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GE - GMO News 03/29

GMO News 03/29 
1) Spanish grain merchant backs gene crops 
2) SAARC NATIONS TO EXCHANGE GRAIN VARIETIES FOR RESEARCH 
3) GM foods panic yet to hit British restaurants 
4) Tight security as worlds rarest cow and cloned calf appear in public 
5) INDIA TO ENACT GENE PROTECTION LAW TO SAFEGUARD FARMERS 
6)  Fostering of Bioventures Moves into Top Gear
7) Idemitsu Kosan Enters Biopesticide Market
8)  Zeneca-Monsanto Agree on Agchem Business 
9) FIVE HELD OVER  GM  CROP PROTEST 
10) BAA-BY NO 2  FOR  SHEEP DOLLY 
11) Parana to certify non-transgenic grain exports 
12) Hungry Glaxo On Merger Prowl 
13) Lawmakers urge EPA to reconsider plant pesticide rules

========================
> INTERVIEW-
1) Spanish grain merchant backs gene crops 
By David Brough  LISBON,  March 29 (Reuters) 
- A leading Spanish grain merchant said on Monday  he 
> backed genetically modified (GM) crops because he was confident 
> adequate 
> food safety controls were in place. When a GM product reaches the 
> market, 
> it has been properly approved. That should be sufficient," Pelayo 
> Moreno 
> Sanchez, president of the Spanish Association of Cereals and 
> Oilseeds 
> Merchants, told Reuters in a telephone interview. "If a 
> multinational like Monsanto launched a new GM product, I would sell 
> it," he 
> added, speaking from Badajoz in the maize- and sunflower-growing 
> region of 
> Extremadura in western Spain. 
> Moreno Sanchez said Spanish farmers wanted to grow GM 
> crops. They sought higher yields and lower costs, and GM plants 
> used less herbicides and resisted pests. "Farmers want a product 
> that gives them fewer problems to deal with," he said. 
> Traders estimated that 20,000 hectares of approved strains 
> of GM maize had been planted for commercial use across Spain in 
> 1998 for harvesting in late 1998 or early this year. 
> The EU permits imports of approved strains of GM crops like 
> maize and soybeans but regulations governing growing of GM 
> crops, whether experimental or commercial, within individual EU 
> member states are still in flux. Spain is a net importer of 
> cereals. Spanish importers have spurned U.S. maize in recent 
> months because of concerns it could include unapproved GM 
> varieties, grain industry officials said. 
> Moreno Sanchez said he was not concerned about possible 
> long-term health risks from GM foods. 
> The exact risks -- if any -- posed by high-yield GM crops 
> are not known, analysts say. 
> Critics say they fear GM seeds could affect human health 
> and hurt the environment via cross-pollination. 
> Moreno Sanchez said he favoured labelling food as 
> containing GM ingredients but added that few Spanish consumers 
> were concerned about food safety issues. "I think labels 
> should state whether foods are genetically modified, so the 
> consumer can make an informed choice," he said. 
> Few foodstuffs sold in Spain are labelled as containing GM 
> ingredients. 
> ======#====== 
2) SAARC NATIONS TO EXCHANGE GRAIN VARIETIES FOR RESEARCH 
NEW DELHI,  Mar 29, 1999 (Asia Pulse via COMTEX) -
- Member nations of South Asian  Association 
> for Regional Co-Operation (SAARC) have been agreed to exchange 
> varieties 
> of rice, wheat and maize for reasearch purposes. Genetic material of 
> the 
> three crops, a staple diet in the region, will not be passed on to 
> countries which do not belong to SAARC. To foster exchange, a 
> material 
> transfer agreement (MTA) will be drafted at the National Bureau of 
> Plant 
> Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in New Delhi. The decision was taken by 
> the 
> represenatatives of India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, 
> Bangladesh 
> and Maldives at a four-day workship on plant genetic 
> resources and intellectual property rights (IPR) that ended 
> here on Thursday. 
> The members also recommend the recognition of the country of 
> origin of a particular plant species as the provider of that 
> variety so that benefit-sharing arrangements can be made 
> accordingly. 
> (C) 1999 Asia Pulse Pte Ltd 

> ======#====== 
3) GM foods panic yet to hit British restaurants 
By Daniel Simpson 
> LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - 
Casting a wary eye over a rack of  glistening 
> fowl adorning a Chinatown restaurant window, Brian Hinton scratched 
> his 
> chin and gave voice to the British public's deep suspicion about 
> what ends 
> up on its dinner plates. You know, I'm looking at that duck and 
> wondering 
> exactly what on earth it's coated in," he said with unease. When 
> The 
> Mirror tabloid screamed "Prime Monster" at Tony Blair in February 
> after 
> the Prime Minister said he was happy to eat genetically modified (GM) 
> food, it was tapping into long- standing national anxiety about food 
> safety. But despite a moral panic that has seen newspaper 
> columnists 
> and supermarket telephone advice lines twitching due to national 
> worries 
> about so-called "Frankenstein foods," the 68 percent of Britons who 
> tell pollsters they are concerned about eating GM foods have 
> been slow to ask questions of their restaurants. 
> Under new legislation extending European Union labelling 
> laws on GM soya and maize to include Britain's 125,000 food 
> outlets, the government aimed this month to restore consumer 
> confidence by ordering caterers, from hot dog stands to top 
> restaurants, to reassure customers about what they're eating. 
> Restaurants and cafes will face fines of up to 5,000 pounds 
> ($8,114) after September if staff cannot tell diners whether 
> their food contains GM ingredients when asked. 
> A CONCERNED PUBLIC KEEPS QUIET 
> Yet few of central London's catering establishments -- from 
> the sandwich chains to Michelin starred restaurants -- report 
> much evidence of serious customer concern about GM food. 
> "I get a lot more vegetarians phoning me each week asking 
> me about the vegetarian aspect of our menu than GM foods and I 
> must admit I am surprised," said Robert Bird, quality control 
> manager for the Pizza Express chain's 200 restaurants. 
> "When it all came out on the radio and the television I 
> thought we'd be inundated with customers asking questions, but 
> no," he said, reporting only two queries in the past fortnight 
> from an estimated weekly clientele of 250,000. Restaurants 
> at the upper end of the scale are no different. "Customer- 
> wise no, we haven't really been asked," said a spokeswoman for 
> British style guru Terence Conran's fleet of "gastrodomes." 
> "It's been more of a press question really." 
> So why, when 92 percent of Britons polled by the Consumers' 
> Association call for all ingredients from GM sources to be 
> clearly labelled on food packaging, are diners keeping quiet? 
> Simple, said one diner at innovative Spanish restaurant Moro. 
> "I don't think decent restaurants use them. It's something I 
> would worry about at a supermarket, but not at a restaurant." 
> BRITAIN'S GM FEARS 
> The 1,000 callers in two days to a GM foods advice line set 
> up by supermarket chain J. Sainsbury Plc in February and its 
> subsequent decision to set up a European supermarket consortium 
> to ensure no GM ingredients end up in its own-label products 
> testify to the strength of consumer feeling on GM food. 
> Government attempts at reassurance after biochemist Arpad 
> Pusztai published claims that laboratory rats fed on GM potatoes 
> had suffered internal organ damage failed to placate a British 
> public still reeling from the BSE "mad cow disease" crisis. 
> "BSE and various other food scandals over the last 10 years 
> have undermined people's trust in official sources of advice," 
> said Julie Sheppard of the Consumers' Association. "The best way 
> to have a food scare is for a food minister to stand up and say 
> it's safe." 
> Environmental concerns about cross pollination risks from 
> GM crops grown by U.S. agrochemical giant Monsanto and Swiss 
> life sciences group Novartis have added to suspicion of the two 
> firms' new weed and insect resistant plant strains designed to 
> increase the world's food supplies. 
> INFORMATION GAP BREEDS CONCERN 
> The public's general lack of understanding of the complex 
> issues behind the "Frankenstein food" furore may have made 
> British restaurantgoers complacent, consumer groups fear. 
> The revelation that restaurants themselves lack information 
> to provide the reassurance customers are increasingly expected 
> to seek could overturn diners' reluctance to ask questions. 
> From sandwich chain Pret a Manger through colourful 
> Chinatown to the latest fashionable restaurants, almost all the 
> outlets surveyed by Reuters said their food was, as far as they 
> knew, GM free. But they couldn't always be certain. "If we are 
> serving GMOs we're unaware of it," said Kevin Graham, general 
> manager of Jean-Cristophe Novelli's restaurant group. "In our 
> ignorance we can quite clearly state that we're getting locally 
> produced veg but who knows the actual origins?" 
> President of the Master Chefs of Great Britain and 
> restaurateur the Earl of Bradford is worried about the onus 
> placed on restaurants, given their dependence on wholesalers and 
> the ingredients of ingredients used in food preparation. "I 
> think GM food is absolutely appalling," he said. "I wouldn't 
> want to touch it with a barge pole. 
> "But we rely on the information that's given to us by 
> suppliers," he added, pointing to the U.S. practice of mixing GM 
> and natural crops at source and the impossibility of knowing 
> whether animals have been fed GM soya or maize derivatives. 
> "The sad reality is we are all pawns in economic and 
> political power games," he said. 
> Restaurants like Oliver Peyton's The Atlantic Bar and 
> Grill, Mash and Coast, which are taking a strong line on GM 
> foods because they see themselves catering to more discerning 
> diners are less of an exception than they presume. "It's 
> not just me," said one diner at classic British institution 
> Simpson's-in-the Strand. "The man in the street doesn't want 
> this stuff and he'll go right out of his way to avoid it. 
> "I haven't asked a waiter about GM food myself yet, but 
> that time will come and soon," he said. "And the minute people 
> think about it with all this publicity, they're going to ask 
> too." 
> ($1-.6162 Pound) 

> ======#====== 
> Agence France Presse 
4) Tight security as worlds rarest cow and cloned calf appear in public 
DATELINE: AUCKLAND, March 29 
BODY: The worlds rarest cow and its cloned calf made their first public 
> appearance 
> here Monday under 24-hour security despite assurances from anti- 
> genetic 
> engineering campaigners that the cows would not be targeted for 
> attacks. 
> The ageing cow Lady, from Enderby Island in the sub-Antarctic 
> Auckland 
> Islands, is the last survivor of a herd descended from animals 
> introduced 
> in 1850 as part of an abortive bid to settle the islands. The cattle 
> were 
> the last wild short-horns of the period before 
> the breed was specialised into dairy and beef breeds. They lived 
> off mainly seaweed and had never been exposed to modern farm 
> chemicals and antibiotics. The government ordered the killing 
> of all cattle in a bid to return the islands back to their 
> original state in 1993. 
> Shooters culled the 40 cattle but Lady escaped and was 
> captured. Scientists cloned the calf Elsie after attempts to 
> artificially inseminate Lady with semen taken from dead bulls 
> failed. Three other calves have also been cloned. 
> Lady and Elsie are now on display at the Royal Easter Show 
> here under 24-hour security. 
> The governments AgResearch Centre said it had received 
> threats from anti genetic engineering campaigners, and said 
> their Ruakura research centre was a target. 
> AgResearch vet Jacqui Forsyth wrote to show organisers 
> saying: "Ruakura has become a potential target for an anti- 
> transgenic group called Wild Green. As a result, Ruakura and the 
> animals are under 24-hour guard. 
> "The group and similar protest groups have been targeting the 
> clones and transgenic animals, plants etc. As Elsie is a clone 
> and it will be noted on her pen, it is imperative that the Rare 
> Breeds people, security and police are aware of the risk." 
> But Monday Wild Greens spokesman Nandor Tanczos said the cows 
> were safe. "The issue that we are campaigning about is that 
> genetically engineered experiments are going on in this country 
> without any public input or consultation covering the long-term 
> ethical and safety issues. "This cow was cloned in an effort 
> to save the breed from extinction and is outside that campaign. 
> There's no bounty on Elsie's head. The show organisers can 
> relax." 
> Dr David Wells, of AgResearch, who headed the cloning 
> programme, said he was pleased to hear the Wild Greens had 
> lifted their threat. 
> We are more than happy to put the cows on public display to 
> see this particular application of cloning. But because they are 
> very rare and valuable animals, security is justified on that 
> basis alone.'' 
> Earlier this month, the Wild Greens destroyed an experimental 
> crop of genetically modified potatoes at the New Zealand 
> Institute of Crop and Food Research, near Christchurch, saying 
> the potatoes contained toad genes. mjf/rob 

> ======#====== 
> ASIA PULSE
5) INDIA TO ENACT GENE PROTECTION LAW TO SAFEGUARD FARMERS 
DATELINE: NEW DELHI, March 29 
BODY: The government will enact  gene 
> protection laws to ensure that farmer's rights to produce seeds are 
> not 
> adversely affected. The government will not allow the misuse of the 
> genetic infrastructure of the country and import of terminal genes," 
> federal agricultural minsiter Sompal said on Saturday. He said laws 
> to 
> safeguard the interest of farmers as well as infrastructure would be 
> enacted soon. He also emphasised the need to do away with 
> indiscriminate use of genetic engineering. 

> ======#====== 
> COMLINE Daily News Chemicals and Materials March 29, 1999 

6)  Fostering of Bioventures Moves into Top Gear
BODY: The Kinki  Bioindustry 
> Conference will intensify promotion of bioventures from next fiscal 
> year. 
> Creating its own fund in the order of JPY30-50 mn ($ 0.25-0.4 mn) 
> and also 
> taking advantage of the arrangements to be provided by MITI, it will 
> help 
> to start up several new companies each year. This represents a major 
> change of direction from the previous information-exchange, 
> dissemination 
> and educational activities, to biotechnology industrialization. 
> Sixty 
> companies and a 100-member council from industry, government and 
> academia 
> constitute Kinki Bioindustry Conference. Up to now, its main focus has 
> been 
> on interchange of information, but it has also supported of a dozen or 
> so 
> bioventure companies. 
> From next fiscal year it will step up this kind of bioventure 
> nurturing activity, taking advantage of its experience to date 
> and in the light of the "Basic Policy towards Formation of a 
> Biotechnology Industry" mutually assented to this January by 
> five cabinet ministers representing the Ministry of 
> International Trade and Industry (MITI) and four other concerned 
> Ministries. Ref: Japan Chemical Week, 03/25/99, p. 12 

> ======#====== 
> COMLINE Daily News Chemicals and Materials March 29, 1999 

7) Idemitsu Kosan Enters Biopesticide Market
BODY: Idemitsu Kosan has 
> entered the domestic biopesticide market with the development of a 
> formulation for controlling gray mold disease. The new agent 
> employs as 
> effective ingredient a variety of the Bacillus subtilis, which 
> repeatedly 
> multiplies on the plant's surface to crowd out inhabitation space 
> and take 
> away nutrients required by the disease-causing bacteria. The agent 
> reportedly is effective also against bacteria becoming resistant to 
> existing chemical pesticides without causing damage to useful 
> natural 
> enemy insects. 
> Idemitsu Kosan will market the product, offered in an easy- 
> to- use wettable powder formulation, in select regions of Japan 
> while tasking nationwide sales to Nihon Nohyaku and trader 
> Tomen. For now tomatoes and eggplant will be the targeted 
> applications. 
> Ref: Japan Chemical Week, 03/25/99, p. 03 

> ======#====== 
> COMLINE Daily News Chemicals and Materials March 29, 1999 

8)  Zeneca-Monsanto Agree on Agchem Business 
: Zeneca Agrochemicals  (U.K.) and Monsanto Co. (U.S.) 
announced March 18 a long term 
> license 
> agreement on undisclosed terms under which Zeneca will test, develop 
> and 
> register "Touchdown" herbicide products for use on or over the top 
> of 
> "Roundup Ready" soybeans, corn and cotton in the United States. 
> Under the 
> agreement, Zeneca, once it has obtained U.S. Environmental 
> Protection 
> Agency registration, will sell "Touchdown" herbicide for application 
> on or 
> over the top of these crops. Additionally, Monsanto and Zeneca have 
> agreed 
> to negotiate in good faith access to additional "Roundup Ready" crops 
> in the 
> United States and to all "Roundup Ready" crops globally, as they 
> are commercialized. Negotiations for commercial access after 
> the second commercial season will occur on a country and crop 
> basis. Under this agreement, Zeneca would test, develop and 
> register its products while negotiations are taking place. As 
> a part of the agreement, Zeneca, Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred 
> International Inc. have agreed to dismiss the lawsuits they have 
> pending against each other in Delaware and Missouri. These 
> relate to the use of "Touchdown" over "Roundup Ready" crops and 
> related Monsanto patents, and to Monsanto's marketing practices. 
> Ref: Japan Chemical Week, 03/25/99, p. 03 

> ======#====== 
> Daily Record March 29, 1999 

9) FIVE HELD OVER  GM  CROP PROTEST 
FIVE people were arrested after protesters 
> stormed a 
> field of genetically modified oil seed rape yesterday. About 60 
> demonstrators tore up the crop at Boghall Farm, a Government 
> research 
> station outside Edinburgh. There were some scuffles as police 
> moved in 
> to remove them. The five people were released and reports will 
> be sent 
> to the fiscal. 
======#====== 
> Daily Record March 29, 1999 

10) BAA-BY NO 2  FOR  SHEEP DOLLY 
BODY: DOLLY, the world's first cloned sheep, is  expecting her 
> second baby any day now, it was revealed yesterday. But while the 
> new  lamb's mother and big sister are celebrities, their keepers are 
> determined 
> to ensure arrival number two will be just another one of the flock. 
> Scientists at the Roslin Institute, the site near Edinburgh where 
> Dolly 
> was cloned from an adult cell in 1996, have said the new addition 
> will not 
> be named, unlike first lamb Bonnie, who was born last year. And they 
> hope 
> the new lamb will be the first of a group that Dolly will produce. The 
> Roslin Institute believe genetic engineering like that which 
> created 
> Dolly will help produce treatments for illnesses 
> worldwide, including cystic fibrosis. 
> ======#====== 
> GAZETA MERCANTIL ONLINE March 29, 1999 
11) Parana to certify non-transgenic grain exports 
DATELINE: Curitiba,  03/29/99 
BODY: Parana is to certify non-transgenic grain exported  to 
> Europe. This measure aims to play to resistence by the European 
> market to 
> the consumption of foods made from genetically modified raw 
> materials. 
> Almost all soy that goes through the Paranagua port goes to European 
> ports. Last year, Parana exported 3.6 million tons of grain and 4.5 
> million 
> tons of soy meal. The state is the largest Brazilian grains 
> producer, 
> accounting for 24% of all soyharvested and 25% of corn production. 
> According to Norberto Ortigara, general director of the 
> agriculture and supply department (Seab), experts of the Parana 
> company for the classification of products (Claspar), who are 
> responsible for certification analysis of the produce to be 
> exported, will be trained in France. (Silvio Oricolli, Gazeta 
> Mercantil) 

> ======#======
12) Hungry Glaxo On Merger Prowl 
March 29, 1999
By Jonathan Birt
LONDON (Reuters) - British drug group Glaxo Wellcome Plc was firmly back on 
the prowl for a merger partner Monday.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co of the U.S, Switzerland's Roche Holding AG and 
Britain's SmithKline Beecham Plc were all rumored to be in its sights after 
a string of reports over the weekend said the group had held early-stage 
talks with Bristol-Myers.
Glaxo and Bristol-Myers have so far declined to comment.
But sources familiar with the situation said the two sides had held 
discussions on creating a pharmaceutical behemoth accounting for more than 
eight percent of the $250 billion global prescription drug market. They 
suggested that contrary to some reports, the talks could be revived.
However, many analysts continue to believe SmithKline Beecham, which has 
already held failed merger talks with Glaxo, continues to be the preferred 
target of Glaxo's wily Executive Chairman Sir Richard Sykes, who may be 
trying to smoke out his British-based rival.
"This doesn't mean anything is imminent. I wouldn't be surprised if they 
have held talks with Bristol-Myers, but SmithKline Beecham seems more 
likely," said one analyst who asked not to be named.
Shares in Glaxo jumped 3.2 percent in mid-morning trade Monday, up 60 pence 
at 19.56 pounds, while SmithKline climbed 2.2 percent to 841 1/2 pence.
Glaxo's Sykes, who pulled off the 1995 merger between Glaxo and Wellcome 
and engineered a soft landing for the group after patent expires pushed 
sales of top-selling drugs Zantac and Zovirax off a cliff last year, has 
made no secret of his desire to pull off another mega deal.
"Glaxo Wellcome has not shrunk from participating in this process in the 
past and nor will we in the future if the circumstances decree that we 
should take action in the interests of future success," Sykes said in the 
group's annual report published last week.
With the cost of developing one new drug now averaging around $500 million, 
he believes the truly dominant players in the next century will have market 
shares of at least 10 percent -- a far cry from shares below three percent 
which leading companies enjoyed just five years ago -- with research and 
marketing budgets to match.
Glaxo just held on to its top ranking in terms of share of the world market 
last year, with 4.2 percent keeping it alongside Switzerland's Novartis AG 
and Merck & Co of the U.S. according to IMS Health.
However, the creation of two new major European players -- the Swedish-UK 
partnership of AstraZeneca and the planned Franco-German creation of 
Aventis by Hoechst and Rhone-Poulenc -- would push it into joint third 
place on 1998 figures, and dynamic U.S. companies such as Pfizer Inc are 
snapping at its heels.
The latest round of stories, apparently leaked by bankers, will increase 
pressure on Smithkline Beecham, whose Chief Executive Jan Leschly has set 
his face against a merger after talks with Glaxo disintegrated last year. 
SmithKline was obliged Monday to deny reports that Leschly, seen by many as 
the stumbling block to reviving talks, had announced definite plans to 
retire in September 2000.
Analysts noted the tactic of smoking out targets has been used before. 
Astra Chief Executive Hakan Mogren successfully put the squeeze on Zeneca 
last year by telling a newspaper it was one of three groups he wouldn't 
mind merging with. Astra and Zeneca finally announced plans to get together 
last December after an on/off courtship lasting two years.
Analysts said Roche of Switzerland remains another dark horse. The group 
has seen its own world prescription drug ranking slip to eighth place and 
is now desperate for the success of its obesity treatment Xenical after a 
number of embarrassing product failures. However, Roche's complex 
shareholding structure and greater European focus may be a serious 
disincentive to a move in this direction.
====================
13) Lawmakers urge EPA to reconsider plant pesticide rules
RTw 25.03.99 03:08

Copyright 1999 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. 
The following news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole 
or in part, without the prior written consent 
of Reuters Ltd.
By Julie Vorman 
WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - Farm state lawmakers from both parties on 
Wednesday attacked the 
Environmental Protection Agency's plan to start regulating genetically 
modified plant pesticides, saying the rules could 
stifle the biotechnology industry. 
Grower groups and 11 scientific organisations contend the EPA has no 
business making rules for bioengineered crops 
with built-in resistance to certain pests because the plants are no 
different than those bred by conventional methods. 
The issue also raises questions about how well the EPA, U.S. Agriculture 
Department and Food and Drug Administration 
have divvied up responsibility over parts of the food chain. While the EPA 
regulates clean air, water and pesticides, the 
USDA reviews bioengineered plants for safety and the FDA monitors food 
additives and safety. 
During the past three years, genetically modified crops have expanded 
rapidly and now dominate U.S. plantings. More 
than half of all U.S. soybeans and cotton grown in 1999 will be genetically 
engineered for resistance to certain herbicides. 
"We must be sure that regulatory excess does not suffocate this 
(biotechnology) industry," said Representative Larry 
Combest, a Texas Republican who heads the House Agriculture committee. 
Two of the Agriculture panel's subcommittees held a rare joint hearing of 
44 House lawmakers to question EPA officials. 
Combest asked the EPA to reopen its formal rulemaking on plant pesticides, 
and take a closer look at the costs to the 
plant-breeding industry. 
Among other things, the EPA's term of "plant pesticide" has been criticised 
by some groups as a deliberate attempt to 
bring the issue under the agency's jurisdiction, and likely to arouse 
public suspicion. A group of industry officials and 
scientists earlier this month said they preferred "plant-expressed 
protectant" instead. 
Jim Aidala, associate assistant administrator of EPA, said the agency had 
no option except to issue regulations based on 
its reading of a 1947 law. 
"Without an exemption or federal registration, you would be in violation of 
the law," Aidala told the panel. "We see this as 
a 'win-win' for both the environment and the growers." 
The EPA said the proposed rules -- which it hopes to finalise later this 
year -- are necessary to give final and clear rules to 
plant developers. Aidala emphasised that most of the widely used plant 
pesticides would be swiftly and permanently 
exempted from regulation. 
The real purpose of the regulations, he said, is to make sure that a 
genetic characteristic inserted into a plant to fight pests 
or weeds is safe for its intended use. 
For example, one U.S. variety of potato is already genetically engineered 
to fight a costly disease that affects the plant's 
leaves. But if that gene, which can cause birth defects, were transferred 
to a leafy food such as spinach, it could have 
serious health effects, Aidala said. 
Democrats on the panel either kept silent or expressed worry about the 
course the EPA was headed on. 
"Farmers want to approach this in a reasonable way," said Representative 
Eva Clayton, the ranking Democrat on the 
panel. She urged the agency to take another look at whether the regulations 
were needed, and if so, how slowly they 
should be phased in. 
Representative George Brown, a California Democrat and longtime champion of 
the EPA, said he was concerned that the 
agency appeared to be trying to expand its turf by narrowly interpreting a 
half-century-old law that covers pesticides. 
"I'm concerned that what we have here may be a semantic issue," Brown said. 
Eleven science groups, including the American Society of Agronomy and the 
Institute of Food Technologists, have 
opposed the EPA plan to regulate plant pesticides. 
Aidala also said the EPA was working with the USDA to develop an expedited 
process for exempting plant pesticides 
shown to pose a low probability of risk. Bioengineered plant pesticides 
also have "tremendous potential" for replacing 
more toxic, traditional pesticides, Aidala said.