The Dutch Council of State (the country's highest appeals body) on Thursday (16th November) cancelled seven licenses for field trials of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The licenses were issued by the Dutch Ministry of Environment to biotech company Advanta Seeds and Greenpeace asked the Council of State for the suspension of the licences to prevent the field trials. Greenpeace welcomed the council's decision, a clear signal to the Dutch government that the issuing of licenses for GMO field trials is inaccurate. The licenses would have allowed to plant genetically engineered sugar beet and rapeseed in different locations throughout the Netherlands. The Dutch court said that the licenses did not specify with enough precision where the field trials would take place. The verdict mentioned that the introduction of genetically modified organisms into the environment is possibly irreversible and possibly has detrimental consequences for the environment. Greenpeace will continue legal actions against the Dutch Ministry of environment and Advanta and wants to achieve the cancellation of the licenses. Thursday's verdict is an important victory also because the genetically engineered sugarbeets and rapeseed plants cannot be planted until the whole procedure against the field trials is completed. It is expected that this would take at least a year. Also, the verdict has consequences for all new licenses for field trials in the Netherlands. In the future, it will be necessary for the applicants to name the exact location of the field trials and all pending requests for new trials will have to be brought in again at the Ministry. Greenpeace will file legal objections against all new applications for field trials. Advanta seeds, a subsidiary of Advanta, acknowledged in May 2000 that it had accidentally mixed genetically engineered rapeseed with conventional seeds that had been planted in France, Germany, Sweden and the UK.
AMSTERDAM/NETHERLANDS: Greenpeace wins case against GMO field trials licences
Get full access to all content, just $1 for 30 days

just-food gives you the widest food market coverage.
But only paid just-food members have full, unlimited access to all our exclusive content - including 21 years of archives.
Try just-food for 30 days and get the research report; ‘Is sugar the next tobacco’ for free!
Dean Best, editor of just-food
Do you get our newsletters? If yes, log in to your account to access your FREE READS. Don't know your password? That's cool - you can reset it here.
Most Popular
Insights
- What might future hold for Danone's CEO?
- Which meat groups have stakes in alt-meat?
- Big Food's VC-style funds: the investments so far
- Why cutting sugar in chocolate is so challenging
- Meat-free co-man Plant & Bean talks vision
News
- Muller hit by Covid outbreak at UK plant
- Unilever unveils social inequality commitments
- Seafood major backs cell-based firm BlueNalu
- US vegetarian-foods supplier sells majority stake
- Report suggests Kerry Group dairy unit may be sold
Market research
- Oils (Oils and Fats) Market in Saudi Arabia - Outlook to 2023: Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics
- Sustainability - The Most Important Theme for 2020 - Thematic research
- Chilled Raw Packaged Meat - Whole Cuts (Meat) Market in Brazil - Outlook to 2024: Market Size, Growth and Forecast Analytics (updated with COVID-19 Impact)
- Bakery and Cereals Global Industry Almanac 2015-2024
- India In-depth PESTLE Insights
Oops! This article is copy protected.
Why can’t I copy the text on this page?
The ability to copy articles is specially reserved for people who are part of a group membership.
How do I become a group member?
To find out how you and your team can copy and share articles and save money as part of a group membership call Sean Clinton on
+44 (0)1527 573 736 or complete this form..
