16 December 1999 British green groups welcome Monsanto lawsuit LONDON, Reuters [WN] via NewsEdge Corporation : British environmental groups on Wednesday welcomed a lawsuit launched in the United States against life sciences company Monsanto by a group of farmers opposed to its handling of genetically modified crops. But SCIMAC, the British group which represents farmers and the seed trade over gene technology, felt that Britain's approach to testing made the circumstances different here. "We're very pleased that this action has been filed," said Harry Hadaway, campaigner on GM issues at the Soil Association, the leading organic farming group. "We're hoping that where government regulators have failed the courts will succeed." Governments had been too keen to support the companies involved in developing genetically modified crops, he said. "Governments have continuously failed to protect consumer health and the environment due to their support of the biotechnology industry," Hadaway said. Peter Roderick, legal officer of the environmental group Friends of the Earth, also welcomed the lawsuit. "We think it's a good thing," he said. "We're supportive of what they're doing." There was a concern about increased concentration. "The restructuring the industry is already doing is giving us fewer, more centralised companies," Roderick said. BRITAIN "BUILDING CONSENSUS" Daniel Pearsall of SCIMAC, the Supply Chain Initiative on Modified Crops, said British testing of GM crops was being done in a way designed to develop consensus. "We are moving forward with the technology in a way which is bringing all the interests together," he said. SCIMAC represents farmers, plant breeders, the seed trade and the biotechnology companies. "We have a platform to take forward the assessment, evaluation and adoption of this technology in a way which brings togther the different concerns and interests," he said. Britain is carrying out farm-scale trials of genetically modified crops. There will be no unrestricted cultivation of GM crops in the UK until the farm-scale evaluations are complete, the government has said. Environment minister Michael Meacher said in November that the trials would last until the harvesting of crops planted in 2002. Six corn and soybean farmers from Indiana, Iowa and France filed a class action lawsuit on Tuesday against Monsanto Co , accusing the company of trying to monopolise genetically modified crops and failing to thoroughly test the products for safety. Monsanto denied the charges and said it would fight the lawsuit. Also named in the court case as alleged co-conspirators were Novartis AG < NOVZn.S>, DuPont Co , Dow Chemical Co , and AstraZeneca Plc . Lawyers for the farmers said the companies were not formally charged as defendants in the case, but could be added to the lawsuit in the future. ((Christopher Lyddon, London Newsroom +44 171 542 7928 fax +44 171 542 8077, london.commodities.desk@reuters.com)) REUTERS