Activists from Greenpeace delivered several hundred pounds of GE cornseed, purchased in Mexico to Mexican health authorities to prove that corn imports coming into the country do contain, gene-altered DNA, despite the ban by the government on imports of GE corn. EU environmental ministers moved to implement the legal equivalent of a three year moratorium on any new approvals of GE foods or crops. The moratorium will remain in effect until more stringent EU safety regulations are put in place in 2002. A Brazilian Judge ruled that Monsanto can't sell Roundup Ready soybeans there until the company prepares a study showing that the genetically modified beans are safe. This decision means Brazilian farmers won't be able to plant bioengineered seeds during the planting season.
Brazil is the second largest producer of soy in the world.
Belgium is still reeling from the shock of food revealed to be contaminated with dioxins and high levels of PCB's. Worse yet, the contaminated produce has probably already been eaten, suggesting from estimates of likely doses that young children may be at risk from the poison. Anti-GMO activist groups recently attacked California's central valley. One group, known as the Lodi Loppers, attacked a commercial crop of DeKalb's Roundup Ready corn. The largest German Supermarket chain has pulled all French Poultry off its shelves because of reports that sludge from municipal water treatment plants is being used as chicken feed.