GMO Information Disclosure Case Ends with Ministry of Agriculture Winning
According to Xinhua News Agency, on April 7, the case of lawyer Huang Leping suing the Ministry of Agriculture over government information disclosure was pronounced at first instance by the Beijing No. 3 Intermediate People's Court. The Beijing No. 3 Intermediate People's Court dismissed Huang Leping's litigation requests at first instance, and Huang Leping stated in court that he would appeal.
The court held that, according to the relevant provisions of Article 2 of the Regulations on the Disclosure of Government Information, government information should have the characteristics of being authority-based and carrier-based, that is, government information should be information that already exists, is objectively held by an administrative organ with administrative authority, and is reflected through a specific carrier.
After trial, the court held that the Ministry of Agriculture only has administrative authority for the safety approval of agricultural genetically modified organisms, and has no approval authority over the "quantity of imports of agricultural genetically modified organisms" that Huang Leping applied to have disclosed. As for the contents Huang Leping applied to have disclosed, including "the reasons why the Ministry of Agriculture has not approved the commercial cultivation of genetically modified food crops, whether it plans to conduct commercial cultivation of genetically modified food crops in China, and whether there are specific plans and the contents of the plans," "the measures already taken and planned to be taken to protect domestic agriculture and farmers' interests from the impact of imported genetically modified agricultural products, and what figures can explain this," and "the implementation of the labeling system for agricultural genetically modified organisms, what supervision work has been carried out, and the circumstances of penalties for violations," these are not objectively existing information and do not meet the characteristic requirements of "government information" as stipulated in the Regulations on the Disclosure of Government Information. Therefore, Huang Leping's litigation requests were dismissed at first instance.
The Ministry of Agriculture believed that the reasons for not replying were, first, that it was a matter of government consultation, and second, that it did not fall within the scope of government information disclosure. Government information disclosure must meet three conditions: first, the information objectively exists; second, the information belongs to government information; third, the information does not need to be collected, summarized, processed, or analyzed by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Huang Leping believed that the Ministry of Agriculture's reply method regarding "government consultation" lacked a legal basis. For information that does not exist or is uncertain, the Ministry of Agriculture should reply in accordance with the above provisions that the information does not exist, or that an application must be made to another department for disclosure, and cannot refuse disclosure on the grounds that it belongs to "government consultation." For matters that do not fall within government information disclosure, specific reasons must also be explained.
■ Timeline of lawyer Huang Leping's lawsuit against the Ministry of Agriculture
◎ On June 25, 2013, Huang Leping, a lawyer at Beijing Yixian Law Firm, wrote to the Ministry of Agriculture, applying to disclose relevant information and data on the import of genetically modified organisms, including the quantity of imports of agricultural genetically modified organisms, the plan for commercial cultivation of agricultural genetically modified organisms, measures to protect domestic agriculture, and the implementation of the labeling system for genetically modified organisms.
◎ On July 15, 2013, the Ministry of Agriculture issued the "Letter of Reply on Huang Leping's Application for Government Information Disclosure." In this letter, the Ministry of Agriculture disclosed information including the types of approved agricultural genetically modified organisms, labeling management, and safety evaluation materials for three types of genetically modified soybeans. As for the other matters applied to be disclosed, the Ministry of Agriculture said they belonged to consultation on relevant issues and did not fall within the scope of government information disclosure. Huang Leping then applied to the Ministry of Agriculture for administrative reconsideration, and on October 17 received the "Decision of the Ministry of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China on Rejecting the Application for Administrative Reconsideration of Genetically Modified Information Disclosure."
◎ On November 4, 2013, because he was dissatisfied with the Ministry of Agriculture's decision rejecting the application for administrative reconsideration of genetically modified information disclosure, Huang Leping formally filed an administrative lawsuit with the Beijing No. 3 Intermediate People's Court.
◎ On February 13, 2015, the administrative lawsuit filed by Huang Leping against the Ministry of Agriculture over genetically modified government information disclosure was heard at first instance in the Beijing No. 3 Intermediate People's Court.
■ Expert views
The government should make
a disclosure catalog
He Haibo, a professor at Tsinghua University School of Law, believed that the government should make a disclosure catalog so that the public knows what can be applied to be disclosed, but the relevant catalogs are currently not complete enough. Government information that should be proactively disclosed should be released to the public in the form of a list, as the minimum requirement for each administrative organ to disclose relevant information, and should be dynamically updated according to revisions and improvements in laws and regulations and the needs of social development.
According to Xinhua News Agency