Financial Times (London) 

November 10, 2000, Friday USA Edition 1 

THE AMERICAS; Pg. 4 

THE AMERICAS: Plea over modified corn 

By NIKKI TAIT 

CHICAGO 

US environmental groups claimed yesterday that liability lawsuits were
being prepared in the wake of the StarLink genetically modified corn
debacle and called on state attorneys-general to protect farmers from
economic damage. 

In a letter sent to attorneys-general in seven agricultural states, the
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy said it believed farmers and
country elevator operators who sold StarLink seed corn were at risk, having
being "inadequately advised of StarLink's unique handling requirements". 

The IATP is part of the coalition of environmental and consumer groups that
commissioned the original testing, which showed StarLink corn had been used
in making taco shells. 

It now claims that in some states - like Iowa - as much as half the corn
crop could be contaminated and that the costs of recalling the contentious
variety could run to hundreds of millions of dollars. 

"Currently, farmers are vulnerable to significant financial losses and
legal liability because of irresponsible and reckless corporate behaviour,"
the IATP letter claims. The organisation is asking the state
attorneys-general to investigate various aspects of the episode, including,
for example, the terms under which Aventis and the US Department of
Agriculture are negotiating to buy back StarLink corn from growers. 

The IATP added that it was contacting the state officials because it
believed the USDA had taken "the unprecedented move of participating in a
corn recall to benefit a private company".