The industry’s cards are now fully on the table regarding the proposed deregulation of GM plants engineered with so-called “new genomic techniques” (NGTs), writes Franziska Achterberg of Save Our Seeds. Major chemical and biotech industries, commodity traders, seed breeders and the farmer umbrella group Copa-Cogeca have launched a full-blown attack on consumer rights. In a joint statement, they demand that EU legislators abolish a long-standing rule that all GM food must be labelled and GM plants must be traceable. This isn’t a new demand. But so far, the industry has not come up with a convincing argument to explain why consumers do not have the right to know how their food is made. When the Parliament voted in February last year to require consumer labelling of NGT products, the seed industry – the mouthpiece of the deregulation camp – said that “market labelling” was a “detail” that needed evaluation. Now, as lawmakers move forward in talks to finalise deregulation plans, this “detail” has turned into a major sticking point. Arc2020

 

 

On the 25th anniversary of the Gates Foundation, Bill Gates has generated a massive PR hit – by announcing that he’s going to give away his entire wealth over the next 20 years. This $200 billion, he tells us, will be used to fight infectious diseases, poverty, and preventable deaths. And Gates’s surge in generosity will mean that the Gates Foundation will close at the end of 2045. These are big announcements, widely covered — and praised — by the news media. But they are also complete bullshit, writes Tim Schwab. Bill Gates’s entire philanthropic career has been organised around ambitious, forward-looking goals and announcements – that don’t deliver. Two decades ago, Gates said he knew how to “revolutionise” African agriculture through philanthropy. Independent research shows that in the nations in which Gates works, we’re going backwards on many metrics. More than that, farmer organisations across the African continent are calling on the foundation to pay reparations for the harm it has done. Tim Schwab's Substack

 

 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday updating guidance for researchers and government agencies with the aim of stopping federal funding for foreign research that generates new pandemic-capable viruses, a less sweeping executive order than prior drafts, which were set to implement rules banning gain-of-function research at home and abroad. The executive order directs several agencies to update guidance for researchers to ban federal funding from flowing to countries including North Korea, Iran, Russia and China for such research on all pathogens, according to the White House. Guidance was due to go into effect Tuesday putting a similar restriction on US funding for foreign research, but was superseded by the order. The NIH already announced on May 1 that it would cease all foreign subawards. In April a more sweeping executive order enforceable by law was expected banning gain-of-function research in the US and abroad. The executive order was being drafted and refined by biosecurity expert Gerry Parker, who leads the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy Director within the National Security Council. Parker had not sought input from many officials within the government, including at the NIH, who have historically staved off meaningful regulation. By contrast, the executive order charges many different agencies with formulating the new guidance. [GMW: The author of this article, Emily Kopp, has published her comments on X here.] Daily Caller

 

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