Green energy springs from abandoned UK coalmine

Issued on: 10/10/2021 - 

Landmarks around Seaham like a mural by artist Cosmo Sarson remind of the town's coal-mining past 

PAUL ELLIS AFP

Seaham (United Kingdom) (AFP)

Dawdon coalmine in northeast England was abandoned three decades ago, but is being brought back to life as the unlikely setting for a green energy revolution.

The carbon-intensive colliery, near the town of Seaham on the windswept northeast English coast, hauled coal from deep underground until its closure in 1991.

Dawdon has long since flooded with water because part of the mine is below sea level, and is heated by geothermal energy.

Authorities now want to capture and harness this valuable and unlimited green energy source to power a new garden village development.

"The heat is basically coming from the ground," said Durham County Council official Mark Wilkes, whose portfolio includes climate change.

Water deep inside the mine heats up underground to about 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).

Huge volumes of water surge through the former colliery's treatment plant

 PAUL ELLIS AFP

At the colliery's entrance, where thousands of miners once rushed to work, the vast pipes of a treatment plant now suck up the equivalent of a bathtub of warm water every two seconds, which is used to heat up a separate water supply.

In turn, this water circuit is heated via a pump until it reaches 55-60 degrees Celsius.

The plant treats the highly acidic and ferrous water in order to prevent contamination of local beaches and water supplies.

Its heat will eventually power local homes, while the treated water is released back into the sea.

- Industrial revolution turns green -

"We are taking what was from the industrial revolution -- and we're using it for the green revolution," Wilkes told AFP.

Heat from the water has so far only been used for the heating of the facility.

But in two years' time the local authority will create a new village of 1,500 homes nearby -- entirely heated by the plant.

"It is an unlimited source of energy: the water is coming through all the time," added Wilkes.

Waste from the colliery was tipped directly onto Seaham's beach until its closure in 1991 PAUL ELLIS AFP

"There are costs with the technology, but hopefully this will help to keep the cap on those costs going forward."

This is the first geothermal project on such a large scale in Britain, and Wilkes hopes it could also heat nearby businesses.

Britain is heavily dependent on natural gas for electricity generation, although Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who hosts the COP26 climate summit next month in Glasgow, wants to shift all UK energy production to renewable sources by 2035 to help reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

The urgency of the move was underlined by a surge in gas prices last week to record heights, stoked by economies reopening after coronavirus shutdowns and fears of spiking demand in the upcoming northern hemisphere winter.

Durham County Council has yet to name the company that will operate and partly finance the Dawdon plant.

The geothermal heating will not be cost-free but authorities hope it will be cheaper than using gas.

- Pretty low carbon -

"The heat pump uses an electrical input," said Charlotte Adams, manager for mine energy at the UK Coal Authority industry body, which oversees old mines.

"So it's not carbon-neutral, but it is energy efficient.

"But as you can imagine, over time the carbon content of electricity is decreasing, as we decarbonise our electricity supply.

Local homes and businesses may soon be heated with geothermal energy in Seaham PAUL ELLIS AFP

"So over time, you're getting close to something which is pretty low carbon."

The process is four times more energy efficient than a purely electric heating system, Adams said.

The Dawdon green energy project will cost between £12 million and £15 million, funded via government, the plant's future operating company and property fees.

© 2021 AFP

Pandemic saviors, food delivery apps now under fire

Issued on: 10/10/2021 - 

A DoorDash delivery person in Brooklyn in December 2020 

Michael M. Santiago GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

New York (AFP)

Meal delivery services became essential during the pandemic, when millions of Americans were under lockdown and restaurants were shut to visitors.

But these days the platforms are increasingly finding themselves under fire, with politicians seeking to regulate the industry and restaurateurs accusing the likes of DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats of freeloading. And they are looking for ways to do without them.

In just the first nine months of this year, DoorDash has likely filled over 1 billion orders, most of them in the US, where the company is the market leader.

But Mathieu Palombino, founder of the New York-based pizza chain Motorino, calls the boost provided by delivery apps a "big illusion" because more orders don't bring bigger profits to restaurants.

"When you receive thirty or forty orders a day, you are happy. But the problem is that it does not translate into profits," Palombino told AFP.

Food delivery services can charge restaurants fees of up to 30 percent of the bill for a meal, according to their web sites.

To address that problem, in August the New York city council passed a law, capping third-party delivery fees at 15 percent.

"Small businesses should not be pressured into accepting these fees in order to remain viable and competitive," said New York City Councilman Francisco Moya, who initiated the bill. A similar law was passed in San Francisco in June.

Food delivery giants have challenged the laws in courts, and some analysts think they have a point.

"We believe DoorDash will have a strong legal case against the permanent fee caps," Bank of America said in a research note last month.

"At the end of the day, they take it all," says one restaurant owner about delivery services' commission fees 

Cindy Ord GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats argue that the cap is unconstitutional and that restaurants are free to negotiate their commissions with delivery platforms.

The delivery giants also say they have made huge investments during the pandemic that led millions of customers who had never ordered meals online to get started.

And DoorDash says that restaurants that used its platform during the pandemic had a survival rate eight times higher than the industry average. The company also says that even before the laws were passed it already offered a 15% fee formula.

Put Palombino, the pizza chain founder, is unconvinced.

"The problem is that they have become so established that there no longer is a way back," he said. "If you're not on Seamless (one of the most popular delivery services in New York), you no longer exist."

As for the 15 percent commission, Palombino said that a successful restaurant can "only hope" for a profit margin of 15 or 20 percent.

"So at the end of the day, they take it all."

- 'The only real solution' -

In court, the food delivery platforms have argued that the cap will trigger higher fees for consumers, who have been relatively spared for now.

Collin Wallace, managing director of the marketing firm ZeroStorefront and former head of innovation at Grubhub, says that so far it's the restaurants who have had to bend.

"The only way to get this resolved is going to be by the technology platforms, using the same engineering and innovation they used to get their companies to this point," Wallace said.

Some businesses are already trying to get around the all-powerful delivery apps by creating their own platforms.

One such start-up, ChowNow, helps restaurants launch their own order-taking applications, so as not to have to pay any commissions at all.

Another company, LoCo, creates delivery cooperatives owned by restaurants, where they get to choose their own commissions, often half of what delivery giants charge, said LoCo founder Jon Sewell.

Sewell, himself an owner of a restaurant in Iowa, added that this arrangement also allows restaurants to keep their clients' data to themselves.

LoCo has launched franchises in Virginia, Nevada, and Nebraska and is looking to expand further.

But Sewell admits that the concept is not easy to sell.

"It's difficult to get the people convinced that they need to start to work as a collective."

But, Sewell added, "to me, that's the only real solution."

© 2021 AFP

OUTSOURCING IS WAGE THEFT
Airport support contractor to cut 177 workers at SFO in latest mass layoff



Prospect International Airport Services Corp. indicated in a recent filing that it plans to cease operations at SFO effective December 31.

By Alex Barreira – Staff Reporter, San Francisco Business Times
Oct 8, 2021, 

A contractor of airport support staff has become the latest company to initiate a mass layoff of workers supporting San Francisco International Airport (SFO), according to filings with the state employment authority.

Prospect International Airport Services Corp., headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., indicated in a recent filing made public this week it plans to cease operations at SFO effective December 31, laying off 177 workers including passenger service agents, aircraft security guards, and related management. In recent weeks several large catering operations serving SFO have conducted mass layoffs citing lower-than-anticipated travel demand and exhaustion of federal funding, but Prospect did not provide an explanation for its move.

It’s unclear if similar plans are in store for Prospect’s lone remaining operation in California at Oakland International Airport, where it began staffing support operations in fall 2019, per its website. Prospect was not immediately available for comment but I’ll update this story if I hear back.

The company was founded in 1966 by Robert Strobel and maintains operations in 22 states.

The vast majority of the employees given notice at SFO are passenger service agents. Prospect intends to work with the airlines and successor contractors to find other airport jobs for “as many of our employees as possible” who are impacted.

In describing its mass layoffs of airport food preparation workers, Gate Gourmet told me in a statement last week, "The sheer number of flights is still greatly reduced, particularly to (the Asian-Pacific region). Unfortunately, this directly impacts our operations at SFO."

The leading carrier at SFO, United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAL), said Thursday it will fly more than 3,500 daily domestic flights in December — about 91% of its December 2019 schedule, in anticipation of a surge in holiday travel. United is bullish on European travel's recovery next spring and summer, but is not expecting its schedule to Asia to return to pre-pandemic normal anytime soon.

DUTY TO REPRESENT/DUTY TO ACCOMODATE

Pilot union warns of staffing shortages if American Airlines refuses vaccination exemptions

The union representing pilots for American Airlines warned the company could face a staffing shortage ahead of the busy holiday travel season if it implements a stringent COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The Allied Pilots Association requested that American Airlines find “alternate means of compliance with the Executive Order be made available for professional pilots” so as not to prompt mass firings and unpaid leave following President Joe Biden's September announcement mandating large employers to require vaccinations or weekly testing.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES INSTITUTES VACCINE MANDATE TO COMPLY WITH BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

“Some of APA’s members are unable to undergo vaccination for documented medical reasons, while others are reluctant to get vaccinated based upon concerns about the potential for career-ending side effects,” read the Sept. 24 letter.

“All of those members are still able to perform their duties as professional pilots,” the letter continued. “To force those pilots out of their positions, rather than offering viable alternatives will have adverse consequences upon their families and the airline industry as a whole.”

As of Wednesday, the APA was hopeful that it could negotiate exemptions despite the company’s looming deadline, saying it “fully expects American Airlines management to continue its historical practice of bargaining with APA over issues related to the implementation and impact of the announced COVID-19 vaccine mandate.”

American Airlines, along with several other major airlines, said it would fully comply with the mandate’s goal of having all employees vaccinated. The deadline for staff to submit proof of vaccination is Nov. 24, the day before Thanksgiving.

While Biden's vaccine mandate has been adopted by many major companies, some on the Right have pushed back on the concept, with many GOP-led states, such as Florida and Texas, banning the use of vaccine passports.

There have been more than 44 million cases of COVID-19 in the United States, and 187.2 million people are fully vaccinated against the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

IT'S CRICKETS

Germany investigates possible ‘sonic weapon attack’ against US embassy staff


Julian Borger in Washington
Fri, October 8, 2021

Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

German police are investigating an “alleged sonic weapon attack” against staff of the US embassy in Berlin, in the latest in a growing number of incidents of “Havana syndrome” around the world.

The police statement, which said the investigation had been under way since August, was issued on Friday in response to a report in Der Spiegel, which said the inquiry into at least two cases had been opened on the basis of evidence handed over by the US embassy.

About 200 cases of Havana syndrome – so named because the first cases were reported in the Cuban capital in 2016 – have now been reported around the world, with incidents in China, India and even Washington DC. The victims have been mostly US diplomats and intelligence officers, though Canada also reported cases in its Havana embassy.

Austrian authorities have also said they are working with the US to investigate another cluster of cases among American embassy staff in Vienna.

The syndrome describes a range of symptoms, including dizziness and nausea in the short term; migraines and memory loss in the longer term.

The CIA, state department and the Pentagon are carrying out investigations. About 100 of the cases have affected CIA officers and the agency’s director, William Burns, said in July that ​​there was a “very strong possibility” that the symptoms had been caused deliberately, and pointed to Russia as a possible culprit. Moscow has denied responsibility.

When Burns traveled to India in September, a member of his team was struck with symptoms consistent with Havana syndrome and had to receive medical attention. Burns was “fuming” over the incident, CNN reported at the time.

Related: Microwave weapons that could cause Havana Syndrome exist, experts say

Joe Biden signed a law on Friday that guaranteed better healthcare and support for victims of the syndrome, which he referred to as “anomalous health incidents”, stopping short of calling them attacks.

Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House intelligence committee, who receives classified briefings on the investigation, said the cause was still unknown.

“It’s possible that not all of these incidents, not all of these anomalies, are attributable to the same cause,” Schiff told reporters last month.

“What the cause is and what the motivation is, what the intent is, I think these are still very much open questions. There are certainly many of them that seem quite deliberate. But I do think that we are getting closer to some of the answers and bringing new tools to bear to help us get those answers. So we’ll figure this out.”

If a foreign government was found to be involved, he said, “I’m also confident there’ll be very serious repercussions.”

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2021/09/first-declassified-911-document.html

ROFLMAO

Michael Flynn refutes QAnon claims
that he worships Satan during guest
appearance on Christian YouTube channel

Morgan Keith

Fri, October 8, 2021,

In this Feb. 1, 2017, file photo, then - National Security Adviser Michael Flynn speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House, in Washington. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File

• In September, Flynn led a prayer during a conference at the Lord of Hosts Church in Nebraska.

• Flynn said that his prayer was a rendition of a prayer to Christian archangel St. Michael.

• Flynn and the Lord of Hosts Church's senior pastor denied the Satanic accusations.

Former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn appeared on Christian YouTube channel "Truth Unveiled TV" to refute claims he worships Satan following a prayer he led at Nebraskan church, The Daily Beast reported.

During its "Opening the Heavens" conference in mid-September, Flynn led a prayer at the Lord of Hosts Church in which he referenced "legions" and "rays," according to The Daily Beast, which convinced many QAnon believers that he was praying to Satan.

Following an ad from voter fraud conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell's MyPillow, Flynn told "Truth Unveiled TV" host Paul Oebel that people were reading into things and it was a "straightforward" rendition of a prayer to St. Michael, a Christian archangel that his mother named him after.

"People need to stop overthinking what everyone is saying and listen to what is happening around us," Flynn said. "Pay attention to the reality that is happening around us instead of interpreting things that don't need interpretation."

Both Flynn and Hank Kunneman, senior pastor at the Lord of Hosts Church, have acknowledged and denied the Satanic accusations.

"Can you just give people a break?" Kunneman asked his congregation on September 26, The Daily Beast reported.

Prior to the prayer debacle, Flynn was a QAnon darling who spoke at its conferences, appeared on a podcast hosted by a QAnon influencer, and publicly referenced conspiracy theories pushed by the movement about the 2020 election.

Under President Donald Trump, Flynn served as national security advisor until his resignation in February 2017. He departed after pleading guilty to one count of lying to the FBI about his communications with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the US at the time.

Flynn was pardoned by Trump last November.

Hong Kong: University orders Tiananmen statue's removal

Fri, October 8, 2021

The university has called for the Hong Kong Alliance group to remove the statue

The University of Hong Kong has said a statue commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre must be removed.

The Pillar of Shame depicts dozens of torn and twisted bodies and was at the forefront of vigils held in the city to commemorate the 1989 crackdown.

The university said the decision was "based on the latest risk assessment and legal advice" without expanding on this explanation.

Beijing has recently moved to silence opposition to its rule in Hong Kong.

Tiananmen is still a heavily censored topic in modern China. The anniversary was marked annually in Hong Kong until it was banned by authorities in 2020, citing Covid measures.

Earlier this year, nine pro-democracy activists were sentenced to between six and 10 months in prison for taking part in the banned 2020 vigil.

The statue has been at the forefront of annual Tiananmen vigils

Pillar of Shame, by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot, has been on display at the university's campus for 24 years.

But the university wrote a letter to the Hong Kong alliance, a now disbanded group which organised an annual vigil, asking for the piece to be removed by 13 October.

It added that the statue would be deemed "abandoned" if it was not removed from the campus.

Mr Galschiot told Hong Kong Free Press that the statue, which was given to the alliance as a gift, is "difficult to remove".

"It is really not fair to remove it in a week while it's been there for 24 years," he said, adding that it could be damaged if it is moved too quickly.

What happened in Tiananmen Square?

In 1989, Beijing's Tiananmen Square became the focus for large-scale protests, calling for reform and democracy.

Demonstrators had been camped for weeks in the square, but late on 3 June, the military moved in and troops opened fire.

China has only ever said that 200 civilians and security personnel died, but there has been no publicly released record of deaths. Witnesses and foreign journalists have said the figure could be up to 3,000.

Biden administration cancels remaining Laredo, Rio Grande Valley contracts for Trump's border wall, angering Republican lawmakers

Kevin Shalvey

Sat, October 9, 2021,

A Border Patrol vehicle near the Rio Grande in Laredo, Texas. Veronica G. Cardenas/Reuters

• The Biden administration on Friday canceled contracts for border wall construction in Texas.

• The cancelled contracts were in the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo areas.

• The move "isn't going to solve the Biden Border Crisis," Sen. Tom Cotton said.

The Department of Homeland Security on Friday said it would cancel the remaining construction contracts for former President Donald Trump's border wall.

The contracts related to two sections of the US-Mexico border in Texas: Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley area, the DHS said in a press release.

The move came months after the Biden administration cancelled two contracts that spanned about 31 miles of the US-Mexico border in Texas.

DHS said it planned to begin environmental studies for border barrier "system projects." However, those "activities will not involve any construction of new border barrier or permanent land acquisition," it said.

The construction of barriers along the southern US border has become a highly partisan issue. President Donald Trump sought to build a "big, beautiful wall," but others raised questions about whether barriers would solve the problems that drove asylum-seekers to the US in the first place.

Friday's move by the Biden administration raised the ire of a handful of Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Dan Crenshaw, of Texas.

"Impeach Mayorkas," Crenshaw said on Twitter, referring to Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of homeland security.

"Canceling construction of the border wall isn't going to solve the Biden Border Crisis," Sen. Tom Cotton, of Arkansas, said on Twitter.

Earth Justice, an environmental nonprofit that had sued the Trump administration over the wall, on Friday said canceling the projects would save "71 river miles in Webb and Zapata counties from destruction." The group said the projects would have cost more than $1 billion.

In June, the White House returned $2 billion from border wall projects to the military. Trump's administration had diverted those funds.

"Building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border and costs American taxpayers billions of dollars is not a serious policy solution or responsible use of federal funds," The White House Office of Management and Budget said at the time.

Caged dogs used to be sole source of canine blood supply in California. That's about to change

Melody Gutierrez
Sat, October 9, 2021, 

Animal health technicians Sasha Hickman-Beoshanz, left, and Dyne Handing prepare to draw blood from Merlyn, a wirehaired pointer, at the UC Davis Veterinary Hospital as part of a volunteer donation program.

 (David Butow / For The Times)More

California will phase out the controversial use of blood from caged dogs in pet hospitals under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday.

Under the new law, veterinarians in the state will be able to operate canine blood banks similar to the voluntary model used for people, which is anticipated to help increase the amount of lifesaving supplies needed to heal injured or ailing pets.

A national shortage of dog blood has left veterinarians scrambling for limited supplies.

California currently requires that all animal blood purchased by veterinarians come from two privately owned companies that house hundreds of donor dogs at their facilities for the sole purpose of collecting their blood. Animal rights groups have accused these facilities of mistreating donor dogs, but substantiating those claims is difficult because the companies have sweeping exemptions from public records laws, including sealing their state inspection records.

Those records exemptions will no longer exist under Assembly Bill 1282 starting Jan. 1. Under the bill, the phase-out of closed colony donor dog facilities will begin after supplies from the voluntary donation system meet veterinary demand, a timeline meant to ensure the shift does not worsen existing shortages.

"These community blood banks for animals are similar to human models in that they collect blood from pets whose owners voluntarily consent to the donation," said Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), the bill's author, during a July legislative hearing. "California is the only state in the country that requires animal blood to come from so-called closed colonies that keep hundreds of animals confined for years for the sole purpose of harvesting their blood."

Newsom vetoed a bill in 2019 by state Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) that would have allowed dog owners to volunteer their pets to donate blood while continuing to allow the two private companies with closed colonies to operate. At the time, Newsom said he wanted legislators to send him a bill that would phase out using dogs “kept in cages for months and years to harvest their blood for sale.”

That approach was included in this year's bill.

The bill requires the California Department of Food and Agriculture to phase out the use of blood from captive donor dogs within 18 months of determining that community blood banks have sold as much dog blood to veterinarians as the private companies with closed colonies. It's unclear when voluntary donations would outpace the amount of blood products coming from closed colonies.

The operators of the two animal blood banks in California — Hemopet and Animal Blood Bank Resources International — say closed-colony blood banks ensure a consistent and safe supply of blood with minimal exposure to pathogens and diseases.

The owner of Hemopet, which is in Garden Grove, has said previously that there are more than 200 greyhounds housed as blood donors at the facility. Greyhounds are typically chosen because of their generally docile temperament and their “universal” blood type, which can be used to treat any breed.

Dixon-based Animal Blood Bank Resources International, which has disclosed little about its operations, raised objections to the bill, saying that when captive colony operations are phased out, the "canine blood supply would fall off a cliff."

"We remain concerned that pets in California and their owners will not have the blood products they need after the trigger is pulled," said the company's lobbyist, Jeffrey Leacox, at a hearing in July.

However, Dr. Jeannine Berger, a veterinarian and a senior vice president with the San Francisco SPCA, said the bill Newsom signed balances the needs of pets now with the needs of captive donor dogs.

“I am very excited to see California take this step,” Berger said in a statement after the bill passed the Legislature. “Veterinarians regularly face a lack of lifesaving blood and blood products to respond to emergencies, leaving animals and families in deep — and avoidable — distress. With Gov. Newsom’s signature on AB 1282, California will reduce the suffering of many animals and the people who love them.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

GMO IS OMG BACKWARDS

Mexico denies permit for new GMO corn variety, first time ever

David Alire Garcia and Adriana Barrera
Fri, October 8, 2021

MEXICO CITY, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Mexican health safety regulators have rejected a new variety of GMO corn for the first time, according to German conglomerate Bayer which makes the grain and blasted the decision, saying it was looking into its legal options.

Mexico, birthplace of modern corn, has never permitted the commercial-scale cultivation of GMO corn but has for decades allowed such varieties to be imported, mostly from U.S. farmers and overwhelmingly used to fatten livestock.

Mexican regulators did not confirm the decision and also did not reply to several requests for comment. Regulators must approve each new variety developed by seed companies before crops grown from them can later be imported.

In late August, heath regulator Cofepris rejected a permit for a new GMO corn variety sought by pharmaceutical and crop science giant Bayer, according to data from Mexico's National Farm Council (CNA) later confirmed by the company.

The regulator determined that the new seed variety was designed to tolerate weed-killer glyphosate, adding it considers the widely used herbicide dangerous and said its rejection was based on a "precautionary principle," the data showed.

The Cofepris ruling was never publicly disclosed, and its press office did not respond to requests for comment.

CNA President Juan Cortina said in an interview that Mexican corn importers will begin to feel the impact from the rejection as soon as next year.

"This is the first obstacle, which isn't immediate, but it's coming," he said, pointing to seven other pending GMO corn seed permits that have been waiting from between 14 to 34 months for a resolution. He said he believed the decision violated the USMCA North American trade agreement.

Neither Mexico's economy ministry, responsible for international trade, or the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington, immediately responded to a request for comment on Cortina's allegation.

While regulators worldwide have determined glyphosate to be safe, Bayer agreed last year to settle nearly 100,000 U.S. lawsuits for $9.6 billion, while denying claims that the herbicide caused cancer. In February, it struck a $2 billion settlement to resolve future legal claims that glyphosate causes cancer.

In a statement sent to Reuters, Bayer said it was disappointed by the regulator's decision which it described as "unscientific." The company said regulatory delays and the possibility of additional permit denials could have a "devastating impact" on Mexican supply chains.

Bayer said GMO crops have undergone more safety tests than "any other crop in the history of agriculture" and have been judged safe.

In the past, the Mexican government has approved some 90 GMO corn varieties for import, among nearly 170 total approvals for GMO seeds including cotton and soybeans. But under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office in late 2018, no GMO seeds have been approved by Cofepris.

Last year, Mexico imported more than 16 million tonnes of corn from U.S. suppliers, almost all of it grown from GMO varieties.

Cortina said this year the country was poised to import "more than 19 million tonnes," which would mark an all-time record, even as the government pledges to boost domestic production.

Mexico is mostly self-sufficient in its production of white corn, which is used to make the country's staple tortillas, but depends heavily on yellow corn imports for both livestock feed as well as numerous industrial uses like making cereals and sauces.

Lopez Obrador issued a decree late last year that seeks to ban by 2024 both glyphosate and GMO corn for human consumption, but officials have yet to clarify if the ban would apply to livestock feed or the industrial demand.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Victor Suarez, an influential backer of the decree, said last month that the government is now aiming to cut corn imports by half by 2024.

"Right now, I don't think it's going down," said Cortina, referring to the country's demand for imported corn.

He pointed to official agriculture ministry data showing that domestic corn production is down more than 5% during the first six months of this year. 

(Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Adriana Barrera; Additional reporting by David Lawder in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)

Bayer blasts 'unscientific' rejection by Mexican regulator of GMO corn permit

David Alire Garcia
Fri, October 8, 2021

FILE PHOTO: The historic headquarters of German pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer AG is pictured in Leverkusen

BAYER OFFICE DURING WWII

By David Alire Garcia

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Bayer is evaluating its legal options after Mexican health regulators for the first time rejected a GMO corn permit it was seeking, the German pharmaceutical and crop science giant said in a statement to Reuters on Friday, blasting the decision as "unscientific."

Reuters reported earlier in the day that regulator Cofepris rejected the corn permit for future import as the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador hardens its opposition to genetically modified crops.

"We are disappointed with the unscientific reasons that Cofepris used to deny the authorization," the statement said, identifying the rejected corn variety as using its proprietary HT3 x SmartStax Pro technology.

Bayer stressed that the permit denial does not affect its current business, noting that last year the company stopped work on its HT3 hybrid corn varieties due to regulatory delays in the European Union in favor of a new HT4 line which the company expects to launch later this decade.

Bayer nonetheless criticized what it described as continuous regulatory delays with Cofepris as well as the possibility of additional permit denials that could have a "devastating impact" on Mexican supply chains.

The company said genetically modified crops including corn have undergone more safety tests than "any other crop in the history of agriculture" and have been judged safe for humans, animals and the environment.

The Cofepris press office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Lopez Obrador issued a controversial decree at the end of last year that outlined a three-year plan to ban the weed killer glyphosate and GMO corn for human consumption.

Industry associations have sharply criticized the plan and have sought unsuccessfully to persuade judges to strike it down, arguing that it risks a trade dispute with the United States. If the ban is interpreted to include animal feed or other industrial uses, they say it will ultimately hit consumers with higher food prices.

The planned prohibition, however, is popular with environmentalists and health-food advocates who argue that spraying glyphosate on the GMO crops designed to tolerate them is indeed harmful.

Glyphosate was pioneered by the Roundup brand of weed killers from agrochemical company Monsanto, which was bought by Bayer as part of a $63 billion acquisition in 2018.

(Reporting by David Alire Garcia in Mexico City;Editing by Christian Plumb and Matthew Lewis)