“In a landmark ruling published on July 27th, the Paraná Federal Court revokes authorization for the commercial release of Bayer’s Liberty Link maize and censures CTNBio’s actions

A new chapter has been added to the dispute over GM crops in Brazil. A court ruling now prohibits Bayer from marketing Liberty Link maize – resistant to the herbicide glufosinate – anywhere in the country due to the absence of any plan for post-release monitoring. The federal judge Pepita Durski Tramontini from the Curitiba Environment Court also specifically revoked authorization for the crop’s release in the North and Northeast of Brazil due to the absence of any studies relating to the potential impacts of this technology on the regional biomes.
Additionally the ruling annulled the approval given by the Council of Ministers (the National Biosafety Council) to commercial release of the maize since their decision had been based on irregular procedures undertaken by CTNBio.
CTNBio – the National Biosafety Technical Commission, responsible for approving release of GMOs in Brazil – has now been ordered to ensure comprehensive access to the GMO release procedures. It must also introduce a norm setting a time limit for any decision on requests for confidential business information, allowing all non-secret information to be made public”.
To know more