Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. food companies and other opponents of genetically modified food labeling notched a key victory on Tuesday as the House of Representatives’ agriculture committee approved a measure banning mandatory labeling as well as local efforts to regulate genetically engineered crops. The move demonstrates fresh momentum for those seeking to block mandated labeling of […] Read more
U.S. House committee approves block on mandatory GMO labels
White House directs U.S. GMO regulators to update oversight
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The White House on Thursday directed the three U.S. agencies that oversee biotech crop products to improve and modernize their regulatory “framework” to boost public confidence in a system that critics call a failure. The order, announced in a statement by President Barack Obama’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, followed demands by […] Read more
Monsanto to invest over $1B in dicamba
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Monsanto’s efforts to expand its agrichemical interests beyond what has long been its bread-and-butter glyphosate business were underscored on Wednesday by news the company plans to invest potentially more than US$1 billion in production of an alternative herbicide. Monsanto officials expect to spend the money over the next three to five years expanding […] Read more
Groups urge tighter controls as U.S. considers GM crop regulation
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Dozens of consumer and food groups and businesses asked the U.S. government on Monday for tighter regulation of genetically engineered crops, calling the current system a “failure.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it was considering changes to the way it regulates biotech crops and set a public comment period that expired […] Read more
WHO cancer unit to analyze 2,4-D
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The World Health Organization is set to examine a widely used pesticide and agribusiness is bracing for bad news, less than three months after the group classified another popular herbicide as “probably” cancer-causing. Twenty-four scientists representing WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) will analyze scientific findings regarding links between cancer in […] Read more
U.S. EPA proposing temporary pesticide-free zones for honeybees
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. environmental regulators on Thursday proposed a rule that would create temporary pesticide-free zones to protect commercial honeybees, which are critical to food production and have been dying off at alarming rates. The restrictions are aimed at protecting bees from “pesticides that are acutely toxic” to them, and would cover foliar applications when […] Read more
Monsanto’s move on Syngenta could mean move away from glyphosate
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, is also known for the popularity of its Roundup herbicide, beloved by farmers and homeowners alike for its speed and deadly assault on tough weeds. But Monsanto’s ongoing efforts to try to take over Swiss ag chem firm Syngenta, a rival whose product portfolio offers an array […] Read more
Monsanto says would divest all of Syngenta’s seed business
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, said Wednesday it plans to divest Syngenta’s seeds and genetic traits businesses as well as some overlapping chemistry assets to win regulatory approval for a takeover of its Swiss rival. “We intend to make this a really clean deal… really easy to get done,” Monsanto president Brett […] Read more
As it woos Syngenta, Monsanto mounts campaign to combat critics
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — As seed and chemical maker Monsanto woos Swiss ag chem firm Syngenta, Monsanto also is trying to win over consumers in key international markets, rolling out social media and marketing campaigns. U.S.-based Monsanto said it has recently launched interactive consumer-oriented websites in China, France, India, Argentina and Brazil, in addition to a lead […] Read more
U.S. honeybee losses soar over last year, USDA finds
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Honeybees, critical agents in the pollination of key U.S. crops, disappeared at a staggering rate over the last year, according to a new government report that comes as regulators, environmentalists and agribusinesses try to reverse the decline. Losses of managed honeybee colonies hit 42.1 per cent from April 2014 through April 2015, up […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
