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Great fish going the way of the dinosaurs
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ENVIRONMENT BRIEFS
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Corporate unaccountability defeated
in New Jersey
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EU defies US in battle over
genetically modified foods

By Stefania Bianchi

Brussels, Belgium, May 14 (IPS)— The European Commission has condemned the US decision to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the European Union’s de facto ban on genetically modified foods.

The United States consider the current European Union (EU) moratorium on the commercial development of genetically modified (GM) foods as an “illegal” barrier under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

Senior officials of the 15-nation EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, dismiss the US administration’s move as “legally unwarranted,” “economically unfounded,”and “politically unhelpful.”

The US, along with twelve other agricultural exporting nations, including Argentina, Canada, and Egypt, want the EU to repeal its five-year moratorium on GM foods, or face sanctions under WTO rules.

US Trade Representative, Robert Zoellick, accuses the EU of procrastinating over the issue and says that its resistance to WTO rules has “perpetuated a trade barrier,” impeding the use of a technology that could “benefit farmers and consumers around the world.”

EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, however, argues, “The EU’s regulatory system for GMO’s authorization is in line with WTO rules: it is clear, transparent and non-discriminatory. There is therefore no issue that the WTO needs to examine.”

In a statement Tuesday, Lamy denied the US claim of a moratorium, saying, “The EU has authorized GM varieties in the past and is currently processing applications. So what is the real US motive in bringing a case?”

Lamy’s view was echoed by his fellow commissioners.

“We have been working hard in Europe to complete our regulatory system in line with the latest scientific and international developments. The finalization period is imminent,” said David Bryne, EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection.

Margot Wallström, EU Commissioner for the Environment, added that the Commission would not be rushed over the issue.

“This US move is unhelpful and can only make an already difficult debate in Europe more difficult. But in the meantime, the Commission strongly believes that we in Europe should move ahead with completing our legislation on traceability and labeling and on food and feed, currently before the European Parliament. We should not be deflected or distracted from pursuing the right policy for the EU,” she said.

This assurance came in the aftermath of anxiety expressed by the non-governmental organization Friends of the Earth (FoE) International over the US move. This was an attempt by the Bush administration to “prevent any effective labeling of food derived from GM ingredients,” the group said Monday.

Statements by senior officials in Brussels however indicated that EU is unlikely to lift the block on GM foods, which is widely supported by European consumers. There is currently a lack of consumer demand for GM-products which accounts for the low sales of GMOs on the EU market.

Under the EU system, the prospective effects of GMOs on human, animal and plant health and the environment have to be scientifically assessed before being approved for marketing. For four years the EU’s regulatory regime was unable to address the challenges of genetic modification, but a new regulatory framework was adopted in March 2001 and came into force in October 2002.

Recently, two cotton seed oils for food use have been placed on the market in the EU following authorization, and a number of new applications for marketing GMOs are currently at an advanced stage of examination.

The EU is also finalizing the adoption of rules on labeling and traceability, which aim to give EU citizens more information on GMOs.

However, NGOs such as the FoE International fear the latest move by Washington could bring the full force of WTO sanctions on the European Union, giving the US the right to impose retaliatory tariffs on EU goods.

EU consumer and green lobby groups have opposed the US claim, saying it goes against the wishes of the majority of consumers in Europe.

“If this attempt succeeds, the US will force GM foods onto European markets regardless of the wishes of the consumers. The European Commission and national governments must find the courage to stand up to this outrageous piece of bullying. Decisions over the future of GM crops in Europe must not be made by George Bush in the White House,” said FoE policy director Liana Stupples.

US Trade Representative Zoellick has threatened a WTO case on the EU on several occasions, most recently in January this year. But it is believed that it was postponed in the run-up to the war in Iraq as the US tried to gain EU support.

Zoellick says that the EU’s resistance over GMOs has resulted in a number of developing countries cutting down on the production of GM crops because they cannot export them to European countries. This, he said, was harming farmers worldwide.

However, in recent years, a number of developing countries suffering food shortages, including Zambia and Zimbabwe, have refused GMO food aid and the European Commission says that it is the right of the governments in such countries to make decisions over GM foods.

The row over GM foods also threatens to hinder a deal on agriculture under the Doha round of global trade talks within the WTO. The US and EU are in a dispute over agricultural reform in developing countries.

Great fish going the way of the dinosaurs

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, May 14 (ENS)— Ninety percent of all large fish in the world’s oceans are gone after commercial fishing vessels have taken their toll over the past 50 years, according to a long term study conducted by Canadian and German scientists published in the international journal Nature. The scientists say there is an urgent need to attempt fisheries restoration on a global scale.

“From giant blue marlin to mighty blue fin tuna, and from tropical groupers to Antarctic cod, industrial fishing has scoured the global ocean. There is no blue frontier left,” said lead author Ransom Myers, a fisheries biologist based at Dalhousie University in Canada. “This isn’t about just about one species,” he says. “The sustainability of fisheries is being severely compromised worldwide.”

For the rest of this article, please visit www.ens-news.com

Corporate unaccountability defeated
in New Jersey

New Jersey, May 19— A federal judge has ordered a massive cleanup of a chromium-contaminated field on the Jersey City waterfront, handing a victory to a group of activists from local churches who filed suit against Honeywell International Inc., the Morris Township-based corporate giant responsible for the property. The Star Ledger estimates that there are 190 similar sites in Hudson County. The decision orders Honeywell to remove and treat all contaminated soil from the 32-acre expanse along the Hackensack River, at a cost estimated at $400 million or more.

Honeywell International vowed to appeal the order.

The decision gets to the heart of the long-running struggle between industrial corporations and communities over the proper way to treat toxic waste sites in urban neighborhoods, where corporate pollution in decades past has left a legacy of health hazards.

Chromium contamination at the Jersey City site has its roots in the late 19th Century, when the Mutual Chemical Co. combined the waste from its industrial processes with water and piped it to a wetlands property the firm owned on the Hackensack River.

After a series of mergers, Mutual eventually became part of Honeywell. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has been putting pressure on mega-corporation Honeywell International and its corporate predecessors to clean up the Jersey City site for years. After a number failures to prevent chromium from leaching into the Hackensack River, the DEP sent stern letters in 1996, 1999 and 2000, with no results.

In the end, it fell to a collection of activists from local churches and ecology groups to take Honeywell to court in a David vs. Goliath legal battle. The plaintiffs argued that the site posed “an imminent and substantial endangerment” to local residents and workers. When inhaled, ingested or touched, chromium can cause birth defects and health problems ranging from skin rashes to lung cancer. It can also kill plant life, fish and other river creatures.

“This is a victory over the forces of evil,” said Reverend Winston Clarke, who moved into the Society Hill development, a condominium complex near the Honeywell property, in 1993. “It’s a triumph for people who care about pollution, and a rebuke to those politicians who were afraid to take on the polluters responsible.”

Honeywell executives have declined to discuss the case in detail. Yesterday, spokesman Michael Holland offered a terse response to the court order. “We strongly disagree with the court’s decision, and we plan to appeal,” Holland said. He refused to answer any other questions.

Honeywell International is easily one of the largest corporations in America, that is directly tied into the petroleum/war industry. In 2000, General Electric bought out Honeywell for $45 billion to merge into one mega-corporation that would serve aerospace, military, and petroleum technological development. Honeywell is one of the largest military contractors for the Pentagon. Honeywell is currently developing technology for the Bush administration’s “homeland security” measures and is involved in multiple contracts with the reconstruction of Iraq. Honeywell International Inc. is based in Morris Township, NJ.

Source: IMC New Jersey