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Re: [SANET-MG] Legal basis for protection and avoidance of liability



Hi Mary and Klaus,
You made some good and important points.
In the Saskatchewan canola case the court pointed out that no matter where the GM canola came from, Monsanto should be paid . Percy never used roundup on the Canaola in his field but Monsanto demanded and won payment.Currently, the main threat to farmers is from Monsanto who demands payment after polluting the organic farmer's fields. North American courts seem to have a block against dealing fairly with GM pollution of organic crops. From the standpoint of genetic CSI it is fairly easy to distinguish between immediate pollen pollution (trans genes only in embryo and endosperm of grain) and seed pollution leading to whole plant contamination. The origin of the trans gene and its genetic background can be determined at reasonable cost for a legal hearing.Fixing damages for a crop rejected for export should as well be fairly straight forward.However, in the end the US and Canadian Courts seem to prefer corporations over fundamental justice. Finally, organic farmers should be avoiding use of trucks and machinery shared with GM producers. To allow that contact courts pollution of the organic crop.
sincerely,joe
Mary-Howell and Klaas Martens wrote:
Joe and Dale,

It would be legally very hard for a farmer to win a GM contamination suit in
many cases because the actual source and method of contamination is very
hard to determine.  When a sample tests too  contaminated to sell, how can
we 'prove' that the contamination was from seed, pollen drift, mixing in the
combine, mixing in a grain buggy, uncleaned corn planter hoppers, or even a
truck that had not been swept out before loading?

Few farmers take even the easy straight forward precautions against
contamination that they could and should be taking.  Any farmer who wants to
grow non-GMO crops should at very least ask for a GM test on any seed they
buy before they plant it.  Many seed companies are willing to either pay for
or share the cost of GM-testing seed if it is requested.

No matter how unfair it seems, we farmers have to take responsibility for
doing everything we can to prevent contamination before we can hold anyone
else liable for it.  We owe that much to our customers if we represent our
crops as being non-GM.  We don't stand a chance of holding someone else
liable for contamination unless we make an honest effort to prevent it and
can prove that we did so.

Klaas and Mary-Howell Martens

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