New Court Decision in the Dispute between Environmental Groups and the USDA (2010-12-01)

(Einbeck, Dec. 1, 2010, No. 38, ho) On November 30 a US federal court in California ruled in favor of environmental groups who had asked for an injunction to revoke the approval of the production of stecks of genetically engineered sugarbeet. The court found that the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) authorization had been granted prematurely, as the public had not been previously involved. All seed crops sown after August 13 have to be destroyed. The parties affected announced that they will file an appeal against this judgment.

Early in September APHIS had permitted the cultivation of stecks for the production of Roundup Ready^® sugarbeet. This allowed KWS and other sugar beet breeding companies to continue the seed crop production which had been interrupted by the judgment of August 13. This prompted environmental groups to file a lawsuit and request an injunction. The judge now decided in favor of this lawsuit, finding that APHIS had acted prematurely when allowing the cultivation of stecks, as the public had not been previously involved. This, however, is common practice within the scope of such approval procedures. The decision of the Californian judge once again refers specifically to a formal aspect of the approval, and neither dealt with safety concerns nor questioned the usefulness or the efficiency of herbicide-tolerant sugarbeet.

In August a Californian court had revoked the existing approval of the cultivation of Roundup Ready^® sugarbeet due to a procedural deprivation in the approval procedures. The judge had remanded the case to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

On November 2, the USDA advised the public under which conditions it will allow the continued commercial cultivation Roundup Ready^® sugarbeet in 2011. After having thoroughly examined several alternatives, the Department proposed the cultivation under certain conditions supervised by APHIS. This draft will be now available for public comment in the U.S. through December 6. All comments received on or before December 6 will be thoroughly reviewed before the Department will issue its final decision for 2011. KWS appreciates the Department’s proposal to take measures which allow to continue the cultivation of Roundup Ready^® sugarbeet.  This will allow to supply the American farmers with state-of-the-art varieties with clearly demonstrated benefits for agriculture, consumers, and the environment also in 2011.

Contact:
Dr. Henning von der Ohe
Phone: +49- 55 61 311-245
h.vonderohe@kws.com