washington

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) learned last week that a coalition of consumers, environmentalists and organic farmers intends to sue it for allowing the planting of crops genetically engineered to produce an insecticidal toxin made by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) a soil bacterium.

Thirty signatories filed a petition with the EPA demanding that it revoke 11 registrations it has issued to five companies to plant modified corn, cotton and potatoes. The petition also asks the agency to cease granting such permissions, and to complete a statement analysing the environmental impact of Bt crops approved so far.

The petitioners claim that commercial planting of the crops threatens to create widespread resistance to Bt toxin, which is heavily relied on by organic farmers.

Al Heier, an EPA spokesman, said the agency “will consider the petition very seriously”. But he argued that the EPA won approval from a panel of outside scientists before agreeing to register the first Bt crop in 1995.