Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
In 1998, Monsanto was granted approval for importation of its
Roundup Ready soybeans by CTNBio. Following this approval, Green-
peace and the Brazilian Consumer Defense Institute (IDEC), two non-
profit organizations representing environmental and health concerns,
filed lawsuits in a lower federal court
16
against Monsanto and the gov-
ernment. These entities argued that importing GM crops posed a serious
risk to the environment and human health because the impacts of GM
crops were unknown. This lawsuit was the start of a “judicial morato-
rium” on commercial releases in Brazil that has officially kept GM plants
off the market between 1998 and 2003.
Later, on September 10, 1998, another lawsuit was filed by IDEC
seeking injunctive relief, with the participation of Greenpeace and the
Federal Prosecution Service, against the Brazilian government, MON-
SANTO, and MONSOY. This action sought to prevent CTNBio from
issuing any authorization for the cultivation of the transgenic soybean
Roundup Ready until the development of further regulations and the
completion of pending environmental impact statements (EIS).
In response to the plea by IDEC, the 11th Federal Court granted the
preliminary injunction asserting that, according to the Brazilian Federal
Constitution, the government has the duty to defend and preserve the
environment, particularly for preservation of the diversity and integrity
of the genetic legacy of the country, and must control entities engaged in
16
Two federal court decisions were taken regarding GE organisms in Brazil: The first is
specifically on the commercial release of RR soybeans. It is an injunction (a¸ ao caute-
lar) issued by a first-level Federal Court in Brasılia in 1999, which was upheld by the
second-level court of appeals (Regional Federal Court) in Brasılia in June 2000. That
injunction requires that at least an environmental impact study must be carried out
and rules on GE food labeling must be instated before any commercial release can
be approved. The second decision is the sentence issued in June 2000 by the same
first-level Judge Prudente on the core suit brought by Greenpeace and IDEC against
the government's attempt to release RR soybeans. It goes even further than the above-
mentioned injunction, by requiring that the National Biosafety Commission (CTNBio)
stop issuing any decisions at all on GE crop releases (not just RR soybeans), until
the government institutes new rules for assessing human health and environmental
impacts, as well as creating rules for labeling.
