Environment

• Author: International Law Group

On January 22, 1999, the French Ministry of Agriculture put out a ban on the use of Bayer's "Gaucho" pesticide wherever sunflowers grew. Bee farmers had complained to the government that the rampant use of Gaucho on sunflower crops had caused a serious reduction in the size of honeybee swarms.

Supporting the bee raisers, environmentalists pointed out that bees died after feeding on sunflowers whose seeds the growers had treated with Gaucho. Imidaproclid is the controversial active ingredient not only in Gaucho but also in other crop control products marketed worldwide, such as "Admire" and "Provado." The Ministry's ban was to gain time to scientifically determine the actual effect of the chemical on French honey bees. Several large agro-industrial producers of sunflower seeds such as Societe Force Limagrain S.A., Monsanto and Novartis joined Bayer in challenging the ban in court. Eventually they ended up in the Conseil d'Etat, the highest tribunal in matters involving French governmental and administrative actions.

The parties contended that...