Sachsen-Anhalt, one of Germany's 16 states, yesterday (April 12) filed a lawsuit at the country's highest court against national regulations governing genetically modified (GM) crops.
The suit brought to the Federal Constitutional Court argues that the law discriminates against farmers who want to grow approved GM crops and constrains scientific work in an intolerable manner, said Horst Rehberger, minister for economics and labor in Sachsen-Anhalt.
"The GM law is inconsistent with basic laws such as the Freedom of Profession, the Freedom of Science, the Protection of Property and the general principle of equality," Rehberger told reporters in Berlin. Rehberger is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP). The GM law, he said, "far exceeds EU regulatory requirements."
The law has been in force since the beginning of the year, but has been widely criticized for clauses that hold planters of GM crops liable for economic damage to nearby fields. ...
