-from-research-organisations#sthash.PPSTWQSv.dpuf

Saunders PT. Open letter in support of Scotland's ban on GMOs. Science in Society 68 (to appear) 2015.

Scottish Scientists Support Global Ban GM Crops. Sustainablepulse.com, accessed 7 October 2015 http://sustainablepulse.com/2015/09/03/global-scientists-support-scottish-gm-crop-ban/#.VhUW6_lVhBc

Cuhra M. Review of GMO safety assessment studies: glyphosate in Roundup Ready crops waste is an issue ignored.Environmental Sciences Europe 2015, 27, 20 doi: 10.1186 / s12302-015-0052-7

Swanson N and Ho MW. Scandal of glyphosate reassessment in Europe. Science in Society 63 , 8-9, 2014

Statement: No scientific consensus on GMO safety. Science in Society 60 , 46-49

Ho MW & Sirinathsinghji E.Ban GMOsNow.Health and Environmental Hazards Especially in Light of the New Genetics. ISIS Special Report, 2013.http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Ban_GMOs_Now.php

Cultivation Directive (EU) 2015/412;Exclusion of the German territory from the cultivation of genetically modified foods Certain. Ec.europa.eu, accessed 7 October 2015 http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/docs/gmo_auth_cult_de_1507.pdf

E. Sirinathsinghji Fallout from WHO Classification of Glyphosate as Likely Carcinogen,  Science in Society 67

Ho MW. Ending GMOs now,  Science in Society 66

"Monsanto slashing 2,600 jobs as corn salts slide", Benjamin Snyder, Fortune, 7 October 2015, http://fortune.com/2015/10/07/monsanto-cutting-2600-jobs/

"Monsanto's stock is tanking. Is the company's excitement About GMOs backfiring? "Tom Philpott, Mother Jones 9 October 2015, http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/10/monsanto-stock-decline-layoffs

"US soybean, corn prices seen dropping below production costs: industry", Naveen Thukral, Reuters, 27 August 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/27/us-us-grains-prices- idUSKCN0QW14420150827

"Monsanto abandons $ 48 billion takeover of Syngenta" Andrew Pollack and Michael J. de la Merced, The New York Times, 26 August 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/27/business/dealbook/monsanto -abandons-47-billion-takeover-bid-for-syngenta.html? _r = 0

"6 takeaways from Monsanto's quarterly earnings , " Lauren Gensler, Forbes 7 October 2015, http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurengensler/2015/10/07/monsanto-fourth-quarter-earnings-commodities-corn/

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