GM GIANT TO SUE GOVERNMENT TO KEEP DOCUMENTS SECRET - Aventis Attempts to Stop FOE Getting GM Pesticide Safety Information.
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Subject: B-GE:GM GIANT TO SUE GOVERNMENT TO KEEP DOCUMENTS SECRET..............
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 07:59:46 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of
California, Department of Pesticide Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Dear Mr. Helliker,
I thought you might like to read an article entitled: GM GIANT TO SUE
GOVERNMENT TO KEEP DOCUMENTS SECRET - Aventis Attempts to Stop FOE Getting GM
Pesticide Safety Information.
GM giant Aventis is to take the UK Government to court.
The company wants to prevent the Government from giving information to
Friends of the Earth on the environmental and health effects of one of its
pesticides. Glufosinate ammonium
(GA) is used in GM farm-scale trials. It
is one of the two herbicides to be sprayed on those GM crops nearest to
commercialisation. Lawyers for the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have given the
company 14 days within which to seek an injunction preventing disclosure (write
FOE to see the letter). Friends of the Earth first requested the information
from the former Ministry of Agriculture in February 2000, after it changed the
rules on the use of glufosinate ammonium. Previously
GA was only allowed to be sprayed on crops during the summer, because of fears
over the environmental and health impact of using the pesticide during the
winter months. Possible effects
include leaching into groundwater. Following
a request by Aventis, the Government allowed GA to be sprayed on GM crops during
the winter.
FOE asked to see the information that Aventis supplied to
back up its requests. Initially the
Government stalled. In January this
year it refused to disclose the information.
However, following the threat of legal action from FOE the Government
backed down. Aventis had claimed
commercial confidentiality to
block disclosure.
Peter Roderick, Friends of the Earth's Legal Adviser, said:
This shows the lengths that the biotech industry will go to keep its
activities from public scrutiny. If
Aventis has got scientific evidence on the safety of this pesticide why won't
they let us see it?
Full marks to the Government for finally agreeing to disclose most of the information. It must now stand firm in defending Aventis' challenge. It is difficult to see how commercial confidentiality can trump the public's right to know about the possible environmental and health impacts of spraying pesticides on GM crops. (Hint = $$$$$$$$$$$$.)
Contact details: Friends of the Earth, 26-28 Underwood St.,
LONDON, N1 7JQ - Tel: 020 7490 1555
- Fax: 020 7490 0881 - Email: info@foe.co.uk - Website: www.foe.co.uk
Well Mr. Helliker, once
again we see the POISON "industry" trying to say: "What we do not
know will not hurt us - - - - - - wink, wink.
We need to know ALL of the pertinent information before you
"register" and expose us to
these terrible POISONS! Please
Protect the People and not the Profits!
Respectfully,
Stephen L. Tvedten
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