Team4: Gaucho: Judgement of the Regional Court of Châteauroux
Version du procès sur le site de bayer
On 24th June 2003, the Regional Court of Châteauroux delivered its judgment following the complaint of defamation lodged by the company Bayer in August 2001 against Mr. Maurice Mary, the beekeeper.
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Beyond this court decision, Bayer hopes that research into the causes of the diminishing number of bees in France can peacefully continue with the active participation of parties concerned by this case, namely using the multifactorial investigation in process and the implementation of observation zones announced in January by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Gaucho: Judgement of the Regional Court of Châteauroux
On 24th June 2003, the Regional Court of Châteauroux delivered its judgment following the complaint of defamation lodged by the company Bayer in August 2001 against Mr. Maurice Mary, the beekeeper.
On several occasions, the latter made accusations to the media about Gaucho®, a seed treatment product marketed by Bayer CropScience, which he blamed for being the cause of the bee mortality which has been observed in France for several years.
In its judgment, the Regional Court of Châteauroux:
- found inadmissible the action taken by voluntary intervention organisations,
- re-qualified as libel the civil liability action undertaken by the company Bayer,
- rejected the counter claims for damages pursued by Mr. Maurice Mary, but requested that the company Bayer pay the latter 2,000 €uros for legal fees.
- Rejected the requests to publish the judgment expressed by My. Maurice Mary.
This judgment therefore on no account challenges the product Gaucho® which conforms with the particularly stringent registration standards required by the French and European authorities.
Gaucho® is today approved in 120 countries for use on 140 crops.
Bayer CropScience reiterates that there has been no study to date which has demonstrated a link between the use of Gaucho® and the problems observed by beekeepers on their bees.
With regard to this, Bayer CropScience highlights that during a convention gathering beekeepers from several European countries which took place on 28th May 2003 in Basle in Switzerland the beekeepers in question exonerated imidacloprid, the active ingredient in Gaucho® from blame and confirmed that the depopulation of apiaries could namely be put down to the infestation of pests, such as varroa mites, the spread of viruses and belated honey production.
Beyond this court decision, Bayer hopes that research into the causes of the diminishing number of bees in France can peacefully continue with the active participation of parties concerned by this case, namely using the multifactorial investigation in process and the implementation of observation zones announced in January by the Ministry of Agriculture.