Monsanto Sues Germany Over GM Ban
April 26th, 2009Via: Food Production Daily:
Monsanto has filed a lawsuit against the German government after the EU member state banned planting of its genetically modified MON810 maize last week.
MON810 maize is genetically engineered to produce Bacillus thuringiensis, which is toxic to the corn borer pest. Permitted in Europe since 1998 for animal feed, it is marketed as a way to save farmers money on insecticides and other pest controls.
However German agriculture minister Ilse Aigner claimed last week that she had “legitimate reasons” to believe the maize to be a danger to the environment – and believes the Environment Ministry to agree with the view. Although MON810 has been permitted in Germany since 2005, she scrapped plans for 3,600 hectares (8,892 acres) to be planted in the eastern states for this summer’s harvest.
Now the biotech giant has hit back, according to a Reuters article, filing a lawsuit against the Germany government in the administrative court in Braunschweig, northern Germany.
The wire quotes a spokesperson for Monsanto as saying the ban is “arbitrary”. A clause in EU law does allow member states to impose such a ban, but Monsanto claims they can only do so once a plant has already been approved if new scientific evidence has come to light.
If the outcome of the lawsuit is in Monsanto’s favour, the cost to the German government has been estimated at between €6m and €7m.
Aigner, a member of the Christian Social Union, has denied that the decision to ban the MON810 plantings is politically motivated. She said the ban is an individual case, and should not be taken as an indication of future policy on genetically modified crops.
Other bans
Germany is not the only country to have banned MON810. France also invoked the clause on new scientific evidence that cast doubt over its safety last year.
However a review conducted by the European Food Safety Authority, requested by the European Commission, concluded that “in terms of risk to human and animal health and the environment, the provided information package does not present new scientific evidence that would invalidate the previous risk assessments of maize MON810”.
Other countries to implement bans are Hungary and Austria. Last month European ministers voted – for the fourth time – against forcing these countries to lift their bans, despite EFSA’s view.
All corporations are evil, but if I had to pick one as the poster child, it is MonSATANo hands down. Today seeds, wait until they patent animal genomes and license procreation rights, including humans.
Reading ‘Seeds of Destruction’ has taken my understanding of this gmo agenda to levels of comprehension that unfortunately lead to less sleep at night.
Just hearing the word monsanto makes me cringe and wriggle with hatred emporer palpatine style…
Kevin again, emoticons- I want to make a line of green puke faces *here
Genetic Engineering is the issue that politicised me. After a bit of research I soon realised that the scienctists don’t really know what they are doing and that failure and unpredicatable side effects are the norm when chucking (a more accurate term than ‘inserting’) new genes into DNA.
From there it became obvious just how much power coporations have and also how eager people in government are to bend over and serve them.
Here in New Zealand 75% of the population are opposed to GE but successive governments have been forced to support it by local representatives of the corporated elite.
And now, as sign of just how far the GE debate had been removed from reality, MonSATANto (I like that one FRLVX) actually thinks it has a chance of successfully suing the German government for daring to get in their way.
And they’re right, they probably do stand a good chance.
Chucking…lol….epic word Aaron, haven’t used that since I was a kid on a dusty hillside somewhere with my friends…
Monsanto, the gene-chucking, money-grubbing, depopulation doctors of the 21st century.
Over here the GM debate is a health concerns vs. science debate, so I was genuinely surprised when I read the US press and saw how the same issues were portrayed over there – as a political initiative by the EU to inhibit the free trade of legitimate American companies – but absolutely no mention of the legitimate and numerous concerns that people all over the world have with the safety of the more extreme forms of GM.