This year 2000 hectares in seven federal states were under inspection by the Lower Saxony ministry of the environment, after authorities discovered GM maize NK603, a variety not allowed in Europe. Although seed impurities were a known threat, and companies removed these varieties at once, Lower Saxony reported the contamination too late, and farmers began planting the seeds. The company that sold the seeds, Pioneer Hi-Bred, denies the impurity. At the same time, the company is working with the German Plant Breeders Association to repeal the No Tolerance for seed impurity and set new limitations. These companies wish to maintain a universal threshold level in GM and non-GM seeds, in which case there will be no way to tell the difference between approved and non-approved seed.

Pioneer controls a third of the German market for maize seed. Greenpeace and Bioland exposed the case and demanded the upheaval of these areas of land and proper compensation for farmers. These demands have now been arranged for all affected states in Germany. All those involved will need to be more responsible in every affected area. The authorities will begin to focus testing on imported seed lots, which seem to be the probable cause. Fortunately all the seed lots have been tested in this case before being sent to commercial circulation.