THE HAGUE - The Council of State cancelled on Thursday seven permits granted to agribusiness firm Avanta to grow genetically modified (GM) colza or rape seed plants in the Netherlands in a major victory for the environmental group Greenpeace.

The council, the country’s highest appeals body, ruled that Advanta’s permits were not sufficiently specific about where the GM plants would be cultivated. It ruled that the potentially irreversible effects of GM organisms on the environment necessitates that the plants be grown in carefully chosen areas that are known to the public.

Advanta Seeds, a subsidiary of Advanta, announced on May 18 that it had accidentally mixed GM colza seeds in with normal seeds that had then been planted in France, Britain, Sweden and Germany. Greenpeace filed suit against Advanta Seeds and the German government on May 25, arguing that national and European law forbid any cultivation of GM organisms. Advanta is controled by the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Dutch cooperative
Cosun.  [Entered November 16, 2000]