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May, 2004 - Legal proceedings were initiated in August 2002 by the Trustees of the Biowatch Trust against the Registrar of Genetic Resources, the Executive Counsel for the Genetically Modified Organisms and the Minister of Agriculture requesting access to vast amounts of information held by the Registrar. The request for information was framed in the broadest terms and included, amongst others, a request for all recorded information held by the State relating to the development, production, use and application of genetically modified organisms. The requested information includes the confidential proprietary information, trade secrets, and scientific and technical information of a number of parties involved in the GMO industry.
Prior to becoming involved in the legal proceedings, Monsanto's legal representatives wrote to Biowatch's attorneys inviting them to set out the specific information they required pertaining to Monsanto, so that their request could be meaningfully dealt with. Biowatch's response to that invitation was to the effect that they were not in a position to be more specific about the particular information which they sought.
Consequently, it became necessary for Monsanto to intervene in the legal proceedings instituted by Biowatch, which intervention was made with the consent of all of the parties involved. Other parties in a similar position to Monsanto have subsequently also intervened in the proceedings instituted by Biowatch in order to protect against the disclosure of their confidential information.
The application was heard on 24 and 25 May 2004 by the Honourable Judge Dunn. At the hearing, Biowatch's legal representatives conceded that the request for information was overbroad in various respects and did not persist with their request for access to all of the information which they had originally sought, but instead presented the court with an amended order in which the information they had originally sought was limited in a number of material respects. Judgment was reserved by the Court and will be handed down in due course.
Monsanto has never sought to prevent the disclosure of relevant information to interested parties, but only to protect its own rights in respect of its own confidential information. For this reason, Monsanto has not opposed the granting of an order directing the Registrar of Genetic Resources to make relevant (non-confidential) information available to the Biowatch Trust, provided Monsanto's rights to the protection of its confidential information are adequately protected.
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