Anti-GM crusader says U.S. could join lawsuit
Reuters World Report
Mittwoch, 15. Dezember 1999 16:50:00
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By Greg Frost
PARIS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The environmental activist whose
group backed a class action lawsuit filed against Monsanto Co
said on Wednesday he would not rule out the U.S. government
joining the suit as a plaintiff.
Jeremy Rifkin, head of the Foundation on Economic Trends,
compared the lawsuit filed on Tuesday against Monsanto to the
U.S. government's anti-trust case against software giant
Microsoft or the case against the tobacco industry brought by
U.S. attorneys general.
"There are many instances in new, controversial areas of
law where issues are first raised by the private sector. That
does not mean the Justice Department could not join (the lawsuit
at a later date)," Rifkin said at a news conference here.
"Let me just say it would not surprise me if this (lawsuit)
were broadened," he added.
However, Rifkin declined to comment on whether the
plaintiffs had spoken with the Justice Department about its
joining the lawsuit, and referred all such questions to the
lawyers handling the case in Washington.
The lawsuit, which was brought at Rifkin's urging and which
names a group of Iowa, Indiana and French farmers as plaintiffs,
accuses Monsanto of rushing genetically altered seeds to market
without first ensuring they were safe for consumers and the
environment.
ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES CLAIMED
The complaint also accuses the life sciences giant of
violating anti-trust law, saying its patented genes had given it
too much control over how staple crops are used.
Monsanto denied the charges and said it would fight the
lawsuit.
"Monsanto has created a global cartel in which it is the
hub and other companies are the spokes," Rifkin said.
"Through various anti-competitive practices, it seeks to
control world production of agriculture and food, with
particular concentration on power over seeds," he said.
Also named in the court case as alleged 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.
Rifkin noted that Monsanto and others were trying to alter
age-old agricultural practices by making farmers license the
genetic material inside its seeds and preventing them from using
the seeds for future crops without first paying for them.
"What this means is that if the companies get their way, no
farmer in the world will ever own a seed again. If that doesn't
hold implications for anti-trust law in the world of
agriculture, then I don't know what does," he said.
Rifkin said he hoped the lawsuit would alter the debate over
genetically modified foods, which until recently had centred on
international trade and regulatory questions involving federal
agencies.
"We think this will refocus the spotlight on giant global
companies and the power they are exerting over food, farming and
cultural sovereignty," he said.