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STATE BACKS OAKHURST IN SUIT
August 27, 2003
AUGUST 27, 2003
CHARLES DOW, DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATIONS & LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, 207-626-8577
Attorney General Steven Rowe today announced that he has filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Boston in support of Oakhurst Dairy in the case brought against Oakhurst by Monsanto Company. The filing describes the State’s strong interest in the outcome of the case and its interest in having the case transferred to the U.S. District Court in Maine. Monsanto seeks to bar Oakhurst, a commercial dairy with headquarters in Portland and 70% of its sales in Maine, from advertising that its milk is produced without the use of the bovine growth hormone known as rBST.
Today’s filing asserts that Monsanto’s suit places at risk both Maine’s Quality Trademark program for milk and the rights of Maine consumers to make informed choices in the retail market for milk.
Rowe stated, “Maine people want to know what goes into making their milk. That is why the legislature adopted the Quality Trademark program. We can see no good legal reason for forcing a dairy to keep secret the fact that its milk comes from cows free of artificial growth hormones.”
View the documents filed in court by clicking: http://www.maine.gov/ag/dynld/documents/OAKHURST.pdf
