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Consumer Power vs. Corporate Control
A huge mobilisation of European consumers and environmentalists has held GMOs at bay in Europe over the past eight years. Unfortunately European governments and the EU Commission appear to be bending under the combined pressure of a powerful GE industry lead by powerful companies like Monsanto, the Bush administration and the WTO "forced trade" regime.
As a result, the 1998 EU moratorium on new GMO approvals is now being lifted, and several new GE crops and products are about to be approved in Europe. This coincides with the introduction of new GE labelling and traceability rules on all foodstuffs and animal feed within the EU from April 18th.
The GE companies are not in this business to feed the world, as their publicity material crassly suggests. They are in this business to make huge profits by owning and controlling major staple food crops which they have genetically engineered to be used along with the herbicides that they also sell.
So once again we have to take the fight to the supermarkets to stave off a new GE industry offensive by targeting these labelled products. We are launching a European-wide campaign to re-secure supermarkets against GE food, and we need you to join the struggle by demanding non-GE food and feed.
Food for Thought:
Q & A: what is GE?
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA): Failing Consumers and the Environment
Implications of the EU's New Labelling Rules
Governments Worldwide Require Labelling and Regulation of GMOs
The US War on Biosafety - Renewed Aggression by a Rogue State
Monsanto & Genetic Engineering - Risks for Investors (Exec summary)
GE Crops - Increasingly Isolated as Awareness and Rejection Grow
Our question: GE or not GE?
Gene detectives have been carrying out stop and search activities on six lorries carrying soyameal from the Mannheim oil mill in Germany today to check whether the status of the soyameal and its paperwork are the same. It seems that the oil mill operator, Bunge Deutschland GmbH, is currently processing only GE-free soya but is labelling most of the soyameal as being genetically engineered.
More"Our question: GE or not GE?"
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European consumers unite against GE
 Across Europe our volunteers and campaigners are keeping up the pressure on the GE food industry, letting them know that consumers don't want GE anywhere near their dinner tables. Today volunteers, representing citizens from the 25 nations of the European Union, made their feelings known by hanging banners in front of important monuments in Portugal, Poland, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. View a slideshow of today's images.
More"European consumers unite against GE"
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Rainbow Warrior Captain charges dismissed
 The charges against Rainbow Warrior captain, Derek Nicholls, brought against him following an action carried out during the GE campaign in Australia were dismissed by the magistrate due to Nicholls good character.
More"Rainbow Warrior Captain charges dismissed"
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German action ahead of court hearing
Our activists in Germany set up 20 life-size cows in the old part of Cologne this morning, ahead of today's hearing of the Theo Müller GmbH case against Greenpeace Germany in the regional court in Cologne. The diary giant wants to implement a provisional order (injunction) to stop Greenpeace informing consumers that Müller milk is made from dairy cattle that are fed on GE animal feed.
More"German action ahead of court hearing"
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Müller madness
 During an action today outside the headquarters of dairy giant Muller in Aretsried, near Munich South Germany activists were made to leave and had one of their signs destroyed by Theo Müller himself, the head of the Müller group.
More"Müller madness"
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Rome up-date
Following the action at the World Food Business Summit in Rome yesterday, 33 of our protestors were arrested. However that didn't stop two of activists infiltrating the Summit's cocktail party later on that evening carrying a brief case containing special audio equipment to play the recording of our consumers saying no to GMOs.
More"Rome up-date"
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Top food executives: hearing the message?
Attendees of the World Food Business Summit in Rome, Italy were 'welcomed' today by hundreds of audio messages from consumers in all 25 EU nations saying that they didn't want GE in their food.
More"Top food executives: hearing the message?"
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On the Bunge trail
 This spring our 'Biosafety Inspectors' and activists have been globally monitoring imports and exports of Genetically Engineered (GE) crops - soya in particular - following the introduction of the EU legislation on GE labelling and traceability. A lot of this activity has concentrated on the practices of Bunge - not because we enjoy 'Bunge bashing' but because this transnational makes USD22 billion in revenue a year, a large proportion of which is from soya both GE and GE-free.
More"On the Bunge trail"
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Müller tries to gag Greenpeace
 After months of actions organised by our activists against the diary giant Müller, Greenpeace Germany was yesterday informed that Theo Müller GmbH & CO has applied to the courts for an injunction to stop us campaigning against the company's GE milk.
More"Müller tries to gag Greenpeace"
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Spain's detectives double check
Over the weekend our Gene Detectives in Spain hit the supermarkets again to verify that food manufacturers and distributors are continuing to correctly applying the European labelling laws.
More"Spain's detectives double check"
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Supermarket Success!
 As well as the recent hijinks on the high seas our local volunteers and activists have been busy in supermarkets around world, communicating the message that we are not going to accept genetically engineered food whether we are in Brisbane or in Barcelona.
More"Supermarket Success!"
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Auchan Victory
Thanks to the hard work and activities by our Gene Detectives in Luxembourg, supermarket leader Auchan, has agreed to remove all products containing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) from their shelves.
More"Auchan Victory"
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Bite Back petition delivered
 This morning international campaigners from the 'Bite-Back' coalition delivered a petition to the World Trade Organization (WTO) signed by more than 100,000 people from 91 countries, asking it to not force feed the world Genetically Engineered (GE) products.
More"Bite Back petition delivered"
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Italy Action Ends
After a week of non-stop action our Italian activities finally came to an end on Saturday morning. Our protestors remained chained to the Cereol/Bunge plant in Ancona throughout the night and only stopped when the police physically removed them from their protest positions.
More"Italy Action Ends"
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No way out for Bunge soya
Soya processors Cereol/Bunge are being visited for the second time this week by our campaginers, this time 30 international activists have occupied the international company's soya processing facility in Ancona, Italy.
More"No way out for Bunge soya"
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Marathon Blockade Ends in Italy
Our marathon action in Chioggia Italy has come to an end this evening after three days of protest when Italian police intervened to end our blockade of the Panama-registered bulk carrier, Keoyang Majesty, which is carrying 40,000 thousands tons of Argentinean GE Soya.
More"Marathon Blockade Ends in Italy"
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Bunge visited by 'Biosafety Inspectors'
Bunge was the centre of attention again today as 25 Greenpeace activists inspected a soya processing plant in Passo Fundo, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. We are concerned with that the soya being processed is contaminated as Passo Fundo is located in the centre of GE plantations in Brazil.
More"Bunge visited by 'Biosafety Inspectors'"
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TOPS tests GE positive in Thailand
This morning a group of Thai activists returned a large amount of Chinese sausage to TOPS Supermarket in Bangkok, demanding a refund after tests revealed that 33 percent of the soya used in the supermarket's own-branded sausages was GE, even thought it claims to be GE-free.
More"TOPS tests GE positive in Thailand"
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Slovakia says no to Tesco
Greenpeace activists today protested in front of the Tesco supermarket in downtown Bratislava, Slovakia against the Supermarket giant's double standards with regard selling GE food.
More"Slovakia says no to Tesco"
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'Cowcar' starts tour of Germany
German activits today protested in front of one of the largest dairies owned by Mueller in Leppersdorf, Saxony, with a car that has been converted to look like a diary cow, following our recent discovery that GE feed is being used by the farmers supplying milk to Mueller.
More"'Cowcar' starts tour of Germany"
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GE soya importers targeted in Italy
This morning 70 international Greenpeace activists uncovered thousands of tonnes of Genetically Engineered (GE) soya in warehouses in the Italian port of Ravenna. Recent samples taken from one of the warehouses have proven to be GE positive. Activists from Italy, Spain, Austria, Finland, Denmark and Norway are currently preventing any GE soya from leaving the facility and are taking further samples.
More" GE soya importers targeted in Italy"
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WTO: Hands off our food!
The US government has initiated a WTO case against the GMO policies of the European Union, demanding 1.8 bilion dollars from the EU in lost GE maize exports. Greenpeace strongly believes that all countries have a right to reject GMOs and GE food, and the WTO should have no say in this matter.
More"WTO: Hands off our food!"
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New Zealand launches latest consumer guide
New Zealand has launched its latest consumer guide with the help of Foodstuffs, New Zealand's biggest retailer and producer of the Pam's product range, which is allowing the owner operators of their New World stores to stock it.
More"New Zealand launches latest consumer guide"
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Chile launches Consumer Guide
The first ever GE Consumer Guide was launched in Chile over the week end in Santiago City, to mark the launch our local volunteers handed out the guide to consumers in the busy shopping spots to inform consumers about non-GE products on the market.
More"Chile launches Consumer Guide"
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Consumer's take Carrefour
More of our activists today demonstrated against GE foods by labelling products containing GE ingredients, at a Carrefour supermarket, in Curitiba, Brazil.
More"Consumer's take Carrefour"
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Greenpeace calls for GE free zones in EU
Following the de facto fall of the EU GE moratorium on Monday in Luxembourg, Greenpeace volunteers from Austria have demonstrated with members of Global 2000 to demand GE free zones in the EU.
More"Greenpeace calls for GE free zones in EU"
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Esperanza intercepts GE shipment in southern Spain
This morning our 'Gene Detectives' from the Esperanza intercepted and boarded the 'Winner' a ship carrying thousands of tons of GE soya where it is anchored just off Malaga in southern Spain.
More"Esperanza intercepts GE shipment in southern Spain"
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Seventy-Eight Food Brands Go GE-Free in China
Seventy-eight food brands announced they are now officially committed to not selling genetically engineered (GE) food in China over the week end. These non-GE brands are listed in the Shoppers' Guide to Avoiding GE Food , which was launched by Greenpeace on Sunday. The announcement marks increasing market rejection of GE food in the world's largest food market.
More"Seventy-Eight Food Brands Go GE-Free in China"
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Chinese consumer vows to continue following Nestlé defeat
China's first consumer court case on the labelling of genetically engineered (GE) food has been rejected on technical grounds. Last year, a young mother from Shanghai, Zhu Yanling, sued food giant Nestlé for not labelling the Nesquik which she had been buying for her two-year old baby.
More"Chinese consumer vows to continue following Nestlé defeat"
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European consumers prepare to reject GE food
As of this weekend shoppers will be able to clearly identify which food contains genetically engineered (GE) ingredients as the EU rules on labelling come into effect; although this will boost consumer rejection this legislation is far from perfect.
More"European consumers prepare to reject GE food"
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Russia takes GE labelling seriously
Russia has announced that it is to introduce compulsory labelling of foodstuffs with over 0.9% of GMOs as of 1 June thanks in part to Greenpeace Russia's hard work. The chief sanitary medical officer Gennady Onishchenko has signed the resolution, which adopts European standards of labelling.
More"Russia takes GE labelling seriously"
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Brazil launches latest Consumer Guide
Greenpeace Brazil has launched the fourth edition of its GE Consumer Guide in Porto Alegre onboard the Arctic Sunrise which includes listings of 28 new companies.
More"Brazil launches latest Consumer Guide"
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European tour kicks off
The European leg of the GE campaign has kicked off, a press conference and an open evening were held on the Esperanza in the port of Nantes in France over the weekend.
More"European tour kicks off"
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GE Soya The First & Final Fight?
In 1996 the first US shipments of Genetically Engineered (GE) soya arrived at European shores. They were met by Greenpeace protesters and consumer activists, who were adamant that Monsanto, one of the worlds leading producers of GE seeds, would not get away with sneaking Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) into the food chain without public debate, consumer choice and safety testing.
More"GE Soya The First & Final Fight?"
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