German Court Rejects Monsanto Plea

German Court Rejects Monsanto Plea To End GMO Maize Ban

Reuters, May 5 2009

Original Article

A German court rejected an urgent application from Monsanto to end Germany's ban on cultivation of Monsanto maize containing GMOs.

Monsanto had requested an urgent decision to lift the ban imposed on April 14 by German Agriculture Minister Aigner stopping cultivation and commercial sale of Monsanto's MON 810 GMO maize which prevented it being sown for this year's harvest.

Monsanto now has the option of taking normal legal action against the decision, the court said. But there was no indication of when a decision on such action could be made.

A statement from the court said Germany's law on GMOs laid down that a ban on a new plant variety did not need to be justified by proven scientific research which showed without doubt the crop to be dangerous. It was enough when research showed there were indications that the crop could be dangerous, the court said. The court ruled that German authorities had not made an arbitrary or biased decision in imposing the ban. According to the court statement: "... new studies could indicate that the poisonous substance (generated by genetic mutation) could not only have an impact on the pests which it is aimed at combating, but also on other insects."

ENDS

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