Scientists find France ban is pointless (update 1) The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued an opinion which shows that France's ban on GM maize is unjustified. "No specific scientific evidence, in terms of risk to human and animal health and the environment, was provided that would justify the invocation of a safeguard clause," the EFSA said. Should anyone care? The science director of EFSA, Europe's top food safety agency, recently resigned in disgust. More†

Business

Success with blue roses Plant breeders have long despaired at the prospect of developing blue roses, even though they've tried. Bestowing them with a gene that simulates the synthesis of blue pigment in pansies has made this possible, and the roses will go on sale commercially in Japan in Autumn next year. More†

Tomatoes with extended shelf-life Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. has signed a commercial development agreement for its extended shelf-life tomatoes with the Spanish seed company Semillas Fito. The deal gives Semillas Fito an exclusive license to use Arcadia's technology and proprietary genetic material to develop and sell the tomatoes.Will this be a greater success than the Flavr Savr tomato? More†

Legal

Electronic system for field trials In the US, field trials of new GM plants are so numerous that keeping track of them involves a great deal of work. To handle the strain, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has launched a new biotechnology compliance component to its ePermits system that will allow the agency to initiate, process and track compliance inspections for the field testing of regulated GMOs. More†

Hawaii anti-GM measure vetoed (update 1) Hawaii is a state of the USA, and its largest island is a county with the same name. Harry Kim, mayor of the county of Hawaii, has vetoed an unanimous vote of county council members to criminalize the research or production of GM coffee or taro. The unanimous votes mean his veto can be canceled, but regardless, it seems like a ban of some sort on GM in Hawaii is inevitable. More†

Development

Asian biotech plans cooperative expansion The Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA) is planning to set up contract research organisations (CROs) for agri-biotech on the lines of pharma industry. Towards this, the federation is working on creating a products and services platform for these companies to enable them to share resources and speed up product development. More†

NGO Watch

Activists allege Chile maize is 'contaminated' Chile 's regulatory position on GM crops is interesting. The country only allows GM crops if they are grown for seed, but the seeds must be exported. On the other hand, importing GM products and ingredients for food and feed is allowed. Activists took 30 samples of conventional Chilean maize growing somewhere near GM maize. An un-named laboratory found that 3 of the 30 samples tested positive for 0.03 percent, and another tested positive for 0.13 percent. The activists are horrified. More†