High Court Delivers Ruling that Leaves Ban on Planting of Roundup Ready Alfalfa in Place in First-Ever Case on a Genetically-Engineered Crop
June 21, 2010 -- from Center For Food Safety
The United States Supreme Court announced its decision Monday in Monsanto v. Geerston Farms, the first genetically modified crop case ever brought before the Supreme Court. Although the High Court decision reverses parts of the lower courts' rulings, the
judgment holds that the ban on planting Roundup Ready Alfalfa still
stands until and unless future deregulation by the Agency occurs. It
is still illegal to plant or sell GMO alfalfa. This is a
major victory for the Center for Food Safety and the Farmers and
Consumers it represents!The court ruled that because of CFS'
earlier Federal Court victory which ruled that USDA violated NEPA and
other environmental laws when it approved Roundup Ready alfalfa, an
injunction was unnecessary since under this ruling the crop became a
regulated item and illegal to plant.
CFS is victorious in this case in numerous other
ways. Most importantly, the Court did not rule on several arguments
presented by Monsanto - as a result the Court did not make any ruling
that would be hurtful to NEPA or any other environmental laws. In
addition, the Court opinion supported CFS's argument that gene flow is a
sufficient environmental and economic threat - in other words, GMO
contamination can still be considered harm under NEPA, both from an
environmental and economic perspective. This is a huge victory for CFS
and defeat against Monsanto.
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