Biotech giant clams up at GM Seed List Hearing

At today's National Seed List Hearing Friends of the Earth Legal Advisor, Peter Roderick attacked Aventis - the seed company seeking Chardon LL's addition to the National Seed List - for refusing to provide witnesses for cross-examination at the Hearing.

"It is hugely ironic that it is those of us who have been accused of being unscientific and hysterical who are prepared to expose our arguments to careful questioning and structured examination: whilst the first such opportunity for the biotech industry in this country to do the same is disdainfully flunked," added Roderick.

The public hearing, expected to last around 10 weeks, focuses on trials of Chardon LL, a GM fodder maize. This is the final legal hurdle before the seed can be added to the National Seed List and grown commercially in the UK.