[JURIST] Scotland banned the growing [press release] of Genetically Modified (GM) crops in an effort to preserve its “clean, green status” announced Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead [official profile] on Sunday. The government seeks to use the recent European Union (EU) [official website] rules [EPN report, JURIST report] which allowed countries to “opt-out” of growing crops authorized by the EU. Lochhead stated that there is “no evidence of significant demand” for GM crops and their ban will only help to protect Scotland’s “clean and green brand.” He also stated that to allow GM crops to be grown in the country could be a gamble with the nation’s “£14 billion food and drink sector” due to possibly significant consumer backlash.

The recent prevalence of GMO crops has been a point of contention [JURIST report] in courts around the world. In November voters in Colorado rejected [JURIST report] a GMO labeling measure. In May Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed a bill [JURIST report] requiring the labeling of food containing GMOs. In February US President Barack Obama [official profile] signed into law [press release] a $956 billion farm bill [text, PDF] providing expanded crop insurance and other benefits for the agricultural sector and also requiring changes in food labeling. In May 2013 the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously [JURIST report] in Bowman v. Monsanto [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that a farmer who buys patented seeds may not reproduce them through planting and harvesting without the patent holder’s permission, even though the seeds are altered to self-replicate. In March 2011 the European Court of Justice declared [JURIST report] that a ban on cultivating GMO crops is illegal after France attempted to prohibit the production of a strain of genetically modified maize developed by Monsanto in 2008. In December 2010 a US federal judge ordered the destruction [JURIST report] of a crop of genetically engineered sugar beets due to its potential harmful effect on surrounding flora.