{"id":48996,"date":"2014-10-27T12:00:19","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T12:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=48996"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:29:36","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:29:36","slug":"victory-judge-deprives-monsanto-of-gm-planting-permit-in-mexico-protects-the-bees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/10\/victory-judge-deprives-monsanto-of-gm-planting-permit-in-mexico-protects-the-bees\/","title":{"rendered":"Victory: Judge Deprives Monsanto of GM Planting Permit in Mexico, Protects the Bees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"beekeeper_monsanto-263x164<\/a><\/p>\n

Honoring the complaints of a small group of beekeepers in\u00a0the state of Yucat\u00e1n, who complained that Monsanto\u2019s planned planting of thousands of hectares of GM soybeans made to withstand RoundUp would demolish their honey industry by decimating bees \u2013 a\u00a0judge in Mexico has removed Monsanto\u2019s planting permit.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Monsanto can install Clarence Thomas on the U.S.00 Federal Judge circuit after working for their corporation, an obvious conflict of interest, but it looks like a Mexican judge won\u2019t be bought off by biotech.<\/p>\n

Though\u00a0Monsanto will surely appeal the ruling<\/a>, it will at least stall the growing season and give the bee-keepers time to gather additional support for their cause.<\/p>\n

A district has overturned a permit issued to Monsanto by Mexico\u2019s agriculture ministry, Sagarpa, and environmental protection agency, Semarnat, back in\u00a0June 2012\u00a0that allowed commercial planting of\u00a0RoundUp-ready soybeans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If the permit had been honored, Monsanto would have been able to plant seeds in seven states, covering more than 253,000 hectares of land. (This amounts to almost a million acres.) Mayan farmers, beekeepers, and activist groups like Greenpeace, the\u00a0Mexican\u00a0National\u00a0Commission for the Knowledge\u00a0and\u00a0Use\u00a0of Biodiversity,\u00a0the National Commission\u00a0of Natural Protected Areas, and the National Institute\u00a0of Ecology have been vocally protesting this action.<\/p>\n

The judge was apparently convinced that the scientific data showing a link between RoundUp, GMOs, and lowered honey production is\u00a0very real. The Yucat\u00e1n peninsula grows vasts amounts of honey, and in fact is the third largest exporter of honey to the world. The area includes Campeche, Quintana\u00a0Roo, and Yucat\u00e1n states. More than 25,000 families build their livelihoods on honey production. Almost all of the honey grown there is exported to the EU and amounts to over $54 million in Mexican money annually.<\/p>\n

The judge ruled that honey production and GM soybeans could not co-exist.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to known health risks posed by GMO crops and the herbicides used to grow them, there is also\u00a0environmental damage<\/a> to soil, water,\u00a0and\u00a0bee colonies\u00a0which are\u00a0dwindling<\/a>\u00a0fast. There are also\u00a0long term changes to the ecosystems where GMOs are grown.<\/p>\n

Since\u00a0a landmark decision in 2011<\/a> by the European court of justice\u00a0banned GM crop imports, GMO honey would likely not be accepted\u00a0–\u00a0similar to how\u00a0Syngenta\u2019s GMO corn strains are now being refused in China\u00a0when\u00a0exported from the U.S.<\/p>\n

The ruling determined that honey derived from a GM crop would be unapproved for human consumption.<\/p>\n

This follows an\u00a0inaugural study conducted in Campeche<\/a>, where about 10,000 hectares of GM soybeans were planted after Monsanto\u2019s permit was approved in 2012.\u00a0GM pollen was found<\/a> in some honey samples destined for the European market.<\/p>\n

Since bees pollinate vast tracts of land and could contaminate other crops besides the GM crops planted, GM soy plantings also have more exponential probability to cause damage.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Monsanto ruling was commended<\/a>\u00a0by the respected national newspaper\u00a0La Jornada<\/em>, which accused the Mexican government of ignoring widespread concerns over GMOs and forcing bee keepers to fight it out in court with powerful multinational companies who have deep pockets to make legal battles go on at length.<\/p>\n

Central to the ruling was the Mexican constitution, specifically the government\u2019s obligation to fully consult indigenous communities before making any major decision about what happens to their land and food.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s too bad our own governments have long overlooked the people\u2019s wishes regarding GM crops in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 naturalsociety.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Honoring the complaints of a small group of beekeepers in the state of Yucat\u00e1n, who complained that Monsanto\u2019s planned planting of thousands of hectares of GM soybeans made to withstand RoundUp would demolish their honey industry by decimating bees \u2013 a judge in Mexico has removed Monsanto\u2019s planting permit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48996\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}