Third GE raid takes 88 tonnes of seed

ROME - In the third raid in less than three weeks, Italian police seized 88 tonnes of soy seed yesterday from United States biotech group Monsanto.

The seeds are expected to be tested for their genetic makeup.

Monsanto said it had received no warning from the authorities, and that all the seeds were conventional. None of the seeds had been distributed to retailers or farmers.

"We assume the authorities will test the seeds for possible genetically engineered content," a spokesman said.

The use of genetically engineered (GE) seeds in open fields is forbidden by law in Italy, a net importer of maize and soybeans.

Police have cracked down on Monsanto in Italy twice before. Between March 23 and 26, they impounded 112 tonnes of maize, and a couple of days later started to seize 300 tonnes of soy seeds that had already been distributed to retailers. The soy seeds seized yesterday have been sealed off at Monsanto's warehouse in Lodi, near Milan, in northern Italy, as were the previous consignments.

Monsanto insisted yesterday that it conformed to regulations.

"We must reaffirm that our seeds are conventional," the company said in a statement.

It said the soy seeds had arrived at Genoa port on March 5 and had received necessary authorisations.

Last week, arsonists attacked Monsanto's grain depot in Lodi, setting maize and soybean seeds ablaze. The raiders painted slogans on walls saying "Monsanto killers."

After the previous seizures, Farm Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio asked Milan authorities to suspend Monsanto's seed import licence because he said it had imported seeds containing GE material.

- REUTERS

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