Green Groups Sue USDA to Stop Bio-Pharm Planting; Can Slip Into Food Supply

[Guest guest]

> Green Groups Sue USDA to Stop Bio-Pharm Planting

> Wed November 12, 2003 06:02 PM ET

>

> By Randy Fabi

>

> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A coalition of environmental groups and consumer

> advocates sued the U.S. Agriculture Department in federal court on

> Wednesday to try to halt the experimental planting of biotech crops

> engineered to make medicine.

>

> Environmentalists, consumer advocates and food industry groups have urged

> the USDA to impose stricter regulations on pharmaceutical crops, fearing

> the unapproved plants could accidentally slip into the food supply.

>

> Biotech companies like Dow Chemical Co. and Monsanto Co. have experimented

> with corn, soybeans, tobacco, rice and sugar crops as a cheaper way to

> mass-produce medicines to treat a range of human ailments.

>

> The coalition, which includes Friends of the Earth and the Center for Food

> Safety, accused the USDA of allowing the experimental crops to be planted

> in open fields without assessing the risk to other crops, wildlife and

humans.

>

> The lawsuit was filed in a federal district court in Hawaii, one of the

top

> producing states of pharmaceutical crops.

>

> " The existing regulatory system merely assumes that growing these crops is

> harmless, even in places where they can contaminate the environment and

get

> into the food supply, " said Joseph Mendelson, legal director for Center

for

> Food Safety.

>

> A USDA spokesman would not comment on the lawsuit.

>

> The biotech industry said USDA's regulatory system was effective.

>

> " This lawsuit can only serve to impede the potential medical benefits of

> the technology, " said Lisa Dry, a spokeswoman for the Biotechnology

> Industry Organization.

>

> Before field-testing pharmaceutical crops, biotech companies must obtain a

> USDA permit that sets strict planting requirements to minimize

> environmental risks. This includes planting experimental crops at certain

> distances away from other crops and cleaning farm equipment.

>

> A Monsanto spokesman said the company has decided to shut down its

> plant-made pharmaceuticals program to cut costs and focus its resources on

> its seeds and biotechnology businesses. The St. Louis-based company said

it

> expects to complete the process by the end of the year.

>

> In March, the USDA imposed tougher rules on planting industrial and

> pharmaceutical crops after a Texas biotech firm was accused of

accidentally

> contaminating other crops. Privately held ProdiGene Inc. last year agreed

> to pay about $3 million to settle the matter.

>

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=5IOPNJGR2S4D4CRBAEZSFFA?

type=scienceNews & storyID=3809310

>