Monsanto

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Monsanto

Monsanto Company () is a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. It is the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed as its flagship product, Roundup. Monsanto is also by far the leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed, holding 70%–100% market share for various crops. Agracetus, owned by Monsanto, exclusively produces Roundup Ready soybean seed for the commercial market. In March 2005, it finalized the purchase of Seminis Inc, making it also the largest conventional seed company in the world. It has over 15,000 employees worldwide, and an annual revenue of US$5.4 billion reported for August 2004.

Monsanto's development and marketing of genetically engineered seed and bovine growth hormone, as well as its aggressive legal and lobby practices have made the company a primary target of the anti-globalization movement and environmental activists. While other chemical and biotech multinationals face similar criticisms, Monsanto is easily the most reviled. Some activists have referred to Monsanto's products as frankenfoods, and its most vehement opponents refer to Monsanto as "Monsatan". It is often referred to while mentioning Corporate terrorism. This designation has been both criticized and promoted by some in the scientific community.

History

Monsanto was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1901, by John Francis Queeny, a 30-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry. He funded the start-up with his own money and capital from a soft drink distributor, and gave the company his wife's maiden name.

Monsanto's first product was the artificial sweetener, saccharin, which it sold to the Coca-Cola Company. It also introduced caffeine and vanillin to Coca-Cola, and became one of that company's main suppliers. In the 1920s, Monsanto expanded into basic industrial chemicals like sulfuric acid.

In 1928, Queeny's son Edgar Monsanto Queeny took over the company.

In the 1940s, it became a leading manufacturer of plastics, including polystyrene, and synthetic fibers. Since then, it remained one of the top 10 US chemical companies. Other major products have included dioxin (in the herbicides 2,4,5-T and Agent Orange), aspartame (NutraSweet), bovine somatotropin (bovine growth hormone; BST), and PCBs.

In the 1940s, Monsanto operated Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Manhattan Project, the development of the first nuclear weapons.

In 1947, an accidental explosion of ammonium nitrate fertilizer loaded on the French ship S.S. Grandcamp was responsible for the Texas City Disaster in Galveston Bay. The explosion destroyed an adjacent Monsanto styrene manufacturing plant, along with much of the port. It is considered the largest industrial accident in US history, with the highest death toll.

In 1949, Monsanto acquires American Viscose from England's Courtauld family.

In 1954, Monsanto partnered with German chemical giant Bayer to form Mobay and market polyurethanes in the US.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Monsanto is the leading producer of Agent Orange for US Military operations in Vietnam.

In 1980, Monsanto established the Edgar Monsanto Queeny safety award ^* in honor of the former CEO (1928–1960), to encourage accident prevention.

In 1982, Monsanto scientists become the first to genetically modify a plant cell.

In 1987, Monsanto conducted the first field tests of genetically engineered crops.

Through a process of mergers and spin-offs between 1997 and 2002, Monsanto has made a transition from chemical giant to biotech giant.

In 1999, Monsanto sold their phenylalanine facilities to Great Lakes Chemical (GLC) for $125 million.

In 2000, GLC sued Monsanto for the $71 million dollar shortfall in expected sales.

In 2001, retired Monsanto chemist William S. Knowles was named a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation, which was carried out at Monsanto beginning in the 1960s until his 1986 retirement.

Throughout 2004 and 2005 Monsanto filed lawsuits against many small farmers in Canada and the U.S. The lawsuits have been on the grounds of patent laws, specifically the sale of crops containing Monsanto's patented genes as a result of wind carrying seeds from neighboring crops. The instances began in the mid to late 90s, with one of the most significant cases being ruled in favor of Monsanto by the Canadian Supreme Court. In late May of 2004, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of Monsanto, stating that "by cultivating a plant containing the patented gene and composed of the patented cells without licence, the appellants farmer Percy Schmeiser deprived the respondents of the full enjoyment of the monopoly." With this ruling, the Canadian courts follow the U.S. Supreme Court in its decision on patent issues involving plants and genes.

In February of 2005, Monsanto has filed patent claims on common breeding techniques for pigs which would grant the ownership of any pigs born of such techniques and their related herds. Patent have been filed in 160 nations.

Spin-offs and Mergers

Through a confusing series of transactions, the Monsanto that existed from 1901–2000 and the current Monsanto are legally two different corporations, although they share the same name, corporate headquarters, many of the same executives and other employees, and responsibility for liabilities arising out of its former activities in the industrial chemical business.

1985: Monsanto purchases G.D. Searle & Company. In this merger, Searle's aspartame business became a separate Monsanto subsidiary, the NutraSweet Company.

1997: Monsanto spins off its industrial chemical and fiber divisions into Solutia. This offloads the financial liability related to the PCB production and dumping of PCB's in the Illinois and Alabama plants.

1999: Monsanto auctioned off Nutrasweet Co. with two other companies.

2000: Monsanto merges with Pharmacia and Upjohn. Later in the year, Pharmacia forms a new subsidiary, also named Monsanto, for the agricultural divisions, and retains the medical research divisions, which includes products such as Celebrex.

2002: Pharmacia spins off its remaining interest in Monsanto, which has since existed as a separate company: the "new Monsanto". As part of the deal, Monsanto agrees to indemnify Pharmacia against any liabilities that might be incurred from judgements against Solutia. As a result, the new Monsanto continues to be a party to numerous lawsuits that relate to operations of the old Monsanto.

Propaganda and Influence

Over the last several decades Monsanto has transformed its corporate business from the exclusive manufacture of toxic chemicals including PCBs, Agent Orange, herbicides and pesticides to the world's largest seed owner. They have ushered in a new era of patent protected, genetically modified plants and GMO food. Monsanto's Round Up Ready crops dominate America and are spreading around the globe.

None of the success could have been possible without the cooperation of high level government officials and one of the most aggressive propaganda campaigns in modern history.

The tactics used and players involved include top lobbyists and officials in America and the UK. One of the earliest organizations dedicated to tracking and exposing these tactics is UK based GMWatch whose Biotech Brigade feature^* profiles the hidden players and campaigns which include several high profile scandals in government bribery and scientific fraud.

Sponsorships

Monsanto has been the corporate sponsor of many attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

At Disneyland they include:

Hall of Chemistry
Fashions and Fabrics through the Years
House of The Future
Adventure Thru Innerspace

And at Walt Disney World they included:

Magic Eye Theatre
Circle Vision 360

All attractions that the company has ever sponsored were located in Tomorrowland.

Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of Monsanto are: Frank V. AtLee III, John W. Bachmann, Hugh Grant, Gwendolyn S. King, Sharon R. Long, C. Steven McMillan, William U. Parfet, George H. Poste, and Robert J. Stevens. Charles Burson, who was Legal Counsel to Vice President Al Gore from 1997 to 2001, serves as the secretary to the board.

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 class action suits, where fines and damages have run into the hundreds of millions, usually over health issues related to its products. Monsanto has also made frequent use of the courts to defend its patents, particularly in the area of biotechnology.

As Defendant

In 1917, the US government filed suit against Monsanto over the safety of its original product, saccharin. Monsanto eventually won, after several years in court.

It was sued by veterans for the side effects of its Agent Orange defoliant, used by the US military in the Vietnam War.

In 2000, GLC sued Monsanto for the $71 million dollar shortfall in expected sales.

More recently, it lost a series of court decisions resulting in US$700 million in damages being awarded to thousands of residents of the town of Anniston, Alabama that had been polluted over a period of years by Monsanto's PCB byproducts. Though the PCB production was outlawed in 1976 Monsanto dragged the lawsuit out for nearly three decades. It was settled with the following judgement. On February 22, 2002, Monsanto was found guilty of ”negligence, wantonness, suppression of truth, nuisance, trespass, and outrage” Under Alabama law the rare claim of outrage requires “conduct so outrageous in character and extreme in degree as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency so as to be regarded as atrocious and intolerable in civilized society”. PCB history ^*

On October 13th, 2004, the European plant variety rights on a conventionally-bred strain of soft-milling wheat owned by French company RAGT Genetique were withdrawn at RAGT's request. The strain, called Galatea, was developed by Unilever and purchased by Monsanto in 1998; RAGT purchased the strain from Monsanto in May 2004 along with Monsanto's European wheat and barley business. Galatea is a cross between a European wheat strain and a conventional Indian variety Nap Hal. Greenpeace considers RAGT's withdrawal to represent a victory by Greenpeace over Monsanto and claim that they played a central role by proving that the variety in question was not the cross-bred strain described in the application but was really the traditional strain Nap Hal bred by Indian farmers, despite the contrary text of the application. RAGT says it withdrew its plant variety rights for commercial reasons and Greenpeace played no role in its decision.

Also in 2004, the world's largest agrichemical company, Switzerland's Syngenta, launched a US lawsuit charging Monsanto with using coercive tactics to monopolize markets. ^* There are several lawsuits going both ways between Monsanto and Syngenta.

As Plaintiff

Since the mid-1990s, it has sued some 150 US farmers for patent infringement in connection with its GE 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. One farmer received an eight-month prison sentence, in addition to having to pay damages, when a Monsanto case turned into a criminal prosecution. Monsanto reports that it pursues approximately 500 cases of suspected infringement annually.

In 2003, Monsanto sued Oakhurst Dairy in Maine for advertising that its milk products did not come from cows treated with its bovine growth hormone, claiming that such advertising hurt its business.

In a high profile case in Canada, Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser, went to the Supreme Court level, Monsanto sued an independent farmer, Percy Schmeiser, for patent infringement for growing genetically modified Roundup resistant canola. The case, begun in 1998, shaped up in the media as a classic David-and-Goliath confrontation, with Schmeiser as the wronged little guy, facing the implacable Big Corporation. Essentially, a part of Schmeiser's canola crop, grown from seed he had bred over many decades, was accidentally contaminated with Monsanto's GE canola, likely by seed escaping from passing trucks. The Supreme Court issued their decision in May 2004 and one can view the decision as a draw. The Court determined that Monsanto's patent is valid, but Schmeiser is not forced to pay Monsanto anything as he did not profit from the presence of Roundup Ready canola in his fields. This issue started with Monsanto demanding Schmeiser pay the $15/acre technology fee and in the end, Schmeiser did not have to pay. The court did not impose punitive damages on Schmeiser, as may have been expected in a patent infringement case, and the decision did not absolve Monsanto of responsibility for genetic contamination, or even consider that aspect. The case did cause Monsanto's aggressively litigious tactics to be highlighted in the media over the years it took to play out.

Monsanto has asked Spanish customs officials to inspect soymeal shipments to determine if they use Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" technology. Monsanto claims that 30% of Argentina's production uses black market-purchased Roundup Ready seed. Monsanto has petitioned to change the royalty collection system so that royalties are collected at harvest rather than upon purchase of the seed. ^*

Related legal actions

In 1997, Fox News reportedly bowed to pressure from Monsanto to suppress an investigative report on the health risks associated with Monsanto's bovine growth hormone product, Posilac. Posilac, a synthetic drug used to increase milk production in cows, is banned in most first-world countries, with the exception of the United States, where it can be found in much of the milk supply. Fox pressured its reporters, Steve Wilson and Jane Akre, to alter their report, despite evidence that Monsanto had lied about the risks of contaminated milk and infected cattle. The reporters refused to comply, and were eventually fired. Wilson and Akre then sued Fox News in Florida state court, claiming they could not be fired for refusing to do something that they believed to be illegal. In 2000, a Florida jury found in favor of the reporters, however this decision was overturned in 2003 by an appeals court, on a technicality in the interpretation of the whistleblower's statute under which the original case had been filed, as fabricating the news is not actually illegal. The reporters' struggle with Fox News is ongoing. The findings in their original report were never directly challenged. ^*

Monsanto operations outside of North America

In the South American nation of Colombia, the United States government has a contract with Dyncorp to spray an industrial version of Roundup on coca fields in that country through Plan Colombia. Its health effects, effects on legal crops, and effectiveness in fighting the war on drugs have been disputed widely.

Monsanto has had a controversial history in India, starting with the use of terminator genes in its seed. This practice led to angry demonstrations against the company. Later, its GM cotton seed failed to produce the yields that were promised, despite its higher cost. It also faces increasing piracy of seed in India, with local farmers creating their own varieties.

Roger Award

In 1998 Monsanto won the Roger Award for The Worst Transnational Corporation operating in New Zealand.

Bibliography

External links

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