Agricultural News
Monsanto Wins Supreme Court Case- RoundUp Ready Alfalfa Will Be Allowed to Be Planted
Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:00:11 CDT
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sided with Monsanto and overturned a three-year-old ban on the company’s genetically modified alfalfa seed.
Roundup Ready alfalfa was reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and approved by U.S. Department of Agriculture before entering the market in 2005. The seeds are genetically engineered to resist Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer.
A 2007 court order in California blocked Monsanto from selling and farmers from planting the alfalfa seeds until the federal government completed an environmental study on the seeds’ impact on other alfalfa crops.
In a 7-1 vote, the Supreme Court reversed a ruling by a federal appeals court that kept Monsanto’s alfalfa seeds from being sold or planted. Associate Justice John Stevens filed a dissenting opinion, and Associate Justice Stephen Breyer took no part in the case.
This is the first time the Supreme Court has considered genetically modified crops and the process for approving them. The case could have broader implications, including on Monsanto's modified sugar beets, which have also faced opposition from environmentalists.
From a Monsanto News release- "This Supreme Court ruling is important for every American farmer, not just alfalfa growers," said David F. Snively, Monsanto's Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "All growers can rely on the expertise of USDA, and trust that future challenges to biotech approvals must now be based on scientific facts, not speculation."
The opinion of the court, written by Justice Samuel Alito, sharply stated that the district court abused its discretion when it prohibited the planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa in 2007. Today's ruling will allow USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to take appropriate action to allow further planting while they complete the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The opinion concluded that the lower court's injunction on Roundup Ready alfalfa "cannot stand."
The case will now be remanded to the lower court with the instruction to allow APHIS to decide which interim measures will need to be established in order to allow growers to resume planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa.
"This is exceptionally good news received in time for the next planting season. Farmers have been waiting to hear this for quite some time," said Steve Welker, Monsanto's Alfalfa business lead. "We have Roundup Ready alfalfa seed ready to deliver and await USDA guidance on its release. Our goal is to have everything in place for growers to plant in fall 2010."
Click here to read the complete opinion offered by the US Supreme Court.
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