March 27, 2002 -- In Brazil, officials recently destroyed a portion of more than 55 metric tons of genetically modified soybeans. Confiscation of the soybeans
led to the arrest of at least 15 farmers in the soybean-producing states of Rio Grande do Sul and Parana, but the government offered
pretrial deals to those farmers who cooperated with authorities. Public prosecutor Paulo Mazzotti Girelli has recommended that charges
against eight farmers in Rio Grande do Sul be suspended.

Brazil's Seed Producers Association (Abrasem) says that more than half of the soy crop in Rio Grande do Sul, the country's third-largest
producer of soy, may be Roundup Ready soybeans smuggled across the border from Argentina.