Congratulations on your publication and the joint initiative. Greenpeace is involved in many worthwhile environmental interventions throughout the world and across a broad spectrum. One of the most important tasks which Greenpeace has undertaken is to finance independent scientific testing on GM products already tested by the manufacturer and passed without question by the Government authorities in the countries in which they have been released.
In South Africa a new law has been passed making it impossible to review or appeal against a decision of the responsible authority unless new scientific evidence can be produced. On the one hand,this is good, for example where an an American GM sorghum, disguised as an “African” sorghum was rejected on scientific grounds that genes would contaminate native sorghum. But on the other hand, the playing fields are not level, because big industry finances all the scientific research. Their assurances are accepted wlthout question all over the world. There is in fact very little research done by independent researches. If it was not for Greenpeace financing independent research we would be in a check mate position. Thank you Greenpeace. Your exposure of Monsanto’s MON 863 and now the Roundup Ready maize which has shown diminished brain size in rats has been an eyeopener. this brain diminishing maize has already been released in Europe and the Phillipines for human consumption. In South Africa we won an important victory against Monsanto because of this information. See http://www.flag-sa.org/blog/rallyround.html for a full summary of the Court victory.