Italian Court Rejects
Pioneer Hi-Bred Bid to Save GM Maize

REUTERS 17jul03

TURIN—A court on Thursday rejected an attempt by the Italian unit of Pioneer Hi-Bred, a subsidiary of Dupont Co DD.N , to halt an order to destroy maize thought to contain genetic material, a local government source said.

"The order to destroy the maize remains in force following the decision by the regional court in Turin in response to Pioneer's request for an immediate suspension of the order," the source, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

The reasons for the court decision were not immediately known.

Piedmont region in northwest Italy on Friday ordered the destruction within five days of 381 hectares of maize fields thought to be contaminated with gene-modified material. Most of the maize has since been destroyed, environmentalists said.

The fields were sowed with Pioneer's seeds, but a company spokesman has said internal tests before marketing showed no presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), adding that the company markets only conventional seeds in Italy.

Pioneer contested the Piedmont order on the grounds it had no scientific basis.

Commercial sowing of GMO seeds is banned in Italy under a so-called "zero tolerance" policy.

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source: http://reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=governmentFilingsNews&storyID=3106529 17jul03