Seed E-News

December 5, 2003

GM Crops and World Hunger
Hunger is on the rise again after falling steadily during the first half of the 1990s, warns a report released on November 26 by the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation.Ê In the same week, a Danish task force asserts that organizations are falling short in their responsibility to developing countries if they fail to adopt a position with regards to genetically modified crops and their use in these countries. For more on this, follow this link World Hunger.

In a story run on November 30, a Zambian father explained to a Washington Post reporter how, as the drought worsened last year, his eleven children would sometimes go without food for three days. As the children went hungry, bags of relief corn sat in a warehouse in his village on the shores of Lake Kariba. The US government said the corn, a variety created by modern biotechnology and grown in the United States, was safe to eat. The Zambian government was not so sure and ordered that the grain be locked up even after aid groups had shipped it to stricken villages. The father of 11 rounded up a mob that forced its way into the warehouse and distributed the corn to scores of village families. With that act of defiance, the villagers of Munyama not only restocked barren larders but they also became symbols of the continuing fight between Europe and the US over agricultural biotechnology. To biotechnology's supporters, the villagers showed the human cost of an irrational new technophobia, centered in Europe and intent on blocking the development of GM crops. To skeptics of biotechnology, the Zambian villagers became a symbol of the American government's willingness to use destitute Africans as pawns in pressing the interests of Western corporations. For more on this story, which also deals with the farming of non-food crops such as cotton, follow this link Washington Post. Please note that this is a long article.

USDA Establishes Biotechnology Environmental Unit
On December 3, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced the creation of an environmental and ecological analysis unit within its Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) program. The unit will conduct analysis of the environmental and ecological effects of field testing genetically engineered plants to assist in the development of BRS regulations and permit conditions, ensure BRS continued compliance with environmental regulations and coordinate oversight of BRS environmental impact statements. For more, follow this link APHIS.

USDA Grants Protection to 17 New Plant Varieties
(Washington, Dec. 1) The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 17 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include lettuce, potato, rice, ryegrass, tobacco and wheat. The 17 certificates are being issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The certificates require that the varieties be new, distinct, uniform and stable. The owners will have the exclusive right to reproduce, sell, import and export their products in the United States for the duration of protection. The 17 certificates are:

• the Hallmark and Hallmark W varieties of lettuce, developed by Paragon Seed, Inc. Salinas, CA;
• the Sirius variety of potato, developed by SAKA-RAGIS Pflanzenzucht GbR, Hamburg, Germany;
• the AB3004 variety of rice, developed by Busch Agricultural Resources, Inc., Pleasant Grove, CA;
• the Jacinto* variety of rice, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, TX;
• the Citation III, Chaparral, Omega 3 and Brightstar II varieties of perennial ryegrass, developed by Pure Seed Testing, Inc., Hubbard, OR;
• the Penguin variety of perennial ryegrass, developed by Seed Research of Oregon, Corvallis, OR;
• the Palmer III variety of perennial ryegrass, developed by KRB Seed Company, LLC, Winston Salem, NC;
• the Prelude III, Repell III, and Pennant II varieties of perennial ryegrass, developed by ProSeeds Marketing, Inc., Jefferson, OR;
• the NC 2000* variety of tobacco, developed by North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC;
• the Explorer* variety of common wheat, developed by Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, Bozeman, MT; and
• the Matt* variety of durum wheat, developed by Arizona Plant Breeders, Inc., Arizona City, AZ.

* In the United States seed of this variety (1) shall be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed and (2) shall conform to the number of generations specified by the owner of the rights (84 STAT. 1542, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2321 ET SEQ).

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides time limited marketing protection to developers of new and distinct seed- reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers. For additional information contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at telephone (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291 or check out the PVPO Web Site.

U.S. Grain Exporters to Pay Dearly for Labels
New labeling requirements in Europe will make U.S. crops more costly to export and could open U.S. farmers and grain handlers to new liabilities, participants said at a recent forum in Ames, IA, and reported by the Des Moines Register. The regulations, currently in draft form, are being considered by European Union member nations and could be in force as soon as next year. The regulations are expected to require U.S. exporters of grain to certify whether their shipments contain genetically engineered crops. In addition, food and livestock feed product labels will have to indicate whether ingredients have been derived from genetically engineered crops. For more, please follow this link Labeling.

Europe Struggles for GM Crop Consensus
Europe continues to struggle to reach common ground on GM crops, with Britain's top adviser unable to provide clear guidelines for their use in the UK while an upcoming EU vote to lift a five-year ban on biotech products is too close to call. In a keenly-awaited report, the UK's Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) called for strict rules governing the sowing of GM crops, but, without clear proposals, it makes a vital government decision next year much more difficult. The report was due to have been published earlier this year, but its release was pushed back because scientists could not agree on a threshold limit for their use in food —crucial if the government is to spell out how GM and non-GM crops can co-exist and still leave consumers with a choice of what to buy. The AEBC said its members could not agree whether the acceptable limit of GM material in food should be set at 0.1 percent, as demanded by Britain's increasingly influential organic food lobby, or 0.9 percent as suggested by the biotechnology industry and the EU Commission.

UK ministers are under pressure to agree a UK regulatory regime for GM crops because the EU is poised to lift its five-year moratorium on the crops, a move which could pave the way for possible cultivation. This month, EU countries will try again to lift the ban on new biotech crops, renewing the debate on a type of Bt-11 sweetcorn that may unlock the transatlantic trade row. The European Commission will put the issue to a vote on December 8 ö hoping to win against a small but powerful group of GM-skeptic states. The outcome could either be a spectacular backfire for the Commission, leaving the stalemate to be resolved by EU ministers, or could end an unofficial ban that sparked international action against the EU by Argentina, Canada and the US. The EU last authorized a new GM food product in April 1998. However, this month, an informal show of hands at one of the EU's many specialist committees showed the Commission it did not yet have enough support to back its recommended approval of Syngenta's Bt-11 sweetcorn. In addition, this week, the French state food agency (AFSSA) said that it wanted to see more research into Bt-11 sweetcorn arguing that previous tests had not provided enough evidence to say it was safe for humans to eat. For more on this last item, follow this link Testing Call.

EU Food Agency Declares Monsanto's GM Maize Safe
The European Union's food safety agency has given a clean bill of health to Monsanto's NK603 maize. EU member states will now have to decide whether to allow imports of the GM maize. Growing the GM maize seed in the ground would remain banned, as Monsanto's application for authorization relates to imports as a food, and also for processing. This opinion may influence the December 8. Although the product is different to that being considered on Monday, the scientists' views could shape the tone of the debate as they represent non-political independent opinion — not that of a committee made up of officials from EU member states. For more on this, follow this link Approval.

GM Crop Ban Going on Ballot
Continuing the Mendocino County (CA) story, the county Board of Supervisors agreed unanimously this week to place the issue before voters after supporters gathered more than 4,000 signatures of registered voters to qualify the measure for the ballot. As a result, the only alternatives available to the Board were to adopt the measure outright or to let voters decide. The Mendocino initiative does not target the sale of GM foods but seeks to ban planting of GM crops to avoid possible contamination of organically grown products. Already, the planned ballot measure been attacked by the California Plant Health Association which argues that the initiative is unconstitutional. In addition, the Mendocino ballot measure is expected to be scrutinized by the state Farm Bureau, which backs biotechnology research, including efforts to genetically manufacture pharmaceuticals in plants. To read more on this story, follow this link Ballot.

Industry and People
Illinois Foundation Seeds Inc. (IFSI), whose President, Dale Cochran, is ASTA Vice President for the Central Region, has acquired Seed Genetics of Lafayette, IN.

INCOTEC of California is proud of its long history of new product development aimed at achieving this goal. In this spirit, INCOTEC has announced that its Salinas facility has received official certification from the California Crop Improvement Association (CCIA) as an Organic Production facility. For more information, check out the company's web site at www.incotec.com.

AB ANNAND Seed Services Ltd, a Corresponding ASTA Member in New Zealand, has another American on their team. Shawn Downs, most recently a vegetable seed production manager in the Willamette Valley, has accepted the position of Seeds Manager and brings 20+ years of hybrid vegetable seed production experience. He has degrees from both Colorado Mountain College and Oregon State University. AB ANNAND Seed Services is a contract seed production company in New Zealand and Australia, based in Christchurch. AB ANNAND and Co Ltd is an old New Zealand company, now owned by American-Kiwi Jay Scanlon. ANNAND is the parent of seed producer AB ANNAND Seeds Services, Ltd., which also has staff ownership.

If you have any personnel changes, or other developments in your company, that you would like included in E-News, please send details to ppatterson@amseed.org.

ASTA Membership Database
To ensure that our membership database is up to date and accurate, please let us know of any changes to your company name, address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, company ASTA representatives, etc. Details of changes can be mailed to the ASTA offices at 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 650, Alexandria, VA 22314-2875, faxed to 703-837-9365, or e-mailed to Peter Patterson, Director, Membership Services, at ppatterson@amseed.org.

Upcoming Events

December 10-12, 2003
ASTA 33rd Soybean Seed &
58th Corn & Sorghum Seed Conferences & Seed Expo 2003
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chicago, IL
Tel: 1-888.890.7333
Pre-registration closed on November 7 but anyone wishing to attend can register on-site. For more about the events, please follow these links: Conferences and Seed Expo.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that the registration brochure for the Corn & Sorghum and Soybean Seed Research Conference incorrectly lists the phone number for the Sheraton Chicago as (312) 464-8000. It should read (312) 464-1000. The Sheraton Chicago is our only overflow hotel for the conference where group rates for ASTA attendees have been established. The headquarter hotel is the Hyatt Regency Chicago and it is already filling up fast!

January 24-27, 2004
43rd Vegetable & Flower Seed Conference
Savannah, GA
Tel: 1-888.890.7333
To register, please follow this link: Savannah

May 24-26, 2004
International Seed Federation Congress
Berlin, Germany
www.worldseed2004.com

June 27-30, 2004
121st ASTA Annual Convention
Wyndham Franklin Plaza
Philadelphia, PA
Tel: 1-888.890.7333
Annual Convention

November 7-8, 2004
ASTA 50th Farm & Lawn Seed Conference
Westin Crown Center
Kansas City, MO

December 8-10, 2004
ASTA 34th Soybean & 59th Corn & Sorghum Seed Conferences and Seed Expo 2004
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chicago, IL
Tel: 1-888.890.7333

June 19-22, 2005
122nd ASTA Annual Convention
Sheraton Seattle Hotel and Tower
Seattle, WA

July 7-14, 2006
Joint ASTA-CSTA Annual Convention
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chicago, IL