Greg Y

World Geography I

Summer 2013

Monsanto suffers defeat in European

Market

Monsanto and GMOs

Monsanto suffers defeat in the

European Market.

BigAg Biotech corporate giant best known for genetically modified crops and seed patents.

Pulled their EU applications for approval for new crops.

Hatred for Genetically Modified Crops (GMOs) runs high across Europe where many countries have placed bans on them.

The European Union (EU) has the strictest GMO regulations in the world.

Monsantos greatest hits

European Union Divided on the Issue

A proposal to allow EU member countries to enact national

bans is stalled in the Council of Ministers

The only biotech seed which could be called somewhat

successful on the European market is Monsantos GMO corn

(MON 810).

France's highest court lifted the country's ban on growing

Monsanto's genetically modified (GMO) corn after years of it

being banned.

Poland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg,

Austria, and Greece. The ban was only challenged in France.

Spain and Portugal are

currently the only EU

member countries

that grow GMO corn

on a large scale.

Whats the big deal?

FDA declared GMO crops to be generally considered safe meaning the industry had no obligation to conduct any long term safety studies.

As Will Engdahl points out in his book Seeds of Destruction: The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation, The process by which GMO seeds were approved in the U.S. is suspect at best. In 1992, at the request of Monsanto, then President George H.W. Bush proclaimed that no special government tests of the safety of GMO seeds would be conducted because they were deemed by the President to be substantially equivalent to non-GMO seeds. To date, no Government tests of GMO seed safety have been carried out and any safety tests are provided to the U.S. Government by the companies themselves. (Engdahl, 2007).

The argument for GMOs

Not

enough

food Drought

and

insect

resistant

crops

Genetically modified livestock

The argument against GMOs

Health risks

Monsanto is altering the nature of our food supply without

concern on the effects of long term human health.

Seralini group found that Rats fed a lifetime diet of

Monsanto's genetically modified corn or exposed to its top-

selling weed killer Roundup suffered tumors and multiple

organ damage. (Reuters, 2012)

Mammary tumors, as well as severe liver damage, infertility,

birth defects and kidney damage.

Many health problems increased after GMOs were introduced in

1996. The percentage of Americans with three or more chronic

illnesses jumped from 7% to 13% in just 9 years; food allergies

skyrocketed, and disorders such as autism, reproductive

disorders, digestive problems, and others are on the rise.

(Institute for responsible technology , 2013)

Monsanto is creating a monopoly on the supply of seeds for farmers and there

is evidence of long term environmental damages from GMO crops.

GMO crops cross contaminate and are almost impossible to

contain

Monsanto seed patents make it illegal for farmers to save

their own seeds and force them into legal litigation

Bee colony collapse

How does this compare to the USA?

Bill Gates?

Obama signed the

spending bill HR 933 into

law,. However, buried in the

fine print was Section 735,

the Farmer Assurance

Provision, later coined the

Monsanto Protection act,

which among other things

bans courts from halting

the sale of Monsantos

GMO seeds and foods. This

bill potentially makes

Monsanto above the law.

Monsanto protection act

The largest protest you never heard

about

You have the right to know.

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