May 28, 1999

Austria has decided to ban genetically modified corn that was implicated as a potential threat to monarch butterflies in a Cornell University study released last week. Greenpeace praised the Austrian decision and called on the Environmental Protection Agency to cancel the registration of Bt crops in the United States.

"The monarch study is the latest in a growing body of research that shows we simply don't know enough to say that these engineered crops are safe," said Greenpeace genetic engineering specialist Charles Margulis. "Our environment, our farmers and our families should not be guinea pigs in this corporate experiment on our food."

In February, Greenpeace and more than 70 other plaintiffs filed suit demanding EPA cancel the registration of Bt crops. The suit claims that EPA was negligent when it approved Bt crops without preparing an environmental impact assessment as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

French Minister for the Environment Dominique Voynet has expressed concern that the need may exist to revise the approval for Monsanto's Bt corn in light of the Cornell study. Last week, the European Commission said no new approvals of genetically engineered Bt corn varieties would be granted until environmental and health concerns had been assessed further.

"The rest of the world is taking responsible precautionary measures before releasing these untested crops into the environment," said Margulis. "The EPA should not have allowed millions of acres of these crops to be released without knowing more about their impact. We call on the EPA to take immediate action before it is really too late."