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USA – GM LUCERNE STILL BANNED
Court keeps ban on Monsanto's modified alfalfa
3 May, 2007. Source: Reuters
http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUKN0324510420070503
via AgBioWorld, http://www.agbioworld.org
SAN FRANCISCO - Citing the potential for genetic contamination, a U.S. judge on
Thursday let stand a ban on further planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa, a genetically modified variety of the crop developed by Monsanto Co..
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer, in a published order, said an injunction against planting more of the herbicide-resistant alfalfa should stay in place until government studies on its environmental effects are concluded.
Alfalfa is a perennial livestock fodder crop and one of the mostly widely grown crops in the United States.
Breyer had issued a preliminary injunction in March, faulting U.S. regulators for choosing to not prepare an environmental impact statement before deregulating alfalfa genetically engineered to resist the herbicide Roundup, a Monsanto product.
That marked the first time a federal court overturned USDA approval of a biotech seed and halted planting, according to The Center for Food Safety.
While Breyer capped the number of acres of Roundup Ready alfalfa under cultivation, he declined to stop the harvesting and sale of Roundup Ready alfalfa seed that already has been planted.
To minimize the risk of "genetic flow" between the genetically engineered alfalfa in the ground and conventional and organic alfalfa crops, Breyer ordered that pollinators not be added to Roundup Ready alfalfa fields grown only for hay production.
He also ordered gear used in production of Roundup Ready alfalfa to be properly cleaned after use and for the alfalfa to be clearly identified to minimize mixing after harvest.
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