www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Agricultural and food firms have launched a battle for the legalisation of
the sale of genetically modified grain, January 2007.

The first to raise objections to the ban were two GM sweetcorn seeds'
distributors Monsanto and Pioneer, whose attempts to register new brands of
plants at the Centre for Plant Brands Examination (COBOR) were hindered.

However, the provincial court of administration in Warsaw ruled that the
decisions be lifted, and declared the partial ban on GMO registration ran
counter to EU directives. The decision is not yet valid, and the response of
the Agricultural Ministry is hard to predict.

In the wake of the precedent court rulings, representatives of the
agricultural and food sector have considered bringing a case against the
seed production law to the Constitutional Tribunal. The European Commission
is also said to be pressuring the government to amend the legislation.

[www.pnb.pl]