Tag: grain
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First Bellwether GM Rice Trial Ends in Verdict for Plaintiffs; Court Allows Punitive Claims to Proceed
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.,…
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Paul Voosen, “Trade Chaos Looms as GM Crops Proliferate,” Greenwire, November 2, 2009
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…
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CSPI Reports Noncompliance with Bt Corn Regulations
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…
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U.S. Supreme Court Review Sought in GM Alfalfa Case
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…
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Ninth Circuit Denies Petition for Panel Rehearing in Roundup Ready® Alfalfa Litigation
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…
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UCS Report Claims Promise of GE Higher Yields Proves Empty
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…
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Monsanto Sues German Government over GE Corn Ban
According to a news source, Monsanto has filed a lawsuit challenging the German government’s decision to prohibit farmers from planting the company’s genetically modified (GM) corn. Designed to produce a substance toxic to the corn borer pest, the GM seed has been permitted in Germany since 2005, and the corn has been used in Europe…
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Court Refuses Remand in GM Rice Litigation
A federal court in Missouri has determined that Texas plaintiffs alleging injury from the contamination of conventional rice crops with genetically modified (GM) rice had no reasonable basis to join non-diverse defendants and thus denied their motion to remand to state court. In re Genetically Modified Rice Litig., MDL No. 1811 (E.D. Mo., decided March…