UK Govt Takes Monsanto, Perryfields To Court Over Bio-Crops
LONDON (Dow Jones)--The U.K. government will take Monsanto Corp. (MTC) and
Perryfields Holdings Ltd. to court Wednesday for allegedly breaking rules aimed
at preventing conventional crops from breeding with gene-modified varieties.
Monsanto, a U.S.-based multinational, and Perryfields, half-owned by
Germany's DSV GmbH and half by farmer-owned U.K. companies, are charged with
leaving insufficient space between fields of genetically modified rapeseed
grown for commercial tests and neighboring conventional crops.
Neither Monsanto nor Perryfields will challenge the government's case,
company spokesmen said.
The companies could face a maximum fine of GBP20,000 each. If the case is
referred to a higher court, there is no limit on the potential fine.
Both sets of tests were run by the U.K. agriculture ministry-approved
Nickersons Seeds Ltd., part of major French seed producer Force Limagrain SA.
The Monsanto crop being tested is genetically modified to make it resistant
to the company's herbicide Roundup. Perryfields Holdings' crop has been
engineered to make it resistant to Challenge - called Liberty in the U.S. - a
herbicide made by the German company AgrEvo GmbH (G.AVO).
After the government inspections found fault with the trial site in Rothwell,
Lincolnshire, the genetically modified crops were destroyed, along with all
other rapeseed plants within a 50-meter radius of the field.
-By Veronica Brown; 44-171-832-9866
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 02-16-99
08:23 AM
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