Subject: for those interested in the GM debate...

From: "matthew sullivan" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 21:49:38

a little bit of good news, a little bit of bad news:

Monsanto executives reportedly pressure board to stop GM crop trials in UK

    LONDON (AFX) - Top executives of Monsanto Co are pressing the board to 
pull out of genetically modified crop trials in the UK because public 
hostility is damaging business, the Independent on Sunday reported citing 
senior company sources.
    The sources said a "powerful group within management" is arguing that 
trial plantings should cease entirely and that although Monsanto chairman 
Bob Shapiro is insisting that the the trials continue, the company has 
already drastically scaled back planting in the UK.
    Senior managers are deeply frustrated by the success of anti-GM 
campaigners in disrupting them, the paper said.
    The IoS said it had also learned that the Clinton administration is so
concerned at Monsanto's troubles in the UK that it is putting heavy 
pressure on UK ministers to allow a new GM maize, developed by the company, 
into UK shops and supermarkets.
    A Monsanto spokeswoman in the U.S. denied there have been discussions 
about ending the UK trials and that the reduction in planting is not 
evidence of an impending withdrawal.
    She told the paper: "There have been no such discussions". 

*************************************************************************

---
You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: [email-masked]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [email-masked]