Environmental and Food Justice – Developed and moderated by Devon G. Peña, Ph.D., 4 November 2015

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Source: http://ejfood.blogspot.com/2015/11/monsanto-in-mexico-another-court.html

Provisional suspension of the planting of transgenic maize in Yucatán

16 COURT APPEALS & SUPREME COURT HAVE MAINTAINED THE SUSPENSION FOR TWO YEARS

Devon G. Peña | Viejo San Acacio, CO | November 4, 2015

In a press release dated November 3, the lead plaintiffs’ organization, Demanda Colectiva Maíz, announced that opponents of genetically engineered corn in Mexico prevailed in an important new federal appeals court ruling.

The federal judge, Benjamin Soto Sánchez, head of the second Unitarian Court in Civil and Administrative Matters of the First Circuit, upheld the provisional suspension that prohibits pertinent federal agencies from processing and granting the privilege of sowing or releasing into the environment of transgenic maize in the country. The federal suspension has been in force since September 2013 despite 100 challenges by transnational agribusiness interests and the federal government.

The attorneys for the defenders of maize had also argued that, in the case of GMO soybean crops in Yucatán, the Court should consider “that Mexico is a mega-diverse country.” The ‘center of origin’ argument is a significant departure from the approaches taken in other countries.

According to the press release, the “decision by Magistrate Soto Sánchez was issued today…within the appeals process that the community of citizens initiated this past August 19 after the Federal Judge Francisco Peñaloza Heras had refused tu uphold the definitive suspension and two days later returned to temporarily suspend [GMO plantings] due to challenges by citizens.”

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TAG: Mexico