Guest guest Posted February 21, 1999 Report Share Posted February 21, 1999 > Monsanto saw secret EU documents > US biotech firm under fire in Europe > > By Palast and Terry Slavin > Observer (London) Sunday February 21, 1999 > > Monsanto, the US biotech group fined in an English court last week for > failing to control genetic modification trials, is under attack on two new > fronts. First for obtaining an advance look at confidential European > Commission documents during its campaign to win regulatory approval for > its controversial bovine growth hormone (BST). Second, because of its > legal actions against hundreds of North American farmers for failing to > pay for its genetically modified seeds. > > Company faxes and Canadian government files obtained this week by The > Observer reveal that Monsanto received copies of the position papers of > the EC Director General for Agriculture and Fisheries prior to a February > 1998 meeting that approved milk from cows treated with BST. > > Notes jotted down by a Canadian government researcher during a > November 1997 phone call from Monsanto's regulatory chief indicate that > the company 'received the [documents] package from Dr Nick Weber', a > researcher with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He was given > them as a member of the Joint Expert Committee on Food and Drug Additives > (JECFA), part of the World Health Organisation, which reviewed the > Monsanto drug for Codex, the agency that approves products as safe for > international trade. > > Sources noted that Weber's supervisor at the US FDA is Dr Margaret > who, before joining the agency, directed a Monsanto laboratory > working on the hormone. Monsanto also obtained an advance look at the > submission to JECFA by British pharmaceuticals researcher Verrall. > Verrall, a member of the UK Food Ethics Council, told The Observer that > slipping papers to Monsanto was 'totally wrong'. > > BST boosts milk output in cows but, say critics, may increase the > likelihood of human cancers for those who drink milk. Advance knowledge > of objections to the hormone seems likely to have helped Monsanto to > prepare arguments in advance of the EU meeting. > > In September at a meeting of a Codex panel in Washington, the UK's > opposition to immediate acceptance of the Monsanto hormone resulted in a > tie vote on the drug among 24 nations. The US representative, citing the > JECFA report, claimed a 'chairman's privilege' to treat the vote as > approval. > > The Observer has also learned that Monsanto received documents from > the files of a Canadian senator involved in investigating controversies > surrounding BST. Senator Mira Spivak stated that documents used in > preparing hearings on BST were faxed from an office in the Canadian > senate. > > Last month, Canada permanently banned BST after hearing testimony from > research scientists in its health ministry, who challenged the hormone's > safety. Monsanto, whose GM seeds will account for between 50 and 60 per > cent of the US soya bean harvest this year, is prosecuting or has already > settled 525 cases of what it calls seed piracy - farmers who fail to pay > licence fees to plant Monsanto's Ready Roundup seeds. > > Settlements have amounted to tens of thousands of dollars. > > Monsanto has set up freephone tip lines across the US and Canada, > encouraging neighbours to anonymously blow the whistle on neighbours, and > has hired private investigators to follow up more than 1,800 of these > leads. The technology use agreement that farmers must sign when buying > Monsanto seed not only forbids them to save seed for replanting, it also > gives Monsanto the right to come onto their land and take plant samples > for three years. > > Hope Shand, research director for Rural Advancement Foundation > International, said: 'Wherever in the world Monsanto is selling this I'd > assume they will adopt the same draconian tactics.' > > In one case in western Canada, Monsanto is prosecuting a farmer who > maintains he did not plant any genetically modified canola, but his crop > was contaminated by GM seeds or pollen blown onto his field from nearby > farms - the cross-pollination issue that so worries English Nature. > > One farmer said: 'Everyone's looking at each other and asking, '''Did > my neighbour say something?''' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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