Federal Court overturns approval of GM sugar beets

Order Bans Planting or Sale of Controversial Crop. Court Denies Monsanto Request to Allow Continued Planting.

In August, Judge Jeffrey White, federal district judge for the Northern District of California, issued a ruling granting the request of plaintiffs Center for Food Safety, Organic Seed Alliance, High Mowing Organic Seeds, and the Sierra Club to rescind the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) approval of genetically modified “Roundup Ready” sugar beets.  In September 2009, the Court had found that the USDA had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by approving the Monsanto-engineered biotech crop without first preparing an Environmental Impact Statement. The crop was engineered to resist the effects of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, which it sells to farmers together with the patented seed. Similar Roundup Ready crops have led to increased use of herbicides, proliferation of herbicide resistant weeds, and contamination of conventional and organic crops. 

In the ruling the Court officially “vacated” the USDA “deregulation” of Monsanto’s GM sugar beets and prohibited any future planting and sale pending the agency’s compliance with NEPA and all other relevant laws. USDA has estimated that an EIS may be ready by 2012.

Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of plaintiff and co-counsel the Center for Food Safety, stated, “This is a major victory for farmers, consumers and the rule of law.  USDA has once again acted illegally and had its approval of a biotech crop rescinded.  Hopefully the agency will learn that their mandate is to protect farmers, consumers and the environment and not the bottom line of corporations such as Monsanto.”

In his order, Judge White noted that USDA’s “errors are not minor or insignificant, and his “concern that Defendants are not taking this process seriously.”  He also pointed out that “despite the fact that the statutes at issue are designed to protect the environment,” USDA and the sugar beet industry focused on the economic consequences to themselves, yet “failed to demonstrate that serious economic harm would be incurred pending a full economic review….”

Judge White denied the plaintiff’s request for a permanent injunction that would have also banned growing of the GM beets.

In June, the Supreme Court ruled that a federal judge had overstepped his authority by issuing an injunction banning the sale of GM alfalfa. The Court also said the USDA could issue a partial approval of a GM crop, an option the agency could pursue with GM sugar beets.