According to Jeff Tate, a plant physiologist at the University of Minnesota and a spokesman for the Minnesota Biotechnology Association, activists opposed to biotechnology were heavily involved in the development of the Minnesota rules, written to codify biotech legislation passed over the past two years. Tate says these activists could erect barriers to field testing of transgenic plants by petitioning for public hearings on each permit application and by instituting negative publicity campaigns.
By contrast, in North Carolina--the only other state with such sweeping regulations--the state biotech- nology council claims that researchers have fared well under North Carolina's two-year- old permit process, which was developed in a probiotechnology environment.
Richard Zink, who as assistant director of the plant industry division at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture will administer the permit process, says, "There's no doubt that environmental groups have targeted Minnesota with this issue." Tate says the targeting includes outbursts ...
