Biotech crop allegations against Monsanto detailed

    USA: December 16, 1999

    WASHINGTON - Six corn and soybean farmers from Indiana, Iowa and
    France filed a class action lawsuit against Monsanto Co , accusing the
    company of trying to monopolise genetically modified crops and failing
    to thoroughly test the products for safety.

    Monsanto denied the charges and said it would fight the lawsuit.

    Also named in the court case as co-conspirators were Novartis AG ,
    DuPont Co , Dow Chemical Co , and AstraZeneca Plc . Lawyers for the
    farmers said the companies were not formally charged as defendants in
    the case, but could be added to the lawsuit in the future.

    Monsanto was named as the defendant because it is the "hub of the
    genetically modified industry and the other companies are the spokes,"
    attorney Michael Hausfeld said.

    The following are allegations made by the farmers in a 62-page lawsuit
    filed in U.S. district court in Washington:

    ANTITRUST ALLEGATIONS

    - In 1996, Monsanto tried to "neutralize competition" and control
    prices and restrain trade in genetically modified corn and soybean
    seed markets by licensing its Yieldgard and Roundup Ready technologies
    to competitors. An internal Monsanto document described a plan aiming
    to eventually control 90 percent of the U.S. corn seed market;

    - Monsanto and its co-conspirators formed a cartel with nearly
    identical licensing agreements required of farmers who wanted to
    purchase Monsanto's biotech seeds. The agreements included expensive
    technology fees, high prices for the seeds, and user agreements
    prohibiting farmers from replanting their own harvested seeds. The
    technology fees collected from U.S. farmers by the companies will
    total an estimated $454 million this year;

    - Monsanto tried to force farmers buying its Roundup Ready soybeans to
    also buy Roundup herbicide to maintain the profitability of the
    herbicide. The herbicide has generated an estimated $1.6 billion in
    annual sales but has a patent due to expire next year;

    - Monsanto and other cartel members failed to carry out adequate human
    health and environmental safety testing;

    - Monsanto attempted to acquire water rights in countries with water
    shortages in a move to control the "basic means of production of the
    global food supply";

    - Monsanto manipulated the conventional seed market by "restricting
    research and development" into new varieties, and "restricting the
    availability" of the traditional seeds;

    - Monsanto and its co-conspirators have intimidated farmers by filing
    more than 475 lawsuits for allegedly saving genetically modified seeds
    or sharing it with other farmers;

    - Monsanto hired Pinkerton guards to investigate farmers with
    conventional crops suspected of improperly obtaining the genetically
    altered seeds.

    DECEPTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICE ALLEGATIONS

    - Monsanto told farmers and the public that genetically altered seeds
    and crops were rigorously tested for health and environmental risks
    but did not adequately test them;

    - Monsanto's inadequate testing is harmful to farmers using
    conventional seeds because their crops are "at risk from intermixing"
    with genetically modified commodities and rejected by overseas buyers.

    REUTERS NEWS SERVICE