Monsanto, once an elegant family name, is nowadays a synonym of aggressive business strategies, malicious lobbying practices, seed commercialization, forceful litigation and questionable licensing agreements. All of the above made Monsanto a target of alter-globalization movement and environment activists.
Based on my observations, Monsanto remains relatively unknown to an average urban dweller in Europe. Hence, I will try to introduce the main facts and controversies concerning this leading multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation.
Briefly about Monsanto
Main products
1) GE (genetically engineered) seeds which are specifically genetically modified to make them resistant to Monsanto produced agricultural chemicals, such as "Round Up" herbicide.
2) Plant biotechnology traits
3) Crop protection chemicals - including globally used herbicide RoundUp
rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) - synthetic hormone injected into cows to increase milk production.
Globally Monsanto employs 21,035 staff in 66 countries.
Legal issues
Monsanto is notable for its involvement in high profile lawsuits, as both plaintiff and defendant. It has been involved in a number of suits, where fines and damages have run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, usually over health issues related to its products. Monsanto has received media coverage for its alleged unfair suing of farmers, highlighted in the documentary The World According to Monsanto.
Environmental record
Monsanto has been identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as being a "potentially responsible party" for 56 contaminated sites in the United States. Monsanto has been sued, and has settled, multiple times for damaging the health of its employees or residents near its those sites through pollution and poisoning.
Lobbying
The company spent $8,831,120 for lobbying in 2008.
Public officials formerly employed by Monsanto
- Justice Clarence Thomas worked as an attorney for Monsanto in the 1970s. Thomas wrote the majority opinion in the 2001 Supreme Court decision J. E. M. AG SUPPLY, INC. V. PIONEER HI-BRED INTERNATIONAL, INC. which found that "newly developed plant breeds are patentable under the general utility patent laws of the United States." This case benefited all companies which profit from genetically modified crops, of which Monsanto is the largest.
- Michael R. Taylor was an assistant to the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) commissioner before he left to work for a law firm on gaining FDA approval of Monsanto’s artificial growth hormone in the 1980s. Taylor then became deputy commissioner of the FDA from 1991 to 1994. Taylor was later re-appointed to the FDA in August 2009 by President Barack Obama.
- Dr. Michael A. Friedman was a deputy commissioner of the FDA before he was hired as a senior vice president of Monsanto.
- Linda J. Fisher was an assistant administrator at the US Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) before she was a vice president at Monsanto from 1995 to 2000. In 2001, Fisher became the deputy administrator of the EPA.
Intimidation
Since the mid-1990s, Monsanto has sued approx.150 individual US farmers for patent infringement in connection with its genetically engineered seed. The usual claim involves violation of a technology agreement that prohibits farmers from saving seed from one season's crop to plant the next, a common farming practice. The common practice employed by Monsanto is intimidation of farmers who often out of fear rather than anything else succumb to Monsanto's pressure in making a settlement.
However, there are success stories of farmers who had sufficient strength and resilience to confront Monsanto. One of them is Percy Schmeiser, a Canadian farmer who was accused by Monsanto of patent infringement. He eventually won the lawsuit against Monsanto.
The film based on Percy Schmeiser story by Bertram Verhaag 'DAVID VERSUS MONSANTO'.
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