Italy Seizes 300 Tons of Monsanto's GMO Seeds

ALESSANDRA RIZZO / AP 29mar01

ROME  -- Italy's agriculture minister has called for the seizure of more than 300 tons of soybean and corn seeds, which he claims were genetically modified, and for the suspension of the license of the importer and distributor, Monsanto.

The chairman of Monsanto's Italian branch, Jean-Michel Duhamel, denied Thursday that the seeds were genetically modified, and called it a ``misinterpretation'' by the Agriculture Ministry.

``We don't sell genetically modified seeds, this is for sure,'' Duhamel told The Associated Press. ``Some of the lots could present a small, adventitious presence of genetically modified organisms, but well below the standards which are generally accepted.''

The seeds arrived in Genoa from the United States this month. Some were analyzed and showed ``irregularities,'' said Oliviero Dottorini, a spokesman for the Agriculture Ministry.

The remaining seeds were sent to a depot of the U.S. company in Lodi, in northern Italy. Much of the seed was then distributed to Monsanto's 2,000 retailers across the country.

Further tests on the first batch of seeds found some genetically modified material, Dottorini said. He said any level of genetically modified seed is banned by Italy.

``The law must be respected both by small farmers and Monsanto,'' Agriculture Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio was quoted as saying in La Repubblica newspaper.

Genetic engineering involves splicing a single gene from one organism to another. In the United States, genetically modified varieties of soybeans and corn gained popularity in the 1990s and are now commonly found in U.S. supermarkets, but they are still unpopular among Europeans.