Uniform action by countries against contamination of maize seed intended

The federal states in which corn seed containing traces of genetically modified organisms was sown by dealers have agreed on a uniform approach. These are Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Rhineland-Palatinate. They have decided that all fields should be ploughed up. Most recently, Lower Saxony, where the contamination originated, agreed to this approach by the other states and announced the immediate destruction of the corn seed already sown. The Lower Saxony Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture announced at a joint press conference in June 2010 that they are striving for uniform implementation across the country.
The background was the following:
In Lower Saxony, contamination by genetically modified organisms was found in corn seed. According to the state government, the contamination was traces of the genetically modified variety in Monsanto's NK603. According to the state government, this corn seed was marketed by the seed supplier Pioneer Hi-Bred and thus sown on approximately 2,000 hectares of agricultural land in the aforementioned federal states. Initially, the Ministry of the Environment in Hanover had to clarify in a legal dispute before the Stade Administrative Court that the company was obliged to disclose information about its distribution channels. In an expedited procedure, the Administrative Court ruled that the seed producer was obliged to disclose the information because the corn flowering in southern Germany already begins in the first week of July. The company then transmitted the relevant data to Hanover, from where the distribution channels to the individual federal states could be determined via several dealers.
The farmers affected by the replowing order will ultimately have to settle their losses with the seed manufacturer. In a similar case in 1986, a conventionally farmer was subjected to a replowing order under the heading "Genetic Rapeseed Farmer Against His Will" after his neighbor had planted rapeseed without boundary clearance (cf. Higher Administrative Court of Münster, decision of August 31, 2000 - 21 B 1125/00 -, NVwZ 2001, 110 ff.; see also http://www.dr-kauch.de/recht/gentechnikrecht,id-30851.html ).

This publication can also be found on the website of the law firm Dr. Kauch .