The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision enjoining the sale and planting of genetically modified (GM) alfalfa seed until the government completes an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the crop’s proposed delisting. Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475 (U.S., certiorari granted January 15, 2010) (Breyer, J., not participating). The parties’ briefs must be filed in February and March 2010. The questions before the Court are (i) “Did the Ninth Circuit err in holding that NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act] plaintiffs are specially exempt from the requirement of showing a likelihood of irreparable harm to obtain an injunction?”; (ii) “Did the Ninth Circuit err in holding that a district court may enter an injunction sought to remedy a NEPA violation without conducting an evidentiary hearing sought by a party to resolve genuinely disputed facts directly relevant to the…
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has published its notice about the availability of a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for genetically modified (GM) alfalfa. The agency was required to prepare the EIS by a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling finding that APHIS violated the National Environmental Protection Act by failing to do so in connection with its determination that the crop could be deregulated. Comments must be submitted by February 16, 2010, and public meetings will be held on January 19 in Las Vegas; February 3 in Kearney, Nebraska; February 4 in Lincoln, Nebraska; and February 9 in Riverdale, Maryland. See Federal Register, January 12, 2010. Meanwhile, Food & Water Watch, a consumer advocacy organization, is calling on supporters to take action on the EIS by telling the USDA “loud and clear that consumers want foods that are free from genetic…
French researchers with the Committee of Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN), the University of Rouen and the University of Caen have published a paper allegedly linking genetically modified (GM) corn varieties to “new side effects” in mammals. Joël Spiroux de Vendômois, et al., “A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health,” International Journal of Biological Science, December 2009. “[A] comparative analysis of blood and organ system data” from industry-sponsored studies, the paper claims that GM corn-fed rats exhibited “sex- and often dose-dependent” side effects “mostly associated with the kidney and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs,” as well as the “heart, adrenal glands, spleen and hematopoietic system.” The authors concluded that “these data highlight signs of hepatorenal toxicity, possibly due to the new pesticides specific to each GM corn,” adding that “unintended direct or indirect metabolic consequences of the genetic modification cannot be excluded.” See…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), responding to a directive issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa. The agency has preliminarily determined that granting GE alfalfa nonregulated status will have “no significant impact on the human environment.” The draft, which runs more than 1,400 pages, will be available for a 60-day public comment period once it is published in the Federal Register. The agency will conduct four public meetings on the proposed EIS; they will take place in January and February 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada; Kearney, Nebraska; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Washington, D.C. The GE crop at issue is referred to as Roundup Ready® alfalfa, engineered to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. The Ninth Circuit enjoined Monsanto from selling the GE seed and farmers from planting it until APHIS…
According to a news source, a federal jury has awarded conventional rice farmers about $2 million in compensatory damages for the economic losses they allegedly experienced when European markets closed to U.S. rice imports that were found to be contaminated with genetically modified (GM) rice. In re: Genetically Modified Rice Litig., MDL No. 1811 (E.D. Mo., verdict reached December 4, 2009). The verdict was reached in the first bellwether cases to be tried. The next bellwether trial is apparently scheduled to begin in January and involves farmers from Arkansas and Mississippi. Defendant Bayer AG apparently indicated that it was pleased the jury did not award punitive damages and was preparing for the upcoming trials, which “will be different from these initial cases.” See Product Liability Law 360, December 4, 2009. In a related development, the MDL court has entered an order disposing of pre-trial motions related to the second bellwether trial. Among…
The third in a five-part series about genetically modified (GM) crops, this article focuses on the frustrations of importers and exporters over stringent European rules about even trace amounts of GM material in conventional crops. Apparently, European regulators have stopped more than 10 soybean or soy meal shipments from the United States this year because they contained GM corn dust, which had not been cleared for import in Europe. The cross-contamination apparently occurs when silos, trains and ships are not cleaned after GM crops are stored or transported in them. With pressure from European farmers who need the soy products to feed their cattle and pigs, the EU reportedly approved the GM corn on November 2, 2009. Agricultural trade will apparently face new strains as GM traits used worldwide quadruple in the next five years. According to European Agriculture Minister Mariann Fischer Boel, “The result is that a growing number…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) recently published a report titled “Complacency on the Farm: Significant Noncompliance With EPA’s Refuge Requirements Threatens the Future Effectiveness of Genetically Engineered Pest-Protected Corn,” which maintains that “one out of every four farmers who plants genetically engineered (GE) corn is failing to comply with at least one important insect-resistance management requirement.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) apparently requires farmers to plant a conventional corn refuge in or adjacent to corn crops engineered with Bacillus thuringeiensis (Bt), a toxin fatal to rootworms and corn borers. The refuge reduces the risk that pests which survive the Bt corn will breed only with their own kind, thus producing Bt-resistant pest variants. “Resistant offspring would not only reduce crop yields of the Bt crops, but could also threaten organic or conventional farmers who use natural Bt-based pesticides on non-GE crops,” stated a November 5, 2009, CSPI…
Monsanto Co. and farmers who grow genetically modified (GM) alfalfa have reportedly filed a petition seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision barring them from selling or using Roundup Ready® alfalfa seed until the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) completes an environmental impact statement (EIS). Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475 (U.S., petition for writ of certiorari filed October 22, 2009). The petitioners apparently argue that the lower court ruling “threatens to make blanket injunctions all but automatic in [National Environmental Policy Act] cases arising in that circuit.” Additional details about the litigation appear in issues 274 and 309 of this Update. Environmental groups, farmers and consumers filed the litigation against the USDA in 2006 challenging its decision to approve the Monsanto seed. The Ninth Circuit determined that the agency erred by not completing an EIS, given evidence that GM crops could contaminate…
In September 2008, a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction imposed by a district court on the sale of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® alfalfa until the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) completes an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act. Additional details about the court’s ruling appear in issue 274 of this Update. The appeals court has now issued an amended opinion indicating that the petition for panel rehearing and for rehearing en banc have been denied. Geertson Seed Farms v. Johanns, No. 07-16458 (9th Cir., decided June 24, 2009). Thus, unless the government or Monsanto Co. successfully appeals the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, the company will be unable to sell its genetically modified seeds until the USDA prepares a study on how the crop could affect neighboring crops. A spokesperson for the Center for Food Safety, one of the plaintiffs…
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has produced a report concluding that despite 20 years of research and 13 years of commercialization, genetically engineered (GE) corn and soybean crops have not increased yields compared to other agriculture technologies. Released in March 2009, the report reviewed two dozen academic studies of corn and soybeans and found that increase in yields for both crops over the last 13 years was largely due to traditional breeding or improvements in agricultural practices. It claims that genetic engineering is unlikely to play a significant role in increasing food production in the foreseeable future and recommends that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), state agricultural agencies and universities increase research and development for proven approaches to boost crop yields. “If we are going to make headway in combating hunger due to overpopulation and climate change, we will need to increase crop yields,” the report’s author, Gurian…
