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 Agriculture & livestock industry: 1997 -  Sep. 2001 

See also other materials on agriculture industry.

1997 - Sep. 2001:

Federal Agencies Failing to Reduce Pesticide Use [USA]: Federal agencies can and should be doing more to encourage farmers to reduce use of toxic pesticides on U.S. crops and farmland, according to the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. The agency's report finds that despite federal promises to slash agricultural pesticide use, pesticide use has risen over the past eight years. (Cat Lazaroff, Environment News Service, 28 Sep. 2001)

Company directors must show zero tolerance of pollution [UK]: Pollution is still being treated as an acceptable risk by too many businesses in England and Wales, the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency said today. A culture change is needed across management, Barbara Young said, with zero tolerance for pollution replacing apathy and acceptance of poor environmental performance. (Environment Agency [UK Government], 28 Sep. 2001)

EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] ordered to assess pesticide health risks: A San Francisco federal judge, acting over the objections of pesticide-makers and farm groups, has approved a nationwide settlement between environmentalists and the Bush administration, speeding up a review of pesticides in the food supply. (Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Sep. 2001)

Serious genetic contamination revealed in Mexican maize: Greenpeace today called on Mexico to adopt emergency measures to combat the first serious outbreak of genetic pollution in the centre of diversity of maize, located in several communities in the state of Oaxaca...The contamination originates from genetically engineered (GE) maize grains imported from the United States to Mexico to be used for food. (Greenpeace, 27 Sep. 2001)

Chiquita announces release of first corporate responsibility report:...This Report details the Company’s performance in relation to its Core Values, the 100% certification of its Company-owned farms in Latin America to the environmental and social standards of the Rainforest Alliance’s Better Banana Project, and the degree of its compliance with the international labor standard Social Accountability 8000 (SA8000)...It also includes four case studies on environmental and social issues in the banana industry. (Chiquita, 24 Sep. 2001)

CHIQUITA - Sustainable development - Chiquita, which produces a quarter of Latin American bananas, has spent eight years working to ensure all its banana farms in Latin America meet labour and environmental standards that are independently verified by an international non-governmental organization (Ethical Performance magazine, autumn 2001)

Environment: Ecuadorians file U.S. suit over Plan Colombia - Ecuadorian Indians are taking legal action in federal court here, charging that a U.S. company that was contracted to carry out fumigation of illicit crops in neighboring Colombia recklessly sprayed their homes and farms, causing illnesses and deaths, and destroying crops. U.S.-based attorneys representing 10,000 individuals living in the Amazon rainforest near the border with Colombia filed a class action complaint against Virginia-based DynCorp Corporation in federal court here Sep. 11. A DynCorp spokesperson said the company has not been notified about the complaint and declined to comment further. (Inter Press Service, 21 Sep. 2001)

Bush administration backs 'green' farm payments: The Bush administration gave its support yesterday to "green" payments to farmers who practice land, water and wildlife stewardship, adding momentum for a historic shift in U.S. farm supports. (Charles Abbott, Reuters, 20 Sep. 2001) 

MALAWI: Tobacco Industry Moves To Eliminate Child Labor:...Malawi's minimum working age is 14, and those who employ underage children face fines of nearly $300 or five years in jail. Authorities have not enforced the law, however, Agence France-Presse reports, and poverty in Malawi drives children to seek work on tobacco farms. (UN Wire, 19 Sep. 2001)

Malawi tobacco growers ban child labour: The Tobacco Association of Malawi says it has formed a task force to eliminate child labour on tobacco farms. (BBC News, 18 Sep. 2001)

Intensive farming blamed for Europe's food crisis: Intensive agriculture - once lauded for producing an abundance of cheap food for the masses - is now public enemy No. 1, blamed for striking British cattle with a disease that has killed hundreds of herds and an increasing number of people. (Elizabeth Piper, Reuters, 18 Sep. 2001) 

Global food chain poses stiff challenge for WTO talks: WTO food talks have centred on long-held differences between the United States, Europe, Japan, developing nations and poor countries on farm subsidies, export subsidies, market access, the environment, labour issues, food security and food safety. (Peter Bohan, 14 Sep. 2001)

BRAZIL: Environmentalists Oppose Proposed Amazon Law: Brazilian environmentalists are fighting a bill introduced recently that would reduce the legally protected region of the Amazon forest, O Estado de Sao Paulo reports. Introduced by Federal Deputy Moacir Micheleto, and backed by Amazon landowners, the bill would reduce the Amazon forest reserve from 35 percent to 20 percent. (UN Wire, 13 Sep. 2001)

Defender of sustainable development murdered in Pará [Brazil]: Ademir Alfeu Federicci was gunned down at his house in the city of Altamira, State of Pará, on the night of August 25. It is believed that the crime was politically motivated, because Dema, as he was called, was the main leader in the struggle against large landowners, lumber explorers and the construction of dams in the region. (Socio-Environmental Institute, 11 Sep. 2001)

Atlantic Rain Forest [Brazil]: another victory for conservation - The environmentalists scored. Despite the arguments of the national confederations of agriculture and industry and the almost overwhelming pressure of lumber exploring sectors from Southern Brazil and Bahia, the Conama ratified, on August 30, the validity of Resolution 278...Resolution 278 ordered the Ibama and the State organs for the environment to suspend the permits given for the exploration of species threatened of extinction in natural populations of the Atlantic Rain Forest bioma until technical norms are established. (Socio-Environmental Institute, 11 Sep. 2001)

Global Reporting Initiative Receives Nearly $1 Million from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for HIV Work: Grant Awarded to Develop Corporate HIV/AIDS Reporting Protocol - The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) announced today that it has received a $950,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a corporate HIV/AIDS reporting protocol. The grant...will fund research and development of a standardized approach for companies to share information on HIV/AIDS policies, practices, and programs. The extractive and itinerant-worker industries of mining, forestry, agriculture and ground transportation will be the initial focus for the project. (Global Reporting Initiative, 7 Sep. 2001)

Don Issues Alert On Unsafe Pesticides: Dangerous pesticides are still in use in Kenya, despite a government ban years ago, a university don said yesterday. Prof Shem Wandiga of the University of Nairobi and the National Academy of Sciences chief, said a study done from 1997 to 1999 along the Indian Ocean discovered concentrations of banned pesticides like DDT, aldrine and dieldrin. He called for stringent enforcement of rules to protect the health of Kenyans from the toxic substances. Some of the chemicals were discovered to be the cause of several types of malignant cancer. (The Nation [Nairobi], 13 Sep. 2001)

{português} Código Floresta [Brasil]l: ambientalistas querem ter voz - ONGs fizeram reivindicação ao líder do governo, que quer fechar um acordo (Sônia Cristina Silva, O Estado de S. Paulo [Brasil], 12 setembro 2001)

'Green' US farm payments may run afoul of WTO (Charles Abbott, Reuters, 10 Sep. 2001)

Industry code to tackle GM contamination: New rules to ensure that genetically-modified food ingredients are kept out of the food chain have been drawn up by industry groups. Farmers, seed merchants, processors and retailers must ensure the strict segregation of non-GM from GM product. The products must not be transported on the same ship or lorry and must be stored separately. The rules apply mainly to soya and maize. (Valerie Elliott, Times [UK], 8 Sep. 2001)

Court to decide on herbicide: GM [genetically-modified food] multinational Aventis yesterday went to the [United Kingdom] high court to try to stop the government releasing information on the health effects of one of its herbicides to Friends of the Earth. (Guardian [UK], 8 Sep. 2001)

Outdoors "Pharming" of Drugs Risks Contamination: Open field trials of genetically engineered (GE) rice containing human genes are being carried out in the heart of the California's traditional rice growing region, according to Greenpeace..."There is just no excuse to allow drug producing crops to be grown out in the fields where they can contaminate the environment and food chain by spreading their genes to wild relative and to conventional crops growing nearby..." said Kimberly Wilson, Genetic Engineering Campaigner for Greenpeace USA. According to the information submitted by the company Applied Phytologics Incorporated (API) to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), eight of the nine compounds produced in its field trial come from humans, in other words from rice engineered with human genes. The USDA imposes virtually no safety requirements specific to pharmaceutical crops. (Greenpeace, 7 Sep. 2001)

Developers win first round in Brazil Amazon battle: A Brazilian congressional commission this week approved a bill that environmentalists say could accelerate destruction of the Amazon jungle, the world's largest tropical forest, if it becomes law. (Marco Sibaja, Reuters, 7 Sep. 2001)

Land quarrels shatter calm of Malaysia's Sarawak: Court cases, sporadic protests and even killings over indigenous land rights issues are destroying the calm of Sarawak state on Borneo island. Traditionally placid Ibans, Penans and other groups used to obeying their longhouse headmen and the authorities, are bridling at logging and plantation activity on land they say is ancestral. (Patrick Chalmers, Reuters, 6 Sep. 2001)

Brazil Environ Minister says bill puts Amazon at risk: Brazil's Environment Minister has warned that the future of the Amazon is at risk from a bill which would allow farmers to clear up to 80 per cent of forest from their land for agricultural development. That is four times more than the existing law allows. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 5 Sep. 2001)

Rural Activists Killed in New Wave of Violence [Brazil]: Freitas da Silva's murder is part of a new wave of violence against a backdrop of conflicts over the expansion of soy bean farming...``leading to the displacement of riverside and peasant communities, and the consequent conflicts...'' (Mario Osava, Inter Press Service, 3 Sep. 2001)

Farmer, 'green' goals converging - USDA's Veneman [USA]: Often adversaries, US farmers and environmentalists are "coming together" on land and wildlife conservation, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said last week. (Charles Abbott, Reuters, 3 Sep. 2001)

Experts Warn On Agrochemicals Health Hazards: Except more stringent measures are taken to control and analyse pesticides and other agrochemicals, both from imports and the locally manufactured, Nigeria may be in grave health danger. Pesticide residues from agricultural produce and those applied in control of disease-spreading insects in public health activities have been linked to possible cause of death of a large number of people in sub-Saharan Africa. (Fabian Odum, Guardian [Nigeria], 2 Sep. 2001)

Honey-hunters to face Kenyan government in court: On October 4th, the Ogiek will face the Kenyan government again in court to protect their land. The Ogiek (sometimes referred to as 'Dorobo') are a small tribe who live in the Mau mountain forest overlooking Kenya's Rift Valley. As former hunter-gatherers they are looked down on by their pastoralist neighbours. They still partly depend on hunting, and gathering honey and wild plants. Ever since colonial times, governments have tried to evict them from the forest, allegedly to protect the environment. Yet at the same time the forest is being taken over by logging companies, tea plantations and farms. The Ogiek, however, have always trickled back. (Survival International, Sep. 2001)

Jamaica: Deforestation linked to mining, agriculture and tourism (WRM Bulletin, World Rainforest Movement, Sep. 2001)

Brazil: the rights of Aracruz and the rights of the people - The growing consolidation of land by Aracruz Celulose in Espirito Santo and in the extreme south of Bahia, followed by plantation of eucalyptus monocrops, is generating increasing opposition...But monocrop tree plantations implemented by transnational companies not only cause environmental impacts; they also cause social ones, as a result of the increasing consolidation of lands in a context in which thousands of peasants are demanding land. (WRM Bulletin, World Rainforest Movement, Sep. 2001)

The sad figures of employment generated by plantation companies: One of the most commonly used arguments by those promoting large scale monoculture tree plantations is that they generate employment. As we will see from the following examples, such arguments are false. (WRM Bulletin, World Rainforest Movement, Sep. 2001)

New WRM [World Rainforest Movement] book on the impacts of oil palm plantations: Soap, lipsticks, chocolate or perfumes are difficult to perceive as products associated to deforestation and human rights abuses in the tropics. However, this can easily be the case when one of their components is palm oil, though few people outside the plantation areas are aware about this. The first aim of this book is thus to highlight the impacts associated with large-scale oil palm plantations by providing a general overview of the problem and a broad range of country-level situations, ranging from articles to detailed case studies in Africa, Asia and Latin America. (WRM Bulletin, World Rainforest Movement, Sep. 2001)

How the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Undermine Democracy and Erode Human Rights: Five Case Studies - Mexico | Africa | Brazil | Colombia | Haiti (Global Exchange, Sep. 2001)

Brazil environmentalists face new battle on Amazon: Brazilian farmers and environmentalists are gearing up for battle again ahead of a key congressional vote that could ease the limits on how much forest can be cut down in the Amazon jungle. (Marco Sibaja, Reuters, 28 Aug. 2001) 

Environmental Racism Shifts the Costs of Industry to the Poor: Environmental racism affects individuals, groups or communities differentially, based on race or colour. It combines with public policies and industry practices to provide benefits for corporations, while shifting the costs to people of colour. It influences local land use, the enforcement of environmental regulations, the siting of industry and the areas where people of colour live, work and play...Environmental racism manifests itself in the sub-standard treatment of workers. Thousands of farm workers and their families are exposed to dangerous pesticides on the job and in labour camps. These workers endure sub-standard wages and working conditions. But environmental racism also extends to the exploitative work environment of garment district sweatshops, the microelectronic industry and extraction industries. A disproportionately large share of the workers who suffer under sub-standard occupational and safety conditions are immigrants, women and people of colour. [article extracted from paper prepared for the World Conference on Racism and Public Policy in Durban from September 3-5, sponsored by United Nations Research Institute for Social Development] (Robert D Bullard [Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Centre at Clark Atlanta University in the USA], Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], 24 Aug. 2001)

South Africa: Racism Plagues Response to Rural Crime - The South African government is failing to adequately protect residents of commercial farming areas from violent crime, Human Rights Watch charged in a report released today.  "Attacks against farm owners have gotten most of the attention, but attacks against other farm residents are a much bigger problem. Farmworkers and other rural dwellers are more vulnerable to violence, including from their employers, and less likely to get help from the police and courts." (press release, Human Rights Watch, 22 Aug. 2001)

Mexico, California link arms to bring multimillion dollar health care initiatives to help agricultural worker population: Representatives of the Governments of Mexico and California, together with The California Endowment, the state’s largest health foundation, met today in the State Capitol to announce strategies for addressing the critical health care needs of California’s agricultural worker population, saying no group of workers in America faces greater barriers to the basic human right of access to health care services. (The California Endowment, 21 Aug. 2001)

Harnessing Trade for Development: World trade rules have been developed by the rich and powerful on the basis of their narrow commercial interests. Rich countries and powerful corporations have captured a disproportionate share of the benefits of trade, leaving developing countries and poor people worse off. Trade rules should be judged on their contribution to poverty reduction, respect for human rights, and environmental sustainability. (Oxfam, 16 Aug. 2001)

Unequal 'freetrade' threatens food security: Food security in the SADC [Southern African Development Community] is the biggest casualty of a flawed world trading system - The forces of globalization pose a real danger to food security in the southern African region where the bulk of the countries are under constant pressure to open up markets in line with what are now obligatory western-led economic policies. (Munetsi Madakufamba, Daily Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], 13 Aug. 2001)

Some coffee beans may also be tainted by slavery (Sumana Chatterjee and Tish Wells, Knight Ridder Newspapers, 13 Aug. 2001)

Internationally-backed group to study use of child labour in west Africa: An internationally-backed group of experts are to carry out a study over the next three to four months of the use of child labour in five west African countries [Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria], study group members told AFP here. (Agence France Presse, 11 Aug. 2001)

Kraft Foods volunteers to advise Mongolian dairy producer: Monsuu, a Mongolian dairy product company, will soon gain voluntary technical advice from two food processing experts from Kraft Foods, a global company based in the US, through UNISTAR, a programme run by UN Volunteers (UNV). (U.N. Development Programme, 9 Aug. 2001)

Travel pass to stop trafficking: Mali has introduced travel passes for children to prevent them being trafficked to work illegally in neighbouring West African countries, the government said on Thursday.  Children from Mali and Burkina Faso are at the centre of an international outcry over their employment as labourers on cocoa and cotton plantations in Ivory Coast. (Reuters / News24 [South Africa], 9 Aug. 2001)

NZ GMO report pits Australian industry vs consumers: A New Zealand government inquiry which urged the South Pacific nation not to reject genetically modified (GM) foods was welcomed by the Australian food industry yesterday but slammed by consumer activists. A Royal Commission, the most far-reaching investigation a New Zealand government can order, on Monday rejected the idea of a GM-free country by recommending loosened curbs on low-risk GM applications while calling for rigorous case-by-case testing. (Reuters, 1 Aug. 2001) 

Fires spread haze over borders [Indonesia]:...Satellite imagery helped show that the 1997/8 fires were mostly located in the concessions of plantation and timber companies. But almost no action has been taken against them. Of five companies reported to the Attorney General for starting fires last year, only one company has been successfully processed, according to Environment Minister Sonny Keraf. (Down to Earth Newsletter, Aug. 2001)

CDC [Commonwealth Development Corporation] projects criticised over impacts [Indonesia]: Communities in Kalimantan are trying to secure fair compensation for lands and resources from two oil palm plantation companies funded by CDC, the British private investment agency. Although some moves towards negotiations have been made, CDC still fails to acknowledge that the projects' policies on land acquisition and community relations have led to social conflict, deforestation and, for some communities, increased poverty. In the meantime, the projects are proceeding, while many disputes remain unsettled. (Down to Earth Newsletter, Aug. 2001)

Court action on Monsanto's GM cotton gets underway [Indonesia]: Indonesian NGOs objecting to a government decree allowing the planting of Monsanto's GM cotton are taking the agriculture minister to court in an attempt to have the decree annulled. (Down to Earth Newsletter, Aug. 2001)

UK Government hosts meeting to discuss how to tackle slave labour: On the 25 July 2001, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) hosted a workshop to discuss working practices in cocoa production in West Africa. (Anti-Slavery International, 31 July 2001)

DEVELOPMENT-NEW ZEALAND: Critics up in Arms over Approval of GMOs: Critics are up in arms over this week's report by a New Zealand royal commission, which has rejected overwhelming community and Maori opposition to the further development and use of genetically modified organisms. (Bob Burton, Inter Press Service, 31 July 2001) 

CHILD LABOR: 500,000 Children Under Age 15 Work In Argentina - Poverty is the principal cause of child labor in Argentina, where 500,000 children under age 15 work, mainly as street vendors and in agriculture, according to Argentine officials. (UN Wire, 30 July 2001)

{···español} En la Argentina hay casi 500.000 chicos que trabajan: Se dedican al comercio, la venta ambulante, las tareas rurales y la recolección de residuos (Francisco Olivera, La Nación [Buenos Aires], 30 julio 2001)

BIOTECHNOLOGY: US Codex Task Force Member Derides UN - A US delegation member on the UN's Codex Alimentarius Commission chides the United Nations in a Wall Street Journal letter today, saying that the "UN's repeated insistence upon excessive, unscientific biotechnology regulation will slow agricultural research and development, promote environmental damage and bring famine and death to millions in developing countries." (UN Wire, 30 July 2001)

Aventis to continue efforts to contain StarLink corn: European biotech firm Aventis SA said last week it would continue efforts to keep its StarLink bio-engineered corn, currently unapproved for human consumption, from making its way into human food supplies. (Reuters, 30 July 2001) 

US science panel rejects StarLink in human food: A science advisory panel last week urged the Environmental Protection Agency to maintain its ban on StarLink biotech corn in human food, saying too many questions remain about whether the gene-spliced corn can cause rashes, breathing problems or other allergic reactions. (Julie Vorman, Reuters, 30 July 2001)

ORANGE ORCHARDS: Growers face curbs on pesticides, water use and expansion [Thailand]: Local leaders move against health risks - Local leaders have agreed to contain any further expansion of orange orchards in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district to limit pesticide contamination. A meeting of the tambon administration organisations in the district yesterday hoped the measures would reduce health risks faced by villagers. (Onnucha Huttasingh, Bangkok Post, 25 July 2001)

Racism Rife On Mpumalanga Farms, Says Premier: Attacks on farmers and the abuse of farm workers is putting Mpumalanga's agricultural sector at risk, warned provincial premier Ndaweni Mahlangu on Tuesday....A provincial government committee had conducted its own study into conflict on farms, he said, and recommended that workers be made aware of labour rights and that they be registered for workman's compensation [South Africa]. (Sharon Hammond, African Eye News Service [Nelspruit, South Africa], 24 July 2001)

San Joaquin Valley [California] Medical, Community and Environmental Groups Announce Upcoming Lawsuit To Enforce Clean Air Act: At Fresno City Hall, medical, community, and environmental groups announced their intention to sue both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District in 60 days for failure to stop the air pollution that threatens the health of all San Joaquin Valley residents....Agriculture: Polluter and Victim  (Earthjustice, 17 July 2001)

EU urged to focus farm reform on environment: Reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy should require farmers to earn the right to subsidies based on better environmental use of land, European industrialist Lord Haskins said this week. (Reuters, 17 July 2001)

Parts of Asia face deadly climate changes and natural disasters: With much of the world transfixed by the goal of economic growth and maintaining oil supplies, parts of Asia face deadly climate changes and natural disasters blamed on pollution and atmospheric warming. (Scott McDonald, Reuters, 13 July 2001) 

How the world is threatened by massive change: The effects of relentlessly rising global temperatures in the coming century are likely to be catastrophic for the world, the second volume of the new IPCC report spells out with more chilling confidence than ever before. (Michael McCarthy, Independent [UK], 12 July 2001)

Global warming much worse than predicted, say scientists: Global warming is happening now, caused by human actions, and threatens the Earth with disaster, the world's leading atmospheric scientists insisted yesterday as politicians struggled to repair the Kyoto treaty on climate change which the United States torpedoed in March. (Michael McCarthy, Steve Connor, Richard Lloyd Parry and Stephen Castle, Independent [UK], 12 July 2001)

Industrial pollution cause of climate instability: Planet Earth is warming faster than at any time in the past one thousand years and there is little doubt that human activity is to blame, according to the latest and most definitive scientific assessment of climate change. (Steve Connor, Independent [UK], 12 July 2001)

Plantations to be charged with open burning: Eight oil palm plantations around Sibu, which defied the ban on open burning, will face prosecution in court. [Malaysia] (The Star [Malaysia], 12 July 2001)

NGOs Air Concerns On Trading System At WTO Symposium (ICTSD Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, 10 July 2001)

Oxfam and Greenpeace Criticize UNDP Report for Pro-Biotech Bias: The UN's 2001 Human Development Report "Making New Technologies Work For Human Development" presents as facts the unsubstantiated promises of the biotech industry, said the development and environmental groups Oxfam Canada and Greenpeace today. The organizations applauded, however, the UNDP's concern that intellectual property rights codified in the WTO have impeded the transfer of technology to developing countries. (Canada NewsWire, 10 July 2001)

CLIMATE CHANGE: Warming Threatens Food Production, Report Says - Forty of the world's poorest countries are likely to face food production losses as high as 25% because of global warming, according to a report to be released today at the opening of the Open Science Conference on global change in Amsterdam. (UN Wire, 10 July 2001)

Protection for 1,3 billion agricultural workers, at long last...[adoption of the International Convention on Health and Safety in Agriculture] (Human.Rights@Work [A monthly newsletter produced by the ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities], 9 July 2001)

UNDP: New Report Cites Importance Of Technology To Poor States - Opposition to genetically modified crops by wealthy countries threatens the ability of poor countries to feed their growing populations, the UN Development Program warns in its Human Development Report 2001, scheduled for release tomorrow in Mexico. (UN Wire, 9 July 2001)

FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] probes plant that made chips with StarLink corn: Federal regulators said yesterday they were investigating a plant that produced white corn tortilla chips to determine how the snack food was contaminated with traces of genetically altered StarLink corn, a variety that triggered a massive food recall last autumn. (Julie Vorman, Reuters, 6 July 2001) 

Co-op to ban pesticides in food amid health fears: The Co-operative Group, a major UK farmer and retailer, said yesterday it would ban more than 20 pesticides used to produce food worldwide amid fears about their impact on health and the environment. (Elizabeth Piper, Reuters, 3 July 2001) 

Treaty to protect world's major food crops agreed, but NGOs criticise 'right to patent genes': Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) immediately criticised the weakened text for enshrining OECD countries' priority to support private profit rather than food security, and for subordinating this environmental treaty to the trade rules of the WTO - including its contentious agreement on intellectual property rights (TRIPs). (Intermediate Technology Development Group, 2 July 2001)

FAO [UN Food and Agriculture Organization] Agreement Reached On Seed Banks (UN Wire, 2 July 2001)

Sowing Technology: The ecological argument against genetic engineering down on the farm (Craig Holdrege and Steve Talbott, Sierra Magazine, Sierra Club, July/Aug. 2001)

Spinning Science into GOLD: In the pursuit of profit, the biotech industry is manipulating more than genes (Karen Charman, Sierra Magazine, Sierra Club, July/Aug. 2001)

A Nation of Lab Rats: Is genetically engineered food bad for you? Maybe. Maybe not. (Barbara Keeler, Sierra Magazine, Sierra Club, July/Aug. 2001)

New Monsanto and GMO Propaganda: Seeds of Irreversible Change: Multinationals like Monsanto are facing real grassroots opposition in the world, especially over agro-chemicals and GMOs. Monsanto has led the big corporations towards diversionary tactics: they have issued codes of conduct and ethical charters to conceal their real objective of creating value for their shareholders. They are promoting their products as cures for third world hunger and disease, and as an alternative to the dangers of pesticides. They hope to win over a hostile public with advertising. (Agnès Sinai, Le Monde diplomatique, July 2001)

GM food link to humans is ruled out: An analysis of the human genetic code that suggested genes could be passed from bacteria or genetically modified food to people is overturned by a study published last week. (Roger Highfield, Daily Telegraph [UK], 28 June 2001)

US warning on GM crops: A leading American farming association is warning Australia about the negative effects of genetically modified crops. Chief Executive Officer of the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA), Gary Goldberg, is urging Australian farmers to be careful, saying the US has lost millions of dollars in export and compromised the "integrity" of its crops as a result of using Genetically Modified Organisms. (Nabila Ahmed, The Age [Melbourne], 27 June 2001)

Seed patents needed to boost research - industry: Seed patents, which some critics attack as harmful to poor farmers, are a vital incentive for research and a means of encouraging plant diversity, a life sciences industry official said yesterday. (David Brough, Reuters, 27 June 2001) 

Green groups say seed patents menace food security: Environment groups said yesterday the patenting of food and seeds by multinational companies threatened food security and access by farmers to vital genetic resources. (David Brough, Reuters, 26 June 2001)

Ethiopia slams industry inaction on old pesticides: Ethiopia has criticised the international pesticide industry for failing to contribute to the cost of disposing of thousands of tonnes of ageing toxic waste stored at dumps around the country. (David Brough, Reuters, 26 June 2001)

Sri Lanka to suspend GM food ban at WTO's behest: Sri Lanka announced yesterday it would comply with a World Trade Organisation (WTO) request to suspend one of the world's toughest bans on genetically modified (GM) food, but insisted the restrictions would be reimposed. (Dayan Candappa, Reuters, 26 June 2001)

Multinationals must stop exploiting biodiversity and abusing patent laws (Greenpeace, 25 June 2001) 

89th International Labour Conference To Press Forward on Decent Work Agenda - ILC Adopts First International Standard on Safety in Agriculture: In addition to the wide ranging debate on reducing the decent work deficit, delegates gave overwhelming approval to the first labour standard on agricultural safety and health ever - with the aim of protecting the world's 1.3 billion agricultural workers by a vote of 402 for, 2 against with 41 abstentions. The new International Convention on Health and Safety in Agriculture will enter into force once ratified by two ILO member States. (International Labour Organization, 21 June 2001)

CLIMATE CHANGE: IPCC Chair Slams Bush Position - Global climate change is real, people are to blame for it and developing countries are its first victims, according to Bob Watson, World Bank chief scientist and chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN Wire, 15 June 2001)

US watchdog group assails genetic field testing: A consumer watchdog group yesterday accused the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) of rubber stamping approval of field tests of genetically engineered crops that could harm people and the environment (Reuters, 15 June 2001) 

Argentine farmers bet on biotech [While proponents say GM products increase efficiency, environmental and consumer groups say the products are not well regulated and could contain hidden health and environmental risks] (Athena Jones, Reuters, 15 June 2001) 

Green groups reject US govt report on StarLink bio-corn (Randy Fabi, Reuters, 15 June 2001)

Maker of suspect corn seed accused of breaking UN pact - Consumer and agricultural watchdog groups yesterday accused a multinational corporation that produces genetically modified foods of failing to uphold a UN code of business conduct to which it had agreed.  The advocates called on the United Nations to consider ejecting the company, Strasbourg-based Aventis S.A., from its Global Compact - a group of corporations that pledged to abide by human rights and environmental norms less than a year ago. (Elizabeth Neuffer, Boston Globe, 15 June 2001)

Intellectual property rights and human rights: Report of the Secretary-General (United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, 14 June 2001)

IUF [International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations]/COLSIBA [Latin American Coordinating Committee of Banana Workers' Unions] and Chiquita Brands International sign historic agreement on trade union rights for banana workers (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations, 14 June 2001)

GM soy in U.S. needs 10 pct less herbicide - study: Farmers in the United States planting Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) soy reduced their use of herbicides by an average of about 10 percent, Dutch researchers said yesterday (Reuters, 14 June 2001) 

Aventis: Global Compact Violator - Since Aventis signed on to the Global Compact in July 2000, their genetically engineered StarLinkTM corn has illegally contaminated the food supply and seed stock. A look at the company's behavior regarding StarLink shows that before, during and after signing the Compact, Aventis violated Global Compact's Principle 7, which is drawn from the Rio Declaration and supports "a precautionary approach to environmental challenges."  (Gabriela Flora, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, on CorpWatch website, 14 June 2001)

CDC [U.S. Centers for Disease Control] says StarLink corn did not cause human allergies (Reuters, 14 June 2001) 

PESTICIDES: UNEP [UN Environment Program], UNIDO [UN Industrial Development Organization] Launch Site To Cut Ozone Depletion [by methyl bromide, a toxic and ozone-depleting pesticide] (UN Wire, 8 June 2001)

GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS: Agriculture keen on GE field trials - Genetic technology 'cannot be ignored' [Thailand] (Ploenpote Atthakor, Bangkok Post, 6 June 2001)

PESTICIDES: Ban possible on 12 toxic farm chemicals [Thailand] (Anchalee Kongrut and Ploenpote Atthakor, Bangkok Post, 6 June 2001)

Pesticides spread their toxic reach: Pesticide use has increased rapidly over the decades and has often had a much deadlier effect than ever was intended. It's time to review our farming methods. [Thailand] (Mahesh Uniyal, Bangkok Post, 6 June 2001)

PESTICIDES: FAO [UN Food and Agriculture Organization] Calls For Action On Old Stocks In Asia-Pacific (UN Wire, 6 June 2001)

AGRICULTURE: A World Without Hunger - Still a Distant Dream: The current pace at which the number of hungry people in the world is being cut - by eight million a year - is not fast enough if nations are to make good on their pledge to reduce the number of undernourished people to half the 1996 total of 800 million by 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned Friday. (Jorge Pina, Inter Press Service, 1 June 2001)

Combating child trafficking in West and Central Africa: ...In general, girls are placed as domestics or street traders while boys work on plantations, in construction or in mines...The existence of trafficking in children for labour exploitation is now recognized in the countries participating in the project: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Togo (World of Work - The Magazine of the ILO, June 2001)

Spoiled Lunch: Polluters Profiting from Federal Lunch Programs - 2001 Sierra Club Report: This report outlines environmental, health, and labor law violations committed by giant slaughterhouses and meat processing plants that supply pork, chicken, and beef to our schools through the federal School Lunch Program. [USA] (Sierra Club, June 2001)

Food and Agriculture - the impact of agribusiness  (briefing paper for World Summit on Sustainable Development, published by IIED [International Institute for Environment and Development] and RING [Regional and International Networking Group], June 2001)

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Market Emerges in Chicago: A diverse group of 25 large corporations and nonprofit organizations has agreed to participate in the design phase of a voluntary pilot trading market, the Chicago Climate Exchange. (Environment News Service, 30 May 2001) 

Africa's child labor numbers said to be rising (Sarah El-Deeb, Associated Press, 30 May 2001)

Greenpeace and Miseror [the German Catholic Church development agency] challenge DuPont biopiracy patent (Greenpeace/Miseror, 29 May 2001)

HK activists block Nestle plant in GM food protest (Chee-may Chow, Reuters, 29 May 2001) 

Japan food recall revives StarLink biotech scare (Jae Hur, Reuters, 28 May 2001) 

Green Globe winners for 2001 announced [by Rainforest Alliance, winners include A2R Fund Management Group and Chiquita Brands International] (Earth Times News Service, 24 May 2001)

Biotech to drive chemicals sales, report [by McKinsey & Co.] says (Reuters, 23 May 2001) 

Genetic Modification: Greenpeace praises tofu firm for GMO tests of ingredients - Its product among those exposed earlier [Thailand] (Ploenpote Atthakor, Bangkok Post, 18 May 2001)

Lifting the Veil of Secrecy: New Website Discloses Scientists’ Links to Industry: The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) today launched an Internet site to provide information about the links between hundreds of scientists — mostly in the fields of nutrition, environment, toxicology, and medicine — and corporations. (Center for Science in the Public Interest, 17 May 2001)

Worldwide initiatives against GMOs [genetically modified organisms] (Third World Network, 16 May 2001)

Destruction of Amazon jungle hits 5-year high [Brazil] (Axel Bugge, Reuters, 16 May 2001) 

Read the label: China passes regs requiring food products to list genetic alterations (China Online, 15 May 2001)

Costa Rica pressured to improve labour rights situation urgently (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 14 May 2001)

FAO to seek EU aid to remove pesticide waste [United Nations and industry officials urge European Union to provide financial support for the disposal of pesticide waste in developing countries] (Reuters, 14 May 2001)

`Eradication of child labour a tough task' (Times of India, 13 May 2001)

Monsanto denies sale of illegal seed [Argentina] (Reuters, 11 May 2001)

Illegal genetically engineered corn from Monsanto detected in Argentina (Greenpeace, 11 May 2001)

A family affair? The onset of summer heralds the season of intensive agricultural child labour. Soha Abdelaty cracks open a debate that drowns the lives of real children in the politics of human rights [Egypt] (Soha Abdelaty, Al-Ahram Weekly Online [Cairo], 3-9 May 2001)

GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD: Farmers told to expect tough patent laws in the future: Strong trade barriers also on the cards [Thailand] (Ranjana Wangvipula, Bangkok Post, 6 May 2001)

GM [genetically-modified crop] trial 'threatens organic centre' [UK] (BBC News, 6 May 2001)

New study finds Monsanto soya means more pesticides in the environment (Greenpeace, 4 May 2001)

"GMOs [genetically-modified organisms] can be used for good and for bad," Jacques Diouf says: FAO Director-General unveils two new publications, the first in a series on ethics in food and agriculture (UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 3 May 2001)

Minister [UK Environment Minister] to tackle GM [genetically-modified crop] firm over trials (BBC News, 3 May 2001)

Environmentalists to join regulators [on Thailand's panel charged with regulating field trials of genetically modified crops] (Bangkok Post, 3 May 2001)

Food labelling may not be enough [to protect consumers from genetically modified food], says Greenpeace: Group launches consumer guide [Thailand] (Kultida Samabuddhi, Bangkok Post, 3 May 2001)

Monsanto executive named for senior EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] job (Reuters, 2 May 2001)

In Bulgaria, children start work early (Child Labour News Service, 1 May 2001)

Timber plantations: backing a loser [Indonesia] - Rather than rethink the whole approach to forest management, the government appears to be determined to continue with attempts to "reforest" degraded areas by continuing with the much-criticised programme of industrial timber estate (HTI) development launched during the Suharto era. The HTI programme, originally aimed at providing timber for the wood-processing and pulp industries, has led to protracted conflicts over land with local communities and increased deforestation - since the plantations were typically established on forested lands. (Down to Earth Newsletter, May 2001)

Oil palm investments opposed [Indonesia]: The government's plan to expand oil palm plantations could founder because it fails to address the underlying question of community rights to farmland and forests. Oil palm remains a central plank of Indonesia's economic recovery strategy despite growing social unrest arising from disputes over plantation land. Oil palm development is also widely accepted to be a major cause of forest loss in Indonesia, due to the policy of converting natural forests to plantations and because of the fires spread by the illegal practice of burning to clear plantation land. (Down to Earth Newsletter, May 2001)

Australia ignores global warming threat: Despite its reliance on tourism and agriculture, Australia is one of the world's worst polluters and supported the US dismantling of Kyoto, writes Patrick Barkham (Patrick Barkham, Guardian [UK], 30 Apr. 2001)

GMO products: Consumers in call for compulsory labelling: Nestle criticised for double standard [Thailand] (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, Bangkok Post, 25 Apr. 2001)

Eight Global Environmental Champions Awarded 2001 Goldman Prize: World's Largest Award for Grassroots Environmentalists (Goldman Environmental Prize, 23 Apr. 2001)

AWARD: Journalists Fired By Fox TV Among Goldman Winners [Goldman Environmental Prize] (UN Wire, 23 Apr. 2001)

Pyres [burning of animals to control foot and mouth disease] create more pollution than all the factories in UK (Geoffrey Lean, Independent on Sunday [UK], 22 Apr. 2001)

Toxic runoff from plastic mulch (Janet Raloff, Science News, 21 Apr. 2001)

Foot and Mouth: Disposal of Animal Remains [UK] (Friends of the Earth [England, Wales and Northern Ireland], 19 Apr. 2001)

Earth Report: Toxic Trail [use of pesticides in Southeast Asia] (TVE News [Television Trust for the Environment], 18 Apr.2001)

Egypt: Child Labor Activists Urge Government Action (UN Wire, 16 Apr. 2001)

Thailand bans the release of genetically engineered crops into the environment (Greenpeace, 6 Apr. 2001)

Tides Shift on Agrarian Reform: New Movements Show the Way (report, Peter Rosset, co-director of FoodFirst, in Backgrounder, winter 2001)

Green Scissors 2001 exposes $55 billion in wasteful federal spending that harms the environment [USA]: Taxpayer and Environmental Groups Target 74 Pork Barrel Programs (press release by Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, 22 Feb. 2001)

FAO/WHO: Amount of poor-quality pesticides sold in developing countries alarmingly high (UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 1 Feb. 2001)

Reform, farmers and action in West Java [Indonesia]:...There has been a series of conflicts between the villagers, the authorities and companies at Tegalbuleud. The main cause of the conflicts over land, and the widespread poverty faced by Tegalbuleud villagers was the collaboration of government officials and entrepreneurs in exploiting the villages' natural resources. [refers to appropriation of land for coconut plantation, shrimp farming, logging] (Down to Earth Newsletter, Feb. 2001)

FDA announces proposal and draft guidance for food developed through biotechnology (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 17 Jan. 2001)

Egypt - Underage and Unprotected: Child Labor in Egypt's Cotton Fields (Human Rights Watch, Jan. 2001)

Breaking the cycle of poison - Sarojeni V. Rengam reports how excessive pesticide use traps farmers in poverty, and outlines some solutions (Sarojeni V. Rengam, Executive Director of Pesticide Action Network [PAN] Asia and the Pacific, in Our Planet, published by U.N. Environment Programme, 2001)

2000:

Rural Poverty on the Rise, Reports IFAD [International Fund for Agricultural Development] (Gustavo González, Inter Press Service, 28 Nov. 2000)

Sugar Multinationals Blamed for Blocking Help to Poorest Nations (Larry Elliott, Guardian, 27 Nov. 2000)

Farm laborers run high risk of health woes: Most in state lacking care, survey finds - California farm workers in the prime of their lives are far more likely than the general population to suffer health problems ranging from high blood pressure and obesity to tooth decay, according to a first-of-its-kind survey released Tuesday. (Andy Furillo, Sacramento Bee, 22 Nov. 2000)

Villagers shot, one killed in Sosa land dispute [Indonesia]: On 25 August 2000, police shot indiscriminately into a crowd of people gathered outside the factory gates of oil palm company PT Permata Hijau Sawit (PT PHS) in Mananti village, Sosa sub-district, South Tapanuli (Down to Earth Newsletter, Nov. 2000)

Corporate Farming Comes to Pakistan: The Harvest of Globalization & Business Influence (Muddassir Rizvi, Multinational Monitor, Oct. 2000)

How Corporations Absolve Their Sins (Kelly Currah, Guardian, 28 Aug. 2000)

Unfair Advantage: Workers' Freedom of Association in the United States under International Human Rights Standards (Human Rights Watch, Aug. 2000)

Fingers to the Bone: United States Failure to Protect Child Farmworkers (Human Rights Watch, June 2000)

Displaced villagers win back land [Indonesia]: Villagers in South Sumatra have successfully regained some of their forest which the government had allocated as a plantation concession to PT Musi Hutan Persada (PT MHP). The Department of Forestry and Plantations has agreed to hand 12,050 ha back to the former inhabitants of 12 villages in the sub-district of Rambang Lubai. (Down to Earth Newsletter, May 2000)

Is GM safe? (BBC, 9 Mar. 2000)

GM Food Safety: Facts, Uncertainties, and Assessment: The OECD Edinburgh Conference on the Scientific and Health Aspects of Genetically Modified Foods (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Feb.-Mar. 2000)

Biosafety Protocol Agreed (Friends of the Earth, 29 Jan. 2000)

1999:

Impacts of WTO On The Environment, Cultures and Indigenous Peoples (Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Director of Tebtebba Foundation [Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education] and Convenor of Asia Indigenous Women's Network, 29 Nov. 1999)

Indigenous Peoples' Caucus Statement, presented at the "Roundtable on Intellectual Property and Traditional Knowledge", World Intellectual Property Rights Organization, Geneva, 2 Nov. 1999

Advance of the biotech giants: Farmers' groups and NGOs supporting them in south-east Asia are concerned that a second Green Revolution is gathering pace, fuelled by advances in genetic engineering. These developments involve close collaboration between international and national research institutions and the private sector – mainly giant biotech companies. A paper by NGOs from Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia argues that hybrid varieties and genetically-modified (GM) maize present a huge threat to food security and agricultural sustainability. (Down to Earth Newsletter, Nov. 1999) 

Thailand plans lawsuit against Israel for exploiting its foreign workers (Yossi Bar-Moha, Ha'aretz, 19 July 1999)

The right to self-rule: Indian tribals fight to control their land and resources (Oxfam/Community Aid Abroad [Australia], May 1999)

Asia, Asian farmers, and the WTO (Walden Bello, Focus on the Global South, 1999)

1997:

Bitter Harvest: Child Labour in Agriculture (Alec Fyfe / International Labour Organization Bureau for Workers' Activities [ACTRAV], Apr. 1997)