RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Environmental groups and lawmakers vowed Friday to seek immediate court injunctions blocking the Brazilian government's decision to allow the planting of genetically modified soybeans sold by U.S. biotechnology giant Monsanto Inc.

After three days of delay and self-described soul searching, Vice President Jose Alencar signed a provisional measure late Thursday night approving the soybeans for the 2003-2004 growing season. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was traveling abroad and left the tough decision to Alencar.

Brazil is the world's second-largest soybean producer, behind the United States. Farmers in North America and Argentina enjoy cost savings from modified soybeans because they need less pesticide and fertilizer.

St. Louis-based Monsanto makes the seeds, called Roundup Ready, by adding a protein that makes them less sensitive to glyphosphate, an active ingredient in the company's Roundup herbicide.

Although Roundup Ready seeds have been banned in Brazil, for the past eight years many farmers in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul have planted them anyway. They were threatening to continue to defy the ban if the government didn't yield.

Environment Minister Marina Silva, who opposed the modified seeds, burst into tears this week when it was evident she'd lost out to the farm lobby and Agriculture Minister Roberto Rodrigues.

The environmental group Greenpeace wants more studies of the seeds' potential health and ecosystem effects and warned Friday that the matter is far from settled.

"Farmers should be careful about planting because this question has not been resolved," said Tatiana Carvalho, head of Greenpeace's genetic engineering resistance campaign in Brazil. "The danger is that this opens the door for other genetically modified seeds (like cotton and corn) to come into the country."

Greenpeace lawyers plan to seek a court injunction, as does Brazil's Green Party, which is filing a constitutional challenge that, if accepted, puts the matter immediately before the Supreme Tribunal, Brazil's highest court. A decision could be reached within a week, before many farmers begin planting.

"What determined this government measure is that gene-modified seeds are already being planted," said former Environment Minister Jose Sarney Filho. He said da Silva, who as a candidate pledged to maintain the ban on gene-modified seeds, is breaking the law to accommodate farmers who have been using contraband seeds from neighboring Argentina.

"There are two illegalities here," he said.

To monitor seed supplies, Thursday's provisional measure requires farmers who use gene-modified seeds to sign a registry and provide details about the storage, transport and acreage of their crops.

Some in Brazil's government fear a poorly regulated liberalization could actually hurt vital soy exports. Europe, along with China, is a top importer of soy products, but consumers there generally oppose genetically engineered foods. Importers may be reluctant to buy Brazilian soy if it becomes hard to distinguish between its gene-modified and unmodified soybeans.

Copyright 2003 Knight-Ridder

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