RESOURCES
Action
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Notices of time-sentitive actions and events.
Animal feed
Introduction
More information on non-GM animal feed
How to source non-GM conventional and organic animal feed
Non-GM feed for horses
Non-GM pet food
The EU market for non-GM-labelled food
Irish exporters of non-GM animal produce
Irish retailers providing meat and dairy produce from non-GM fed animals
Bulletin
GM-free Ireland Bulletin, issue 1, 1 October 2005 (392kb PDF file)
Contents: (1) Irish politicians call for action on GM issues, (2) EC approves live GMO seeds, (3) 8 steps to prevent disaster, (4) Percy Schmeiser interview, (5) Background information on Monsanto's GT73 oilseed rape, (6) Useful resources, (7) Please support GM-free Ireland.
Berlin Manifesto on GMO-free Regions and Biodiversity in Europe
"Co-existence" of GM crops with conventional and organic farming
A clearinghouse of information on stakeholder consultations (launched in the autumn of 2004) with the Irish government interdepartmental / interagency Working Group on the so-called "co-existence" of GM crops with conventional and organic farming.
Dáil debates and Oireachtas briefings on GM issues
2 July 2008
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food:
GM Issues: Discussion with GM Free Ireland Network, Monsanto and Teagasc
Transcript
GM-free Ireland's written presentation to the Committee
Related letter of complaint to the Minister for Agriculture
26 February 2008
Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Scrutiny:
Transcript of the second item on the agenda: Scrutiny of various EU legislative proposals regarding genetically modified foods: COM (2007) 336,
COM (2007) 586,
COM (2007) 814,
COM (2007) 815,
COM (2007) 736, and
COM (2007) 813.
Transcript (280 kb PDF file).
20 February 2008
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food:
Full transcript of the discussion with Minister of State for Food and Horticulture, Trevor Sargent, TD, on (a) farmers' markets, and (b) genetically modified foods:
Transcript (408 kb PDF file).
24 November 2004
debate on Monsanto's GT73 live GMO animal feed + Ireland's GM policy:
This Dáil debate was convened by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Local Government; the principal item on the agenda was how Ireland should vote on the placing on the market of Monsanto's GT73 genetically modified oilseed rape for use as animal feed (even though it consists of live GMO seeds which will inevitably produce a crop. Environment Minister Dick Roche ignored the GM-free Ireland Network's advice to vote NO, and abstained from voting, thus contributing to the lack of a Qualified Majority vote which then enabled the College of Commissioners to legalise GT73 on 30 September 2005.
GM-free Ireland Network briefing paper (876kb PDF file);
Transcript (324kb PDF file);
Follow-up press release issued by GM-free Ireland on 2 September 2005
after the EC legalised the release of GT73 (220kb PDF file).
15 June 2005
debate on national bans on GM crops put in place by EU member states
This Dáil debate was convened by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Local Government; the principal item on the agenda was how Ireland should vote on the European Commission's request to revoke the national bans on specific GM maize and rapeseed crops put in place by Austria, Luxembourg, France, Greece and Germany since 1997. The second item on the agenda was on whether Irish farming showld conserve its GMO-free status. Senators and TDs gave unanimous cross-party support for the sovereign right of member states to ban specific GM products when there are questions over their safety, and urged Environment Minister Dick Roche to support the existing bans. Ireland changed its recent policy of abstaining, when Roche voted against the EC proposals at the Council of Ministers meeting on 24 June, as 22 out of the 25 EU member states rejected the EC proposals. Many Senators and TDs also supported the call for Ireland to remain GMO-free.
GM-free Ireland Network briefing paper (724kb PDF file);
Transcript of the Dáil debate (520kb PDF file).
A large selection of informative documents for stakeholders. More
EU country voting records on legalising GM food, feed and crops
Results of EC 2001/18 Regulatory Committee vote on 29 November 2004 against GM crop bans in Austria, France, Greece, Germany and Luxembourg.
Proceedings of the workshop held at the Convergence Festival in April 2004, including transcripts of presentations by Michael O'Callaghan, Ruaidhri Deasy, Mike Barry, Chris Samra-Tibbets, Bridget Carlin, Pavitra Chalam, Tom Latter, Evan Doyle, Adrian Bebb, a panel discussion and a strategy discussion.
The Prince of Wales' speech at the Terra Madre conference in October 2004
Percy Schmeiser who got sued by Monsanto after being contaminated by GMOs
John Heney of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association
Agnes Ciccarone of the European Assembly of Regions, on GMO-free zones
Maria Gracia Mammucini of the Regional Government of Tuscany, on Tuscany's GMO ban
Helena Norberg-Hodge of the International Forum on Globalisation re. local food
Jack Wafula, organic farmer from Kenya on why GM crops will not end world hunger
Documents
Scientific evidence of GM health and environmental risks
This section contains a broad selection of downoadable documents published by a variety of sources including the BioTech InfoNet, the ECO-RISK Office of Ecological Risk Research, GM-free Cymru, the Independent Science Panel on GM, the Interntational Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, the UK Soil Association, the University of Bergen Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the World Health Organisation.
GM maize conspiracy revealed
Press release from GM-free Cymry, 24 May 2005, revealing the full extent of a conspiracy by UK and EC officials which has, against the public interest, enabled a highly damaging study on the safety of GM maize to be held on a secret dossier and which has gagged scientists who have seen it.
Genetically Modified Foods Are Inherently Unsafe
by Jeffrey M. Smith, author of Seeds of Deception.
Eating Genetically Modified Food is Gambling With Your Health
by Jeffrey M. Smith, author of Seeds of Deception.
The Case for a GM-free Sustainable World
Authoritative scientific overview published by the Independent Science Panel on GM. Drafted by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho and Lim Li Ching, with contributions by Prof. Joe Cummins, Prof. Malcolm Hooper, Prof. Miguel Altieri, Dr. Peter Rosset, Dr. Arpad Puzstai, Stanley Ewen, Prof. Michel Pimbert, Prof. Peter Saunders, Edward Goldsmith, David Quist, Dr. Eva Novotny, Dr. Vyvyan Howard, Dr. Brian John et al. 15 June 2003.
Life With The Fluid Genome
Presentation by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho at Ireland's National Future of Food Forum, 4 July 2004.
Background information on GM
GM seed contamination
Labelling threshold for GM contamination in non-GM seed
Letter from the EU Regional Group of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) to the European Commission, 25 March 2004.
Law
Global law
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety: what it means for Ireland
The GM Dispute at the WTO: Forcing GM foods on Europe?
GeneWatch UK Briefing no 25, Dec. 2003 (164k PDF file).
EU directives and laws relating to GMOs:
Leaked Communication from David Byrne recognising Member States' right to refuse GM seeds and crops.
DIRECTIVE 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 March 2001 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC.
About Article 19 of the EU Directive 2001/18/EC allowing local areas to be GM-free
Keeping your area GM-free: Friends of the Earth guide to EU decision making for UK Local Authorities and National Parks:
www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food/resource/local.html
Dail questions to Minister of Agriculture Joe Walsh on various GM issues (May 2004)
UK rules and regulations relating to GMOs:
GM Crops? Coexistence and Liability: A report by the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC), November 2003.
Leading Irish politicians favour keeping Ireland GMO-free, and oppose our Government's unemocratic collusion with the WTO and the EC to legalise GMO seeds and crops against the wishes of the majority of European Governments, food brands, retailers and consumers. More
List of books and publications on genetic engineering and sustainable agriculture. More
