USA: New court hearings for GM sugar beet
(10 September 2010) The United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) intends in the coming year once more to allow limited
cultivation of genetically modified (GM) sugar beet under controlled conditions.
Environmental and consumer groups have reacted by announcing further court
hearings.
In mid-August, a Californian District Court suspended the
cultivation approval issued in 2005 for GM sugar beet, citing thereby
insufficient testing of its effects on the environment.
The USDA foresees the enactment of transitional
regulations by the end of the year that appropriately address the interests of
sugar beet cultivation as well as the court judgment. Out-crossing between GM and conventional sugar beet, as
well as related cultivated plants such as Swiss chard and beetroot, should be
prevented through regulation and control. According to US Secretary of
Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the goal thereby is to "further USDA's continuing
efforts to enable coexistence among conventional, organic, and biotechnology
production systems."
Out-crossing is of relevance primarily in regions where
sugar beet seeds are produced, which applies in the USA almost exclusively to a
climatically suitable valley in the state of Oregon. In order to produce the
seeds intended for later planting, the sugar beet plants must bloom. The
resulting pollen is dispersed by wind. A variety of studies have shown that
out-crossing can occur at distances of as much as 1000 metres.
The USDA intends apparently to regard the growing fields
for GM sugar beet as release sites, which consequently are to be permitted
according to the legal provisions appropriate to this definition. Presumably,
seed breeding companies may be required to maintain specific distances to fields
planted with varieties that are capable of multiplying. To date, and depending
on the company, such distances have ranged from 2500 to 6500 metres.
In contrast, pollen is less of a problem in the
industrial cultivation of sugar beet. Since sugar beets are ‘biennial’ – forming
their taproots in the first year and their blossoms in the second – they are
harvested before they bloom. Pollen is formed only by plants that blossom
prematurely. Farmers who plant GM sugar beets have been required up to the
present to check their fields for such ‘prematures’ and to eradicate them.
After the court decision, cultivation of GM sugar beet in
California could no longer be allowed for the moment in any case. Isolated
stocks of wild beet are found in the state in addition to the conventional sugar
production presented as being ‘without gene technology’.
The measures announced by the USDA have been deemed
insufficient by the organisations filing suit, which include the Center for Food
Safety and the Sierra Club. The organisations refer to a lack of clarity towards
control of the eradication of ‘premature bloomers’ and suggest therefore that
out-crossing to conventional sugar beet, Swiss chard or beetroot would remain
possible. The organisations also suggest that a legal decision on the further
cultivation of GM sugar beet only may be reached after conclusion of the
exhaustive assessment of environmental effects that was ordered by the court.
According to statements by the USDA, two years would be
necessary for such an assessment.
See also on GMO Compass:
Further information:
| 
![[nach oben springen]](/images/icons/icon_gotop_9x9.gif){kind=icon}