GM Directors Warned over Legal Liability19 July 1999
Directors of companies involved in producing and selling genetically-modified (GM) food and crops have been warned that they may face personal legal liability for any damage their products cause to human health or the environment.
The stark warning came in letters to more than 200 company directors from Charles Secrett, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth (FOE). Companies whose directors have been written to include Monsanto, AgrEvo, Novartis, Zeneca, and Plant Breeding International. Letters have also gone to directors and chief executives of institutes involved in GM development, including the John Innes Centre.
The letters state that: "It is Friends of the Earth's considered view that in addition to [the] company, [directors] personally should be legally liable if damage is caused by the release of GMOs. In our view you should not be able to hide behind a corporate veil in this respect.... We are also advised that you would incur civil liability at common law if you have personally authorised, directed or procured the commission of a civil wrong, even though you may not be aware that the acts so authorised were actionable.... We will make this letter available to anybody who might wish to bring legal proceedings at any time in the future against you as a result of any damage they or the environment may suffer as a result of the release of GMOs by your company... as evidence that you have been put on notice of your potential liability."
FOE is already receiving outraged replies to its letter from GM company directors, who are clearly shaken by the prospect of liability ending up at their front door.
The law on liability for the release of GMOs is not clear. One result is that insurance companies are facing serious problems in designing policies to cover companies involved in GM food and crops. The UK Government has asked the European Commission to consider developing a liability regime to cover the release and marketing of GMOs. But at present in the UK, liability for environmental damage is covered by the normal rules of tort law, and there have not yet been any cases to determine how these rules should apply to GMOs.
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