In a victory for Monsanto, Syngenta and other seed companies farming in Hawaii, a federal appeals court ruled that counties can’t regulate pesticide use or GMO crops, says Civil Beat. “The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded Friday that Hawaii state pesticide law is comprehensive, and that the Legislature intended it to be ‘uniform and exclusive of additional, local rules,’” says the Beat. “That means county ordinances governing agriculture that were overturned by a federal judge in 2014 and 2015 will not go into effect.”
Those ordinances include a law in Kauai, “which would have required large companies to disclose what pesticides they apply and where, as well as abide by buffer zones; a law on the Big Island banning new genetically modified crops; and a voter initiative in Maui County that sought to impose a moratorium on genetically engineered farming,” says the Beat.
Bennette Misalucha, who heads the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association, the local trade group for seed companies, said the ruling stands up “for science and for supporting continued innovation in agriculture.”
Monsanto has argued that any moratorium on GMOs would hurt the 1,000 people employed by the company on the islands. Syngenta promised to continue to voluntarily report its pesticide use.
“Attorney George Kimbrell from the Center for Food Safety, which defended the county regulations, called the rulings on state preemption disappointing. He said the organization is still analyzing the decisions and considering its legal options,” said Civil Beat.
Going forward Hawaiian activists are expected to focus on state and federal legislation, rather than trying to fight seed companies on the county level.
The vast majority of seed corn in the U.S. is grown in Hawaii, where, unlike California, the state does not require companies to report what pesticides they use, where they use them, or in what quantities.