Reuters | December 14, 1999 | By Julie Vorman
WASHINGTON - A U.S. family farm group and a longtime critic of biotechnology plans to sue Monsanto Co. on Tuesday for allegedly selling genetically altered crops without first ensuring they were safe for consumers and the environment.
The class action lawsuit, to be filed in federal court in Washington, will try to stop industry leader Monsanto from adding genes to give soybeans, corn, squash, canola and other plants resistance to pests and herbicides.
Monsanto said its products are safe and any lawsuit was unfounded.
The case comes at a time when Americans have begun to express some uneasiness about the rapid increase in transgenic crops and the snack foods, salad dressings, baked goods and snacks made from them.
On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration held the last in a series of meetings to hear what changes - if any - are needed in how biotech foods are regulated and labeled.
The issue is also a priority in world trade talks. Japan, the European Union, South Korea and others have already moved ahead to require labels on foods made with transgenic crops to satisfy consumer worries about long-term health and safety.
"This lawsuit alleges that the company had a responsibility to make sure that any safety representations about the product were backed up," said Jeremy Rifkin, head of the Foundation on Economic Trends.
For example, Monsanto should have done additional testing for Bt corn in other countries to determine if the crop posed any risks in other climates and soil types, he said.
"This lawsuit will refocus the global debate," Rifkin said. "It puts the spotlight directly on the life science companies and the future of agriculture. It's no longer just a trade issue between the United States and the European Union."
Rifkin is an environmental activist who has published several books about transgenic crops and has petitioned the FDA to impose stricter standards for testing and approval.
Also joining in the lawsuit is the National Family Farm Coalition, which represents U.S. growers with concerns about genetically modified crops.
American farmers, who eagerly embraced biotech crops during the past three years, will spend the winter months deciding what seeds to buy for spring planting. Some are worried that conventional crops could command a premium over transgenic ones, reflecting the preference of overseas buyers.
In 1999, half of the soybeans and one-third of corn grown by U.S. farmers were genetically modified varieties.
The lawsuit will seek unspecified damages, which could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, Rifkin said.
It will also accuse Monsanto of anti-competitive practices to control the patents and sale of altered seeds.
Green groups have been especially upset by the patenting of new biotech crops, which prohibits farmers from saving seeds from harvest and reusing them the next year.
Monsanto said it would fight the lawsuit.
"We're people who use these products, too. We're not going to introduce something into the market that is unsafe for families," said David Snively, an attorney for Monsanto.
Monsanto said it spent tens of millions of dollars and years to field test each new plant variety for safety.
Company scientists test how quickly the a modified plant is broken down inside an animal's stomach, whether the nutritional components have changed, and the impact on the environment.
Although fewer than a dozen companies dominate the development and sales of genetically altered seeds, there is fierce competition among them, Snively said.
"We're as competitive an industry as one can imagine," he said. "Monsanto's products have had widespread acceptance in the marketplace because they have performed well."
Farmers like the crops because they need fewer chemical pesticides and produce better yields and quality, he said.
In recent weeks, Monsanto has begun trying to build bridges with European environmentalists, who have been especially worried about long-term health and safety issues. Monsanto chairman Robert Shapiro pledged in October to discuss biotech crops with Greenpeace and others with a stake in the issue.
The company is also pushing ahead with the next generation of altered crops engineered to benefit consumers.
Last week, Monsanto announced it had developed a genetically engineered rapeseed plant that could help the estimated 800 million people in Third World nations who suffer from blindness and other Vitamin A deficiency diseases.
But Rifkin said vitamin-enhanced crops could pose more problems. "What are the repercussions for foraging birds, insects and other animals when they digest plants that are acting as pharmaceutical factories?" Rifkin said. "We just don't know."
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