Agribusiness
Agribusiness lobbying in Brussels involves biotech, food, animal feed, agrofuel and pesticide producers targeting decision makers to weaken regulations or to get subsidies.
CEO’s work on agribusiness lobbying has focused on stopping the EU’s 10% agrofuel target, exposing lobbying by the food industry to weaken food labeling, and by the animal feed industry to weaken GMO rules, questioning the industry bias of EU food safety agency EFSA, and highlighting how private industry-NGO initiatives like the Round Table on Responsible Soy provide a greenwashing opportunity for the GMO industry. We have also filed a complaint with the European Ombudsman about the industry-dominated European Biofuels Technology Platform (EBFTP), which advises the European Commission on how to spend millions of research funding to further develop agrofuels.
The Germany-based NGO Testbiotech has today filed an official complaint with the European Ombudsman against EFSA, the EU's food safety agency. The complaint targets EFSA's decision to allow Suzy Renckens, head of EFSA'sGMO Unit, to become a lobbyist for biotech giant Syngenta, without any 'cooling off' period or other restrictions. Renckens move to become a leading lobbyist for one of the major biotech companies in Europe implies an obvious conflict of interest.
Climate activists from the DC Action Factory in Washington were so inspired by the Angry Mermaid Award, they wanted to get involved. So following the announcement of the results at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen, they made their own Angry Mermaid Award and paid a visit to Monsanto's offices in Washington DC. Watch the action - and Monsanto's friendly reception.
El mes de maio 2009, la Mesa Redonda de Soja Responsable (RTRS) se reunio para acordar nuevos standards para la "soja responsable". El nuevo esquema de certificacion podria ser aceptado por la UE para garantizar que soja certificada pueda ser usada para agrocombustibles en Europa.
On May 28, the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) held its general assembly to vote on criteria for responsible soy. These had been heavily criticised by many environemental organisations and peasant movements. Within the RTRS, there was deep disagreement about whether and what biodiversity-criterion to adopt, a key element.
The report, which is launched as the European Commission hosts a conference on research in Brussels [2], says that the approval of so-many controversial projects is not surprising, given that many of the companies were also involved in writing the EU’s Strategic Research Agenda, which sets the priorities for new research.
This week, the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) meets to set new standards for "responsible soy". This new certification scheme could be accepted by the EU as adequate to guarantee that certified soy is suitable for use as an agrofuel in Europe.
Action against WWF support for Monsanto GM toxic soy at headoffice WWF-Netherlands
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Corporate Europe Observatory
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is a research and campaign group working to expose and challenge the privileged access and influence enjoyed by corporations and their lobby groups in EU policy making.
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