Incident details
| Region/Continent and country: |
| South America / Brazil |
| Category of incident: |
Illegal release
|
| What was contaminated: |
| Seed |
| GM organism involved: |
| Cotton |
| Year incident occurred: |
| 2006 |
|
| Route of contamination |
| Imported illegal seed |
|
|
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Brazil – Illegal Roundup Ready cotton grown on 16,000 hectares
Around 16,000 hectares (39,500 acres) of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready Flex cotton have been found growing illegally in Brazil. The GM cotton is tolerant to Monsanto’s herbicide, Roundup, but is not licensed for growing. The Brazilian National Biosecurity Commission (CTNBi0) has recommended that the fields of illegal GM cotton in the states of Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Bahia and Goias, be destroyed and that cotton should not be grown on the land in the following season. Fines and even imprisonment are possible and hearings are being conducted to determine what action should be taken.
Farmers are thought to have acquired the GM cotton seed from Paraguay and Argentina. One variety of GM insect resistant cotton can be grown legally in Brazil, although it was also grown illegally before approval was given.
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Further information
Brazil GMO crackdown seen leading to $30m in cotton losses.
Dow Jones News Service, June 23, 2006 >
Brazil may destroy black-market GMO cotton fields.
Reuters report, June 28, 2006 >
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