Pesticide company's legal bid to keep toxic secrets 15 May 2002
Campaigners dressed in chemical suits and pollution masks and carrying chemical spray packs marked top secret were outside the High Court protesting against chemical company Aventis' attempt to keep safety data on one of its pesticides secret.
The High Court in London was hearing a legal bid from the biotech industry to stop the Government releasing pesticide safety data to Friends of the Earth about the dangers posed by the weed killer glufosinate ammonium.
The judicial review is being brought jointly by biotech company Aventis, and pesticides industry trade association, the Crop Protection Association. The case was brought after Friends of the Earth asked the UK Government in 2000 for safety information relating to the weedkiller glufosinate ammonium which had been supplied by Aventis to back its application for the chemical to be sprayed on winter trials of its GM oilseed rape. Use of the chemical had previously been banned during winter months because Government advisors were worried about its potential to wash from the soil in heavier winter rains.
The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs agreed to release the information to Friends of the Earth in 2001 under the Environmental Information Regulations at which point Aventis and the Crop Protection Association instigated legal action to prevent it doing so.
"People have a right to know about the possible effects of chemicals being sprayed on their food and used in their homes. But the chemical industry doesn't believe in openness and has gone to the courts to try and force the Government to keep the safety data secret. Forcing companies to come clean about the impacts of the products they make will be good for democracy, good for our health and good for the environment," said Friends of the Earth's legal adviser Phil Michaels.
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