France has launched a move to restore a ban on genetically modified (GMO) maize annulled by its top court to prevent sowings this spring that could raise public outcry in a country strongly opposed to GMO crops. French anti-globalisation crusader Jose Bove raids against genetically-modified (GM) maize crops

Séralini’s team and CRIIGEN have just filed complaints of defamation against claims of “fraud” and “falsified data” that were respectively published in “Marianne” and “La Provence” by Jean-Claude Jaillette and Claude Allègre who is a member of the French association for plant biotechnologies (AFBV).

In 2013 Séralini’s team and CRIIGEN will launch other legal actions to force disclosure of hidden and poor quality toxicological data. To set an example, we are arranging the formal delivery of the raw data of our last study to a notary. We will make these public as soon as the regulatory agencies or Monsanto do the same for their data, or when governments consent to publish the industry data.

French seed maker Vilmorin & Cie SA has dropped plans to conduct field tests of genetically modified crops next year in its home market because debate over the technology remains too highly charged, the company said on Wednesday. Vilmorin, the world's fourth-largest seed group, had envisaged conducting field tests in France next spring, its finance director said, but had opted to suspend those plans. ”The political climate led us to put the question on hold for now,” Daniel Jacquemond said. ”We don't want to be provocative.”

The world's best-selling weedkiller, and a genetically modified maize resistant to it, can cause tumours, multiple organ damage and lead to premature death, new research published today reveals. In the first ever study to examine the long-term effects of Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller, or the NK603 Roundup-resistant GM maize also developed by Monsanto, scientists found that rats exposed to even the smallest amounts, developed mammary tumours and severe liver and kidney damage as early as four months in males, and seven months for females, compared with 23 and 14 months respectively for a control group.

French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll wants to keep the country’s moratorium on existing genetically-modified crops, Le Monde said, citing an interview. Existing genetically-modified crops are “not satisfactory,” and bio-resistance to modified corn in the U.S. is “a real subject of concern,” Le Foll said, according to the daily. Le Foll said it’s necessary to remain open-minded about research into modified crops, Le Monde wrote.

French President François Hollande will face judicial problems over the ban on the cultivation of genetically modified plants, and this has widespread implications for science-based risk assessment in the EU, argue Marcel Kuntz, John Davison and Agnès E. Ricroch. [...] If this new French ban on MON810 cultivation is again overturned by judicial authorities, it remains to be seen whether the Hollande government will also produce its own ”parallel science” to prolong the ban.

French Agricultural Minister Bruno Le Maire imposed Friday a temporary ban on a genetically modified strain of maize made by US company Monsanto "to protect the environment". The French agriculture ministry said in a statement that the Monsanto maize strain MON 810 had been banned as a "precautionary measure". France's top administrative court in November overturned a government order banning French farmers from planting genetically modified crops from Monsanto. However, President Nicolas Sarkozy swiftly pledged to seek new legal measures after the French ruling as well as a similar decision by the European Court of Justice.

U.S. biotech firm Monsanto said on Tuesday it does not plan to sell its genetically modified maize MON810 in France this year, nor after, even though the country’s highest court overturned a 3-year ban in November. “Monsanto considers that favorable conditions for the sale of the MON810 in France in 2012 and beyond are not in place,” the company said in a statement, adding that it had told the French authorities about its intentions.

The French government said on Friday it would uphold its ban on a strain of genetically modified maize developed by U.S. biotech firm Monsanto in 2012, even though France’s highest court overturned the moratorium last year. The ecology and agriculture ministers said in a statement they would maintain the ban on MON810, an insect-resistant strain of maize which is sold in several European countries, after meeting with farming groups.

France’s highest court on Monday overturned France’s ban on growing a strain of genetically modified maize (corn) developed by U.S. biotech firm Monsanto, saying it was not sufficiently justified. The decision follows a ruling by the European Court of Justice in early September saying France had based its decision to impose a moratorium on the growing of Monsanto’s insect-resistant MON810 maize on the wrong EU legislation. Suspension or banning measures ought to be taken at European Union level unless a member state can demonstrate a potentially serious risk to human or animal health or the environment, the courts said.