Sugar Industry Biotech Council Statement

On October 8, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal, pending approval of the United States Solicitor General, of the court order issued on August 13, 2010, by Judge Jeffrey White of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in which the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS) original deregulation of Roundup Ready sugarbeets was vacated and remanded back to APHIS. Intervenor-Defendants, representing the nation's sugar beet farmers, processors, seed and technology providers, filed their notice of appeal on October 12, 2010. Sugarbeets are an important crop, planted on 1.2 million acres in the United States annually and supplying half of our nation's sugar. The value of sugar beet crops is critically important to rural communities and their economies. Biotech sugar beets planted on 95 percent of all sugar beet acreage have allowed growers to control weeds - one of their greatest challenges - in a more environmentally sustainable way. Visit www.sugarindustrybiotechcouncil.org