Another loss for organic farming, as 9th Circuit sides with Monsanto.
"Plaintiffs have not demonstrated that the permitted ... plants present a possibility, much less a likelihood, of genetic contamination or other irreparable harm," Judge Sidney Thomas wrote for the panel. "The undisputed evidence indicates that the [beets] pose a negligible risk."
Read article for the Courthouse News Service,
Sugar Beets Get Reprieve From Destruction and from the Metropolitan News-Enterprise,
Ninth Circuit Grants Reprieve to Genetically Engineered Beet Seedlings.
Thomas concluded on Friday that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated a likelihood of irreparable harm since the “undisputed evidence indicates that the stecklings pose a negligible risk of genetic contamination, as the juvenile plants are biologically incapable of flowering or cross-pollinating” before the permits for their planting expire. He further noted the permits contain express conditions prohibiting flowering or pollination.
Although the plaintiffs proffered evidence of contamination risks in sugar beets and other crops in later stages of the plant’s life-cycle, Thomas emphasized that they did not provide any examples of contamination by pollination under the restricted conditions imposed by the permits.
The assumption here is that the permits will be followed. What happens, however, if they are not followed and the plants are allowed to flower? I'd be interested to see the research w/respect to cross-contamination through the entire plant lifecycle.
