Yesterday - a plan to Whitewash; Today - Monsanto nailed for Bribery

By Trevor Wells
Farmers Legal Action Group-South Africa

The industry front Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO), on Wednesday, revealed their latest public relations plans to introduce third-party auditing “to help agricultural players around the world feel confident that biotech crops are subject to stringent safety standards.”  According to Carey Gillam, Kansas City, Missouri, agro-chemical giants Monsanto and DuPont endorsed  this plan.

Monsanto has consistently shown disrespect for biosafety rules and a persistent reluctance to reveal information on the safety aspects of its products. It has a record of systematically bribing government officials to ignore safety regulations.

In 2005, Monsanto bribed Indonesian officials to disregard safety regulations and was caught smuggling South African grown GM Bollgard cotton seed into Indonesia. The GM seed was disguised in crates labled “Rice”. Monsanto was fined US$1 million for a US$50,000 bribe to a top Indonesian official  after the CEO of Monsanto ordered it to be disguised as  a “consultancy fee”. At the time South Africa was a signatory to the Cartagena Protocol which requires exports of GM seed to be properly labled. Heading this operation was Monsanto’s Hugh Grant who at the same time was member of a government business advisory committee. International Advisory Board, set up by Scottish Enterprise to advise businesses on how to expand overseas.

In the same year, 2005, Monsanto joined the South African Department of Agriculture in opposing a High Court application by Biowatch for information on safety aspects of GM crops. Monsanto claimed that they were protecting “confidential business information”. The Court ruled that access to this information was in the public interest and was a necessary part of the proper administration of the GMO Act.

In Europe Monsanto, supported by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), kept the study from public scrutiny once again under a false claim of confidential business information until a German Court, order a year later forced Monsanto to release the full report.

The EFSA has more recently been criticised by the medical and veterinary professions for downplaying the role of  Monsanto’s patented anti-biotic resistant marker gene npt11. This antibiotic is water soluble and is therefore used extensively in aquaculture,quail, pigeon, rabbit, chick, piglet and calve rearing industries. Monsanto have been using this gene in a number of products including the highly controversial GM potato. Anti-biotic marker genes were supposed to be phased out in terms of European Union Directive 2001/18EC and Revising Directive 90/220/CEE.

The controversy about the GM Potato started in Egypt when researchers  (Toxins Volume 6, Issue 6, 1998. Pages: 219-233) found that GM potatoes caused damage to part of the small intestine in rats.

More recently Monsanto was ordered to remove false claims  on the safety of GM foods in South Africa.

The latest news on Monsanto bribery allegations is that Delta & Pine Land Co. will pay $300,000 to settle allegations that a subsidiary illegally bribed Turkish officials from 2001 through 2006, the SEC said Thursday. Scott, Miss.-based D&PL, which was acquired by Monsanto Co. in June, also will obtain an independent review of its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance policies. The SEC alleges that D&PL failed to keep accurate books and records, and did not have effective internal controls to prevent the bribery.

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