Agribusiness Publications

Twenty-one organisations have written to the members of the STOA-panel of the European Parliament, to raise concerns about an upcoming seminar they are holding on the EU GMO policy. This seminar is organised in cooperation with the Public Research Regulation Initiative (PRRI), an industry-biased pro-GMO lobbygroup, despite its name and pretentions.

Open letter to Barroso on revolving door case between EFSA and Syngenta

The EU’s policy on the cultivation and imports of genetically modified crops, flawed as it may be, is continuously under attack from the food, biotech and agribusiness industries. The animal feed industry, large importers of soy, have been taking a leading role in the current battle to speed up the EU authorisation process for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and abolish a crucial piece of EU GMO regulation, which forbids any contamination of food with traces of GM crops that are non-authorised in the EU: a zero-tolerance policy.

Thursday 10 September, the Dutch Parliament discussed the outcomes of the last RTRS-conference in Brazil last May, where a set of 'Principles and Criteria' for 'responsible soy' was agreed upon. The Dutch Parliament had called on both the Ministers of Agriculture and Development Cooperation to be present at the debate. Both Ministries support the RTRS financially and politically. The overall debate was very critical, with the RTRS-criteria being qualified from ‘greenwashing’ (Greens, SP, Animal Rights Party) to ‘very fragile’ (Liberals). The parties were very split on the issue whether the Dutch government should continue supporting the RTRS. Most (including the Ministers) agreed that the agreed RTRS-criteria are not enough for a ‘responsible’ label. The Minister of Agriculture, Gerda Verburg (Christian Democrate), was the only one to maintain that she had never heard of “any NGO that completely rejects the RTRS”. But the international critique on the RTRS had clearly been noticed by all others. Important to notice and a cause for concern, was that the relation was made between the upcoming Copenhagen climate summit and 'responsible' soy.

El mes de maio 2009, la Mesa Redonda de Soja Responsable (RTRS) se reunio para acordar nuevos standards para la "soja responsable". El nuevo esquema de certificacion podria ser aceptado por la UE para garantizar que soja certificada pueda ser usada para agrocombustibles en Europa. El Observatorio de las Corporaciones Europeas ha investigado la realidad de la "soja responsable" en Paraguay- el origen de las importaciones de soja para la UE. El grupo DAP promueve los standards de la Mesa Redonda en Paraguay. CEO visito algunas de las comunidades involucradas en las operaciones del grupo DAP y decubrio la realidad de la "soja Responsable".

Another story of privileged access for industry

This article describes an example of 'responsible' soy production in Paraguay, and illustrates how certification can lead to legitimising soy expansion

Over sixty organizations from across the world have signed an open letter to the participants of the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) calling for it to be abandoned.

A report by Nina. [short description bla bla]

On-going complaint submitted to the EU Ombudsman