www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Brazil's Senate Tuesday approved a resolution that would cut the number of
votes needed for the approval of genetically modified organisms - a move
that could have widespread implications for multinational makers of
transgenic seeds, March 2007 by Grace Fan.

The resolution, however, still must gain the signature of Brazil President
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva before it passes into law.

"President Lula now has 15 days to accept or not accept the Senate's
resolution," a spokeswoman for Brazil's Biosafety Commission, or CTNBio,
said in a phone interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

However, Environmental Minister Marina Silva and others are planning to
lobby to block presidential approval, according to a report in local Agencia
Estado newswire.

"We don't want to see this transgenic bill approved," Silva said, according
to the report.

Commercial approval to plant transgenic seeds currently depends on a
two-thirds majority vote from CTNBio, which counts on the opinions of
various ministries, including the science and technology departments to
environmental and health ministers.

Of the 27 members of the commission who have voting power, just 14 votes are
needed for approval if the Senate resolution becomes law, instead of the 18
votes previously.

Only Monsanto's Roundup Ready soy and Bollgard cotton are currently
permitted on Brazilian farms.

Makers of transgenic corn, like Bayer CropScience and Syngenta Seeds, are
still waiting for CTNBio to approve their products. Six of the 10 transgenic
seeds awaiting government approval are corn, three are cotton and one is
rice.

However, environmentalists warn that the dangers of genetically modified
crops are little-known, and could contaminate the surrounding land, pose
hazards to human health, and impoverish Brazil's rich biodiversity.

Brazil is a leading global agricultural powerhouse, and one of the world's
top producers and exporters of soy, coffee, sugar, ethanol, orange juice,
chicken and beef.

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