Facts
On December 20, 1996, the Federal Office of Public Health authorized food products derived from glyphosate-tolerant soy (GTS) at the request of Monsanto (Suisse) SA. Several natural and legal persons then appealed to the Federal Department of the Interior, which, however, did not enter into the complaint due to the lack of standing of the complainants. Subsequently, Ruth Gonseth, Simonetta Sommaruga, Herbert Karch, Christine Lerf, the company Soyana (Walter Dänzer), the Association of Swiss Reform and Diet Specialty Stores (biona), Reformhaus Müller AG, and Roth Käse AG filed an administrative court appeal with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the appeal, insofar as it enters into it. It finds that the standing to appeal under Art. 48 lit. a of the Administrative Procedure Act is to be assessed according to objective criteria and requires a special, noteworthy, close relationship to the subject matter of the dispute. Such a relationship does not exist for consumers who file a complaint against a food law authorization decision for ideological reasons and are not more affected by it than the general public. Nor do "organic" producers and distributors of corresponding articles who want to defend themselves against competing products have the required proximity.
The Federal Supreme Court also denies that Art. 6 of the ECHR…