Aventis criticised by Government barrister

GM seed company Aventis was given a sharp warning that its application to have the GM maize Chardon LL added to the National Seed List was likely to fail if it continued to refuse to give evidence at a public hearing into the proposal.

Alun Alesbury, the senior barrister chairing the public hearing told Aventis' legal team that he had now had time to think about the, "situation produced by Aventis' double announcement," that they wouldn't supply witnesses to support the application or participate in the cross-examination of witnesses.

Alesbury said: "The Friends of the Earth representation contains a considerable number of questions in relation to the soundness of any potential decision to add Chardon LL to the national list, which as a straightforward matter of fact are in no way at all answered in the Aventis written representations."

He continued: "Unless Ministers are persuaded that all points are irrelevant, how can they [Aventis] conceive that Ministers can make a decision favourable to their application".

"Aventis has treated this hearing with cynical disdain. If it refuses to take a proper part it must take the consequences. It must now change its stance or withdraw its application for listing," said Friends of the Earth Legal Advisor, Peter Roderick. "Aventis' behaviour at these vital hearings is a perfect example of how the biotech companies have behaved throughout the GM debate. They claim that their opponents are irrational. Yet when given the chance to defend their position in public, they show themselves arrogant, secretive, contemptuous of rational argument, and uninterested in public opinion."

Transcripts of the hearing can be found at: www.maff.gov.uk/planth/pvs/chardon/index.htm