By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Opponents of genetically engineered foods (GE) won a battle last month when a federal judge ruled that Roundup Ready sugar beets need to be more thoroughly reviewed.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the northern district of California ruled last month that the approval of genetically modified beets was premature, saying the USDA needs to conduct an environmental impact statement.

A meeting is scheduled for Oct. 30 that will decide if farmers will be allowed to continue planting Roundup Ready sugar beets before another review process is complete. The beets contain a bacterial gene that makes them impervious to Roundup, a Monsanto herbicide.

The Sugar Industry Biotech Council, a trade group, was disappointed by what the judge had to say. It issued the following statement in reaction to his ruling: “This is a procedural decision, in which the court concluded USDA needs to show a more thorough review process than was documented in the deregulation process the agency completed in 2005.

“While the (Council) is disappointed by the outcome, we look forward to the next phase of the proceedings and the opportunity for growers, processors and seed producers to advocate the need for this technology and vigorously defend farmers’ freedom to plant Roundup Ready sugar beets …

“The sugar from biotech sugar beets is the same as from conventional sugar beets and sugarcane, and is widely accepted in the United States and worldwide markets. Farmers in the United States and Canada are choosing to plant Roundup Ready sugar beets on 95 percent of the acreage because of the environmental and economic benefits they bring to farming operations.”
The Center for Food Safety, an advocacy group and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the USDA, was satisfied with the ruling.

“The Center for Food Safety is definitely happy with the judge’s ruling,” said Paige Tomaselli, a spokeswoman for the group. “The Center for Food Safety believes that the USDA needs to do an environmental impact statement. We will be asking the judge to issue an injunction preventing farmers from using Roundup Ready sugar beets until the USDA completes an environmental impact statement.”

The complaint against the USDA, filed in January 2008, accuses the department of violating federal law in several ways and makes a case against the use of Roundup Ready sugar beets.

Here is a sample of what it says: “The proliferation of Roundup Ready sugar beets will contaminate non-GE sugar beet seeds, organic and conventional non-GE-related seed lines such as chard and table beets, and reduce the supply of sugar and food processed with sugar that is not contaminated with GE material.
“The cultivation of Roundup Ready sugar beets will also greatly increase the use of Roundup on sugar beets and therefore, increase Roundup residues in foods made with sugar from such sugar beets.”

The other plaintiffs in the case are the Organic Seed Alliance, the Sierra Club and Mowing Organic Seeds. They believe the commercialization of Roundup Ready sugar beets will contaminate organic seed varieties.