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The Green Guide

India Rebuffs Monsanto--GE Crop Moratorium Continues

Major setback for Monsanto as India refuses commercial growing of genetically
engineered cotton

New Delhi/London, June 21st, 2001 - Greenpeace today congratulated India
one of the world's leading cotton growing countries (1) for its decision to
not allow the commercial growing of genetically engineered (GE) cotton but
maintain the country's GE free status.

The decision taken earlier this week by the Indian Genetic Engineering
Approval Committee (GEAC) is a significant set- back for Monsanto, whose
local partner, the seed company Mahyco had hoped to introduce the so called
Bt Bollgard cotton (2) for commercial production across up to potentially
8.5 million hectares. Monsanto's Bt cotton would have been the first GE
crop to be commercialised in India.

The Indian authority ordered an additional year of field trials for the GE
cotton to be conducted under an independent supervision of the Indian
Council of Agricultural Research. The authorities concluded that the data
provided by the companies Monsanto/Mahyco was not sufficient as their
field trials were not conducted during a normal cotton season, and therefore,
no valid information on the crops performance could be determined.

'At a time when the issue of genetically engineered crops is highly
controversial, increasing scientific evidence emerges about potentially
harmful effects of GE crops to the environment. No country should blindly
rush into taking a decision on commercial planting,' said Michelle Chawla,
Genetic Engineering Campaigner for Greenpeace India. 'The fact that
Monsanto/Mahyco was hastening the process on the basis of inadequate
data is deplorable.'

The companies Monsanto/Mahyco did not inform the Indian authorities of
the emerging problem with their GE cotton in China, where the pest, cotton
bollworm, has already developed some resistance to the Bt crops and the
farmers have to use pesticides in addition. They also failed to provide any
comprehensive scientific data on the effects of GE Bt cotton on natural
enemies of the cotton bollworm, such as the lacewing, which is used as a
biological pest control as an alternative to chemical pesticides.

'Monsanto/Mahyco intended to introduce to India an outdated GE product
that has failed to get market approval in Europe because of environmental
and health concerns. This crop also contains an antibiotic resistance gene,
which may render diseases immune to an important antibiotic used in India
against tuberculosis, Streptomycin,' Chawla added.

For more Information contact: Michelle Chawla, Genetic Engineering
Campaigner for Greenpeace India Tel: + 91 9820182304 (mob) or +9111
6962932; Isabelle Meister, Greenpeace International, Tel: +41 1 4474195;
Greenpeace International Press Office, Teresa Merilainen, Tel: +3120
5236637. http://www.greenpeace.org

21% of the world's acreage in cotton is planted in India Bt stands for a
insecticide usually produced by the soil bacteria Bacillus thuringensis. The
Bt Bollgard also contains two antibiotic resistance marker genes that
provide resistance against the antibiotics Kanamycin and Streptomycin,
used in human medicine. (3) Cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera)
------------------------
Greenpeace International
Genetic Engineering Campaign
Barbara Kuepper
phone: +49 30 30889914
fax: +49 30 30889930
e-mail: bkuepper@greenpeace.de
http://www.greenpeace.org/~geneng