Pioneer biotech corn taints Hawaii crops - EPA

Source - Reuters Commodities News (Eng)
Thursday, April 24, 2003  05:12
By Randy Fabi

    WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - An unapproved bioengineered corn crop,
made by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, accidentally contaminated a small
number of nearby crops in Hawaii, the Environmental Protection Agency said
on Wednesday.

    The EPA said it fined Pioneer, a unit of DuPont Co, $72,000 for
not immediately notifying the agency when preliminary tests indicated 12
stalks of corn were tainted with traces of an unapproved crop.

    "Pioneer destroyed the plants that tested positive before they
pollinated, and the EPA is confident that corn intended for human
consumption was not affected," the EPA said.

    At its research nursery in Kauai, Hawaii, Pioneer tests several
different crop varieties to meet strict regulatory guidelines before the
products can be commercialized.

    Pioneer spokeswoman Courtney Dreyer said an unapproved insect-resistant
corn variety grown at its nursery accidentally seeped into a nearby field.

    The EPA said the company was fined for not immediately alerting
officials of its findings, a violation of a settlement the two sides agreed
to in December.

    In December, Pioneer paid about $10,000 to settle federal
allegations it
planted a separate insect-resistant corn variety too close to conventional
crops.

    As part of the agreement, the company promised to perform additional
crop testing and immediately alert the EPA if it found any evidence of the
unapproved corn tainted nearby fields.

    "The fine was for missing a reporting deadline on preliminary tests ...
not for the test results," Dreyer said. "It was a regrettable error."

    Dreyer said the company has already paid the $72,000 fine.

    The EPA said it referred the finding of tainted corn to the U.S.
Agriculture Department.

    Jim Rogers, spokesman for USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service, said it was investigating Pioneer for possible violations of the
Plant Protection Act. He would not elaborate.

    Consumer advocates welcomed the EPA's actions, but said future fines
should be much higher.

    "To truly deter such bad corporate behavior in the future, fines ten
or twenty times higher may be appropriate," said Gregory Jaffe, biotech
director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

    "Neither the industry nor the government is doing enough to contain
biotech field trials."