Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Should farmers have filed a courst case (suit) against Bayer CropScience?

I am interested to see the story titled, "Farmers file suit over biotech rice contamination", which is at:
http://www.brownfieldnetwork.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=5B707E55-0E54-6499-80DCD8CED5CD2871

This naturally raises the question of whether the farmers are right to file a suit against the company.

In my view, till evidence surfaces that Bayer CropScience was in breach of any rules or regulations, the company has no case to answer.

The body that the farmers should be suing is the US government, and the US Department of Agriculture, for creating a framework in which a reasonably responsible company such as Bayer CropScience could have found itself in such a situation.

The problem is not the company, it is the government which allows such testing without adequate safeguards.

There is of course a deeper question regarding the way in which such regulations are set up, and the role of lobbying by commercial companies in the creation of looser regulations than is proper.

But that is a wider and deeper question that could be opened by a suit against the US Government - but will not be opened up by a suit against the company. Sphere: Related Content

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