Seed companies Monsanto and Dow filed suit in U.S. District Court in Honolulu to overturn a voter-approved moratorium on genetically engineered crops in Maui County, Hawaii, said the Maui Times. The lawsuit came one day after the SHAKA Movement, which led a petition drive to put the GE ban on the ballot, filed suit to force speedy implementation of the moratorium. The voter initiative bars cultivation of GE crops until a study shows they are safe.
The Maui Times quoted a Monsanto executive, John Purcell, as saying, “This local referendum interferes with and conflicts with long-established state and federal laws that support both the safety and lawful cultivation of GMO plants. For this reason, we believe it is invalid and should never become law. We have full confidence in the merits of our legal claims and that a rational outcome will block the referendum from taking effect.”