IBAMA, the enforcement arm of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, issuedan order today (21 March) against Syngenta, fining the company one million reais(386,000 euros) for illegal field trials of GE soy in a buffer zone around theIguacu Falls World Heritage Site. IBAMA made the announcement at the ongoingmeeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity taking place in Curitiba, Brazil. National law in Brazil expressly prohibits the planting of GMOs inconservation areas as well as buffer zones around those areas, based on thePrecautionary Principle. Syngenta`s GE soy field trials were found sixkilometers from the park, however national law requires a buffer zone of atleast ten kilometers.In their legal declaration today, IBAMA confirmed they would maintain a ban onthe planting of soy in this area. Additionally, they levied a fine of onemillion reais against the company, arguing that they considered seriously "the disrespectful attitude of Syngenta towards the Biosafety Law, which results in aserious threat to a protected ecosystem considered human patrimony under federallaw, and which has other consequences not yet clarified that could result in athreat to other crop production, organic production, and human, animal, plantand environmental health." Finally, IBAMA is directing its legal division toimmediately seek judicial authorization to destroy all the GE plants in theexperimental field.</p><p><a href="http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/35765/story.htm">Reuters: Syngenta Appeals Brazil Fine, Farm Still Occupied</a></p><p><a href="http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=11652">Dominican Today: Greenpeace reaction to Syngenta fine</a>