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Ruling on legal challenge against the Food Standards Agency
23 February 2007
A High Court Judge ruled on Friends of the Earths legal challenge against the Food Standards Agency over illegal GM rice in the food chain today (22 February) [1].
Whilst the Judge did not find that the FSA had acted unlawfully he highlighted a number of mistakes the Agency had made in dealing with the emergency. These include its decision not to issue a food alert and the late provision of advice to local authorities. The Judge also said that public authorities such as the FSA should be allowed to make mistakes without attracting legal sanction. The FSA committed to carrying out an internal review of how they handled the GM emergency and to take on board the criticisms of the judge.
Friends of the Earth GM Campaigner, Clare Oxborrow said:
"Whilst we are disappointed that the Judge did not find the Food Standards Agency had acted unlawfully we are pleased that he recognised that it had made a number of mistakes in its handling of the GM rice contamination emergency. These mistakes meant that local authorities, the public and retailers were not given information about which rice products were found to be contaminated with illegal GM ingredients. The FSA has promised to carry out an internal review of this incident. It must make sure that this review is open and honest and that the mistakes made are not repeated in the future."
Notes
[1] For background information see the media briefing.
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
