FRENCH PEASANT FARMERS ARE AT IT AGAIN
Confederation Paysanne, one of France's rare left-wing farm unions, swooped in on a test site belonging to Monsanto in southern France & ripped up showcase crops of maize and soya. They said their action had disrupted a Monsanto "open day" designed to increase public support for genetic engineering.

French environmentalists widened a campaign against gene crops after Prime Minister Lionel Jospin last month approved the sale of two kinds of gene-modified maize, including one developed by Monsanto. Under European Union rules, Jospin's decision opened the door to imports to the rest of the EU and Thursday's report coincided with fresh shipments of U.S. gene corn to Spain.

Consumer concerns about GM organisms (GMO) must not be brushed aside because scientists have approved such products, the head of an international farming organisation said. "Whether consumers are right or wrong, in the end it makes no difference to the farmer if they will not buy our products,"said the chairman of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP).