Summary of Current Lawsuits on the Frankenfoods Front
Summary of Lawsuits & Litigation on GE Food Issues in the US and Canada

Issue #6 G E A N U p d a t e Dec. 20, 2000
Published by Genetic Engineering Action Network, USA
Editor: Andy Zimmerman, <turtle@westnet.com>

Altered crops set off legal frenzy
GEAN Gleanings

Altered crops set off legal frenzy

Biotech crops may not have done much so far to help consumers,
farmers or even investors. But they're causing quite a bit of
excitement for lawyers. Here's a quick survey of some of the most
significant legal actions to date. Thanks to Joe Mendelson of the
Center for Food Safety for compiling much of this information.

*The discovery that millions of bushels of corn have been tainted by
StarLink, a variety unapproved for human consumption, is now
reverberating in the legal arena.

On Dec. 1, a lawsuit was filed by Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll,
a formidable class action law firm, on behalf of farmers who grew
non-Starlink corn. The farmers say that they are having trouble
selling their crop due to fears that it may be contaminated. They
are seeking damages from Aventis, the French company that
developed StarLink. And they're demanding that Aventis
decontaminate their soil, farming equipment, storage equipment,
harvest equipment, transportation facilities, grain elevators and non-
Starlink seed supplies (http://www.cmht.com).

*A coalition of sixteen attorneys general from farm states have
teamed up to pressure Aventis to fully reimburse farmers and grain
elevators for StarLink-related losses. Aventis so far has taken
limited steps, such as offering to buy back the tainted crop at a
twenty-five cent per bushel premium. The attorneys general are led
by Tom Miller of Iowa, where half the corn crop may be
contaminated. They are demanding that Aventis quickly assume
full responsibility for the StarLink nightmare
(http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/news.html).

*A group of farmers represented by Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld &
Toll sued Monsanto and several other biotech companies in
December 1999. The suit accuses the companies of forming an
international cartel that fixed prices on biotech seeds. The farmers
also claim that Monsanto didn't adequately test its genetically
engineered crops before bringing them to market and lied about the
results of the testing which it did perform. When international
consumers rejected the crops, the farmers are suffered losses.
During the pre-trial phase, Monsanto must document all aspects of
its biotech agriculture business. The trial is set to start in July,
2001 (http://www.cmht.com).

*In 1998, the Monsanto Company sued Canadian farmer Percy
Schmeiser. The company claimed that Schmeiser had violated its
patents by planting its Roundup Ready canola seeds, altered with
a gene for herbicide resistance gene, without paying the company
a technology fee. (Ever wonder what canola is? It's a cabbage-like
plant, also known as rape, whose seeds are pressed into edible
oil.) The company had sent private investigators to gather samples
of Schmeiser's crop as evidence.

Schmeiser denies any intent to grow Monsanto's transgenic
canola. On the contrary, he blames Monsanto for contaminating
the canola variety he has been developing for many years.
According to Schmeiser, either seeds or pollen from Roundup
Ready canola must have drifted on to his land.

The suit was heard by a judge last summer, and a judgment is now
awaited. Meanwhile, Schmeiser has sued Monsanto in return,
saying that the company defamed him, trespassed on his land,
and adulterated his seeds with its genes
(http://www.motherjones.com/news_wire/schmeiser.html).

*In 1998, the Center for Food Safety, along with Greenpeace and
other environmental and farm groups, filed suit against the
Environmental Protection Agency in an attempt to reverse the
agency's approval of Bt crops - plant varieties that have been
engineered to make an insecticide derived from a bacterium,
Bacillus thuringiensis. The chemical is produced in such quantity
that it threatens to render pests resistant to the natural bacterium,
which organic and other farmers rely on for insect control. The EPA
is expected to issue updated approvals for Bt crops soon, and the
lawsuit has now been withdrawn, with the intention of re-filing it
(http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/li.html).

*In 1998, the Center for Food Safety, on behalf of a collection of
scientists, religious leaders and consumer advocates, filed suit
against the Food and Drug Administration, asserting that the FDA's
permissive policy on genetically engineered foods violated several
federal laws. The plaintiffs asked the FDA for compulsory labeling
and safety testing of engineered foods. The suit was dismissed by
the judge on Oct. 2, partially on the grounds that the FDA's 1992
statement on genetically engineered foods was not a binding policy
at all. In other words, the United States Government has never had
an official policy on transgenic foods. FDA is expected to
announce new regulations soon
(http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/ li.html).

*In 1997, Steve Wilson and Jane Akre, a husband-and-wife team of
reporters working for a Tampa, Florida TV station owned by the Fox
network, filed a report about Monsanto's recombinant bovine growth
hormone, a biotech drug which, when injected into cows, forces
them to produce more milk. In response to threats from Monsanto,
the station ordered the reporters to tone down their story. When
they refused to do so, they were fired.

Wilson and Akre filed suit, and in August, a jury awarded $425,000
to Akre, saying that she should not have been fired. According to
Wilson, the jury was unable to find in his favor because it had been
given incorrect instructions by the judge in the case. Dueling
appeals from Fox and Wilson are expected soon
(http://www.foxbghsuit.com)


GEAN Gleanings

*How did StarLink happen? Insight into the genesis of the StarLink
affair is available at the web site of the perpetrator, Aventis, where
the StarLink Growers Guide is -inexplicably - still on line at
http://www.us.cropscience.aventis.com/AventisUS/CropScience/sta
ge/pdf/StarLinkGrowerGuide.pdf. A hint is buried deep within the
document, in vague and elliptical language, that StarLink is not
intended to end up in the food system. Read it, and ask yourself
whether you would have understood it if you were a corn grower.

*Cheeto crisis: Tragedy looms for those Americans who depend on
Cheetos as a staple food. The Frito-Lay company has announced
that supply of the snack is down 10% due to production
bottlenecks caused by testing for StarLink ("Testing Corn Affects
Cheetos Supply," AP, Dec. 9).


The Genetic Engineering Action Network, USA exists to support
and further the work of those organizations and individuals working
to address the risks to the environment, biodiversity and human
health, as well as the socioeconomic and ethical consequences of
genetic engineering. National Co-ordinator: Renske van Staveren,
rvanstaveren@iatp.org