COM 0882.009 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

NATIONAL LAW California Four California counties (Marin, Mendocino, Trinity and Santa Cruz) and two cities have adopted prohibitions on the growing of genetically modified crops in order to protect their organic and conventional foods since 2006. Washington, DC and Oregon In February, 2007, in a decision broadly affecting field trials of genetically engineered crops a federal district judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must halt approval of all new field trials until more rigorous environmental reviews are conducted. Citing potential threats to the environment, Judge Harold Kennedy found in favor of the Center for Food Safety that USDA's past approvals of field trials of herbicide tolerant, genetically engineered bentgrass were illegal. Hawaii August 2006, Federal Court Rules Biopharm Permits Issued Illegally in Hawaii. The ruling is the first ever on controversial drug-producing GE crops manufactured by Monsanto and others. A federal district judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in permitting the cultivation of drug- producing, genetically engineered crops throughout Hawal'i. The court found that USDA acted in "utter disregard" of the ESA, and also violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), by failing to conduct even preliminary investigations prior to its approval of the plantings. New Mexico March 2006, a Declaration of Seed Sovereignty was adopted by the Traditional Native American Farmers Association (TNAFA) in New Mexico. The document recognized existing cases of contamination of their traditional crops and the risk this placed on their crops and seeds as an important reason for protecting native seed sources and food crops. Various bills calling for moratoria on GE food (Vermont), bans of GE wheat (North Dakota, Montana) have been filed within the last year. Several municipalities declared moratoria on GE food (Burlington/Vermont), bans of GE crops (City of Boulder/Colorado), or urged the federal government to ban GE food (City and County of San Francisco/California). Many attempts to adopt such bills or resolutions failed in the past. At this point nearly 20 states (the count was 16 six months ago) are discussing GMO-related legislation, including moratorium bills in New York, Massachusetts and Hawaii. LAW SUITES UK Food Standards Agency is currently being sued over Bayer Transgenic Rice On May 3, 2007 the California District Court issued Permanent Injunction to vacate APHIS' 2005 decision to deregulate Monsanto's genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa. The order describes details on how grower; and distributors will store GE alfalfa, label containers, and clew equipment. An amendment in July, describes how APHIS will manage