Greenpeace Will Ask For Review Of Monsanto's GMO Soy

Dow Jones Newswires 17aug01

LONDON -- Environmental group Greenpeace said Friday it will ask for a review of the approval process of Monsanto Co.'s (MON) genetically-modified Roundup Ready soybeans in the European Union and the U.S. following the discovery of a mysterious DNA sequence in the product.

"This is a question of how credible is Monsanto and how credible is the approval process, and we'll follow this up," said Benedikt Haerlin, Greenpeace's Germany-based international coordinator against genetically-modified crops.

"(Monsanto) claims this is the most precise and the best evaluated and tested technology and then five years after they have commercialized the product it's revealed that very basic information about it is not correct or not complete," Haerlin said. "Probably soybeans are not the only case, they are just the first case where thorough, independent analysis has been done by scientists outside the company."

He added that in Brazil - where Roundup Ready soybeans are in the approval process - Greenpeace will pass the relevant information to authorities.

The allegations over the DNA sequence stemmed from media reports Thursday about a Belgian scientists' paper published in the journal of European Food Research and Technology.

Monsanto said Thursday that it stands by the safety of its Roundup Ready soybeans. The company said E.U. regulatory authorities knew about the DNA sequence mentioned in the paper for over a year and they had no objections about it.

Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybeans are the world's most widely grown genetically-modified soy crop.