A legal win in the campaign against GM foods ...

First-ever halt to planting of commercial GM crop

Western organization of Resource Councils

May 4, 2007






A federal judge issued a final ruling on Thursday that the U.S. Department


of Agriculture's (USDA) 2005 approval of Monsanto¹s genetically modified

(GM) ³Roundup Ready² alfalfa was illegal. The judge called on USDA to ban any further planting of the GM seed until it conducts a complete


Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the GM crop.





In the decision, Judge Charles Breyer in the Federal Northern District of

California affirmed his preliminary ruling that the crop could harm the


environment and contaminate natural alfalfa.





The ruling also requires Forage Genetics to provide the locations of all

existing Roundup Ready alfalfa plots to USDA within 30 days. The judge


ordered USDA to make the location of these plots publicly available as soon


as practicable so that growers of organic and conventional alfalfa can


test their own crops to determine if there has been contamination.



The judge's order to make public the location of Roundup Ready alfalfa


fields is a critical part of the decision, said Blaine Schmaltz, an organic


alfalfa seed producer from Rugby N.D. , and spokesperson for the Dakota


Resource Council (DRC) and Western Organization of Resource Councils. Itallows GM-free and organic producers like me to make sound planting decisions





Yesterday's decision is consistent with Judge Breyer's ruling of February


13th, in which he found that the USDA failed to address concerns that Roundup Ready alfalfa will contaminate conventional and organic alfalfa. In calling for a permanent injunction, Judge Breyer noted that contamination of natural and organic alfalfa by the GM variety has already occurred, and noted that Such contamination is irreparable environmental harm. The contamination cannot be undone.




I'm hopeful that Judge Breyer's precedent-setting ruling will induce arebirth of values at the USDA, in particular, and federal regulatory agencies generally, said Dean Hulse, an organic food consumer from Fargo, N.D. , and past chair of DRC.



The USDA's role with respect to regulating transgenic crops should be that of a watch dog, not a lap dog.





The permanent injunction ordered today by Judge Breyer follows his ruling


last month finding that USDA violated national environmental laws by


approving GM alfalfa without a full EIS.





Monsanto and Forage Genetics, the developers of the GM alfalfa seed, failed


to convince the judge that their interests outweighed the public interest in


food safety, freedom to farm natural crops, and environmental protection. In


fact, Judge Breyer specifically noted that Monsanto's fear of lost sales


does not outweigh the potential irreparable damage to the environment.





The Center for Food Safety initiated the legal action resulting in the


ruling in February 2006, representing itself and the following co-plaintiffs in the suit: Western Organization of Resource Councils, Dakota Resource


Council, National Family Farm Coalition, Sierra Club, Beyond Pesticides,


Cornucopia Institute, Trask Family Seeds, and Geertson Seed Farms.





For more information, visit www.worc.org




Western Organization of Resource Councils


220 South 27th Street, Suite B, Billings, Montana 59101


phone: 406.252.9672 | fax: 406.252.1092 |

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