French Farmers Destroy GE Maize

On January 8th, about 100 farmers from the 2nd largest French farmers union, Confederation Paysanne (CP), attacked a Novartis conditioning and storage plant. After looking around they found 5 tons of transgenic maize which they mixed with non-modified maize before humidifying it - rendering it useless. Shortly afterwards 3 of their representatives were arrested and put on trial on the 3rd of February. Novartis is claiming 1 million US Dollars in damages (they allege that the five tons of seeds destroyed was the sum total of seed kept in cold storage). This sum was probably underestimated so as to turn it into a political trial. Coinciding with its start, a coalition of consumers, farmers and environmental groups launched a campaign to reverse the French governments decision to allow the cultivation of the genetically altered maize. The weekend before the trial, opponents of GE staged protests at two Novartis sites in northern and central France. The court was packed for the trial, with many distinguished witnesses and around a thousand people gathered outside. Sentencing is due around the 18th of this month and it looks as if the three will receive a suspended sentence. France is the first country in the European Union to allow the growing of GE maize. The French government has not yet cleared the production or the marketing of other gene-modified crops like rape seed oil and sugar beet pending further studies and the start of a public debate. Contact GEN for more GE info.