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CALIFORNIANS FOR GE-FREE AGRICULTURE NEWSLETTER No. 20, MARCH/APRIL 2006
IN THIS ISSUE
NEWS:
- Preemption Update
- National Food Uniformity Bill Passes the House – CA Senators and Governor Vow to Defeat It
- U.S. Interior Department Sued Over GE Plantings
- Vermont Liability Bill Still Alive
- Victory! UN Upholds Moratorium on Terminator Seed Technology
TAKE ACTION:
NEWS
Preemption Update
Early in April 2006 the authors of AB1508, one of the two preemption bills that have been making their way through the California State Legislature, dropped the bill! The withdrawal of AB1508 is a major victory that is thanks in large part to pressure from constituents.
Senate Bill 1056, aimed at prohibiting counties, towns and cities from passing any local regulation on seeds is still alive, and is expected to move sometime this spring. In August 2005, a coalition of organizations including Cal GE-Free, Environmental Commons, California Native Plant Society, California League of Cities, and more than 40 other organizations as well as activists from throughout the state mounted a groundswell of opposition. The opposition stopped the bill’s movement as the 2005 session came to a close. In the words of Senator Wes Chesbro, “Regardless of how you feel about the GMO issue, taking away local voters' rights is a very serious threat to democracy."
Cal GE-Free and our allies are working hard to prevent the passage of preemption and we will send out an alert as soon as a hearing of SB1056 is scheduled. Preemption bills are also active in: Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and North Carolina.
For frequently updated information on the Seed Preemption Legislation nationally, see:
http://www.environmentalcommons.org/gmo-tracker.html
National Food Uniformity Bill Passes the House – CA Senators and Governor
Vow to Defeat It The National Uniformity for Foods Act is a federal bill that would roll back essential food safety laws and would preempt state and local authorities by prohibiting states and localities from enacting food safety regulations stronger than those required by the federal government. The bill is a focused attack on California’s 20-year-old ‘Proposition 65’ that requires labeling of food additives or byproducts that carry a risk of cancer or birth defects. It also aims at preventing any state or local rules mandating the labeling of GE foods.
The bill passed the House of Representatives in March and has now been referred to the Health, Environment, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Senate. A hearing could be scheduled as early as April 24th. If the bill passes through committee it will go to the Senate floor, where U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) have vowed to defeat it. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has also announced his opposition to the bill, stating in a letter to Senator Feinstein that: “I am a strong believer in the rights of individual states to enact laws that protect its citizens and the environment, and the federal government should not interfere in a state's ability to do so.”
For more information and how to take action go to: http://ga3.org/campaign/fooduniformity_house_passage
U.S. Interior Department Sued Over GE Plantings
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has for more than ten years illegally allowed approximately 500 acres of the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge outside Dover, Delaware to be farmed, some with genetically engineered (GE) crops, according to a federal lawsuit filed today by a coalition of environmental and public health organizations. Allowing farming within wildlife refuges interferes with the protection of the wildlife and native species that the national refuge system is designed to protect.
The lawsuit seeks to block further cultivation of GE crops at the Prime Hook wildlife refuge outside Dover, Delaware, and it named as defendants the US Fish & Wildlife Service and its parent agency, the Interior Department. The plaintiffs are the Delaware Audubon Society, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the Center for Food Safety.
For more information: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/press_release4_5_2006.cfm
Vermont Liability Bill Still Alive
The Vermont legislature is considering a bill that would protect farmers by placing liability for GE contamination on the manufacturers of GE seeds. The final version of the bill would allow farmers to sue seed manufacturers under existing nuisance laws if their fields were contaminated and they lost at least $3500. It also clarifies Vermont's seed labeling law, specifically stating that the labeling on GMO seeds must clearly state that the seeds contain genetically engineered material.
For more information: You can see the final version of the bill at www.ruralvermont.org, as well as an outline of the bill, which explains each section.
Victory! UN Upholds Moratorium on Terminator Seed Technology
The governments at the 8th United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in Curitaba Brazil at the end of March, after vigorous and protracted debate, unanimously upheld the international de facto moratorium on Terminator technology – plants that are genetically engineered to produce sterile seeds at harvest.
“The CBD has soundly rejected the efforts of Canada, Australia and New Zealand – supported by the US government and the biotechnology industry – to undermine the moratorium on suicide seeds,” said Maria Jose Guazzelli of Centro Ecológico, a Brazil-based agro-ecological organization. However, the battle isn’t over yet, warns Lucy Sharratt of the international Ban Teminator Campaign. “Terminator will be commercialized unless national governments take action to ban it – as Brazil and India have done.”
For more information: www.banterminator.org
TAKE ACTION
Volunteers Needed!
Cal GE-Free is seeking volunteers to help distribute 'Proud to be GE-Free' signs to GE-Free vendors at farmers markets around California. If you frequently attend a Farmers Market, or are a vendor yourself and would like to become part of the 'Proud to be GE-Free' team, please contact Becky at becky@calgefree.org, or (510) 647-3733.
Help Build the California GE-Free Network
As one of the largest agricultural economies in the world, California has the opportunity to become a leader in safeguarding our public and private lands, fisheries, forests, schools, gardens, and nurseries, from GE contamination. If GE is an issue that you are concerned about and you want to get involved in local action, here are some steps to take:
- If you are not already a member, sign-on to the Cal GE-Free list serve www.calgefree.org to receive this newsletter and action alerts.
- Contact Becky Tarbotton at (510) 647-3733 to find out whether there is an active GE-Free group in your area. If there is no GE-Free group in your area, consider asking local community groups (church groups, environmental groups etc.) to see if you could make a presentation to them about the issue. Cal GE-Free can help by providing information and talking points and offering suggestions.
- If you are a producer, vendor, store, or farmers market committed to growing and sourcing GE-Free - support and broadcast this commitment to healthy food and farming with a ”Proud to be GE-Free” display sign from Cal GE-Free. Contact our office for more information, or take a look at it on our website (http://www.calgefree.org/resources/proudtobegefree.shtml)
- Organize a screening or house party of the new ‘The Future of Food’ and use this as an opportunity to collect names of people who would be interested in starting a group.
- Finally, please consider a donation to Californians for GE-Free Agriculture.
You can make a secure, tax-deductible donation on line by clicking the link on the top left, or send a check payable to Cal GE-Free at:
15290 Coleman Valley Rd.
Occidental, CA 95465