St. Louis Business Journal, USA, Kelsey Volkmann
West Virginia’s attorney general sued Monsanto on Monday, saying the agritech giant refuses to cooperate with his office’s investigation of soybeans genetically modified to withstand the company’s Roundup weedkiller.
Attorney General Darrell McGraw’s suit asks the court to prohibit Monsanto from selling any of its products in West Virginia until it fully complies with the subpoena.
April: one day, Monsanto and the “others” will mass such a huge volume of patents on seeds (of all kinds) that they could control the food and seed distribution of the world. It’s time to switch gears and educate ourselves on what is happening in this world behind our backs:
Surge in Corporate Patents on “Climate-Ready” Crops
Threatens Biodiversity and Signals Grab on Land and Biomass
Nagoya, Japan — Under the guise of developing “climate-ready” crops, the world’s largest seed and agrochemical corporations are filing hundreds of sweeping, multi-genome patents in a bid to control the world’s plant biomass, according to a report released by ETC Group today.
A handful of multinational corporations are pressuring governments to allow what could become the broadest and most dangerous patent claims in history, warns the group at the United Nations’ Convention on Biodiversity in Nagoya, Japan (18-29 October 2010).
Posted in American Politics & Food, Biotech Companies, Canadian Politics & Food, Food Security, Monsanto, World Food Politics
Tagged BASF, Bayer CropScience, Biomass, Biotech Companies, Dupont, Food control, Food Security, Gene Giants, GMO, Monsanto, Patent Stockpiling, Seed patents, Syngenta, Vandana Shiva
THE world’s major biotechnology companies have set up a complaints process for countries with concerns over the impact of GM crops.
The six companies – BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta – have formed “The Compact”, which they claim is a “clearly defined, efficient, and fair” process for countries to file and process claims related to damage to biological diversity caused by genetically modified organisms.
Peak group CropLife International said the compact, which had been developed over the past two years, was now in force under the umbrella of an independent mediation and arbitration framework administered in The Hague.
You may recall from previous posts the role Michael Taylor played in affecting your food. As of January 2010, the new Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the FDA is none other than Michael R. Taylor. Good ole’ Mike. Mikey mike mike. The Mikester. Mikemonger. The Mike-man makin’ messages.
One may feel a special closeness – a bond even – with this guy. After all, if you recall, in November 1993 during the Clinton administration, while in the FDA, he helped put Bovine Growth Hormone into your milk. Taylor was the leader (I use that word loosely) in banning the labeling of GM products. Oh, and for more than ten years he worked for Monsanto. He was intimately involved in some bad food policy, which makes you, the consumer, intimately involved with the outcome of his decisions.
Here’s some scoop on Mike Taylor and other government associations with Monsanto
In 1994, the FDA, while in the sack with Monsanto put out a message to grocery stores and dairy farmers who weren’t using rBGH:
Do not label milk as free of the hormone.
Shortly thereafter (within a matter of weeks) Monsanto sued two milk processors that labeled milk as free of the hormone according to a New York Times article.
Posted in American Politics & Food, Biotech Companies, Canadian Politics & Food, Food Security, GE Corn, GE Soy, Monsanto, World GE Politics
Tagged Ban GM crops, BASF, Bayer CropScience, Biotech Companies, Canadian Food Politics, Dow AgroSciences, Dupont, Food Secure, GE Foods, GMO, Kenda Swartz Pepper, Monsanto, Syngenta, Ventria Bioscience
From: Lucy Sharratt – CBAN Coordinator <coordinator@cban.ca>
By Carey Gillam
KANSAS CITY, Jan 8 (Reuters) – DuPont on Friday asked U.S. regulators to rein in practices by seed industry leader Monsanto Co, claiming its rival is hindering competition and limiting innovation needed to feed a growing world population.
DuPont, which owns Pioneer Hi-Bred International, said Monsanto is unfairly using monopoly powers to drive up prices and stymie competition.
“Monsanto has engaged in numerous practices that improperly seek to expand the scope of intellectual property rights at the expense of competition, innovation, and choice,” DuPont said in a report.
The company submitted its 18-page report of allegations to the U.S. Departments of Justice and Agriculture in advance of a public hearing on competition and antitrust concerns in the seed industry slated for March.
By Kristina Hubbard, Farmer to Farmer campaign, December 2009
This is one of the best reports I have found on the Genetically Modified Seed industry and the effects to farmers:
GE Free BC 