Justice to Probe Monsanto Monopoly

  • Spence Cooper
  • March 17, 2010

Bloomberg claims a person who asked not to be named said at least seven states are investigating many of the same claims, as well as whether Monsanto illegally offered rebates to distributors who limit sales of competing seed.

Jim Tobin, Monsanto’s vice president of industry affairs, said Roundup Ready gene has become the industry standard because farmers want it. Farmers could grow conventional soybeans, or choose from competing engineered traits offered by Monsanto’s rivals, he said.

Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soybean is genetically modified to survive their Roundup weedkiller. The seed enables farmers to chemically weed their fields without using other herbicides or tilling.

What farmers fear is that Monsanto will use their gene licenses to limit competition by making it difficult for them to use generic versions of genetically modified crops after the company’s patents expire.

Farmers would like to buy cheaper generic soybean seed, but won’t be able to if Monsanto doesn’t make the gene traits in its Roundup Ready 1 soybean seed available to other companies. Farmers also worry about how Monsanto will handle continued registration of those gene traits in foreign countries.

“Justice is clearly trying every way it can to see whether Monsanto is exceeding its rights under the patent,”said James Weiss, a Washington-based attorney at K&L Gates LLP who helped defend Microsoft against an antitrust probe. “At the end of the day, they may not be able to do much with it because of the scope of those patents. In almost all the cases, the courts come out on the side of intellectual property”

In addition to Monsanto’s God-like reign over the seed industry, Monsanto has set loose on the world sinister creations like “Terminator”seeds that have only one growth cycle, requiring a seed purchase from Monsanto for every planting.

An even more chilling recent development is a study released by the International Journal of Biological Sciences. Researchers found that 3 varieties of genetically modified corn, specifically Mon 86, insecticide-producing Mon 810, and Roundup® herbicide-absorbing NK 603, is linked to organ damage in rats.

These GM corns can be found in products such as animal feed, sweeteners and in thousands of products found in the grocery store.

IJBS study researchers wrote: “Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. As there normally exists sex differences in liver and kidney metabolism, the highly statistically significant disturbances in the function of these organs, seen between male and female rats, cannot be dismissed as biologically insignificant as has been proposed by others. We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity€¦.These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown.”

Monsanto has violated child labor laws, harassed small farmers around the country; and conspired with obedient mainstream media to suppress many of their products’ health risks. And Monsanto’s continuous denial of engaging in unfair monopolistic practices is simply laughable.

With their purchase of the Dutch breeding and seed company, De Ruiter Seeds, and their 2005 purchase of Seminis, Monstanto is the largest seed company on Earth, controlling 85 percent of the total market. And as mentioned above, their Roundup Ready gene is in 93 percent of U.S. soybean seeds.

We support President Obama’s Justice Department’s pledge of antitrust enforcement, and continuing probe of agribusiness monopolies. But actions speak louder than words. And unless farmers and the public see some real tangible moves on behalf of the Justice Department, these “workshops” will amount to nothing but a dog and pony show.

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