Monsanto                                     

Monsantoの歴史 ( http://bestmeal.info/monsanto/company-history.shtml )

Delta and Pine Land Company　買収断念

BASF and Monsanto Announce R&D and Commercialization Collaboration Agreement in Plant Biotechnology

Monsanto Questioned by Justice Department on DuPont’s Complaint

U.S. Opens Inquiry Into Monsanto

December 11, 2006 WSJ

Monsanto bid for Delta could run into trouble

Monsanto Co.'s attempt to buy southern seed giant Delta & Pine Land Co. could be running into trouble as an unusual backlash against the proposed combination is taking root across the U.S. Farm Belt, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Monday.

Some biotech-industry leaders are prodding the attorneys general of several states to look into the combination as an antitrust review by the Justice Department extends into its fourth month, the paper said.

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2006/8/15 Monsanto

Monsanto Company To Acquire Delta And Pine Land Company For $1.5 Billion In Cash

Monsanto Company and Delta and Pine Land Company announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement whereby Monsanto will acquire Delta and Pine Land Company for $1.5 billion in cash. The transaction was unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies and is subject to Delta and Pine Land shareowner approval, antitrust clearance, and customary closing conditions.

Delta and Pine Land Company is a leader in the cotton seed industry and currently operates the largest and longest running private cotton seed breeding program in the world. The company's extensive plant breeding programs, including its diverse base of international germplasm, has enabled the company to develop and deliver improved cotton varieties for their farmer customers for more than 90 years.

　

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2007/5/31 Monsanto

Monsanto Company Reaches Agreement With U.S. Department of Justice on Elements of Consent Decree, Set to Complete Its Acquisition of Delta and Pine Land Company

Monsanto Company announced today that it has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that will allow it to complete its proposed acquisition of Delta and Pine Land Company. Under terms of the agreement, which was filed today in Federal Court in Washington, D.C., Monsanto will be required to divest certain assets including its U.S. branded cotton seed business. Monsanto plans to close its acquisition and resulting divestitures as soon as possible following the required approvals from the court and the DOJ.

モンサントは米国第１位の棉種子会社のDelta and Pine Land の買収で合意したが、司法省による独禁法の審査が大幅に遅れ、1999年12月に買収を断念した。
Delta社は棉種子市場の最大手であるとともに、ターミネーター技術（種子を死滅させる毒性タンパクを作る遺伝子を組み込み、２回目の発芽の際には種子が死滅する技術）を保有している。

一世代限りの種子（ターミネーター） モンサント社が開発凍結 国際的反対世論の高まりで

　アメリカのバイオ企業モンサント社は1999/10/4、遺伝子操作で農作物を自家採種できなくするターミネーター・テクノロジーの開発を当面凍結し、商品化を見送る方針を明らかにしました。
　この技術は、種子を死滅させる毒性タンパクを作る遺伝子を植物の細胞の中に組み込み、一回目の発芽の時は、その毒素遺伝子にカギがかけられて種実は収穫できるが、二回目にはそのカギが外れて種子が死滅するという仕組み。これはアメリカの農務省と種子企業デルタ＆パイランド社が開発、モンサント社がデルタ社を買収して、この技術を手中に収めました。

しかし、2005年に同社は、ターミネータ種子を非食料作物（例えば綿？）には使用すると示唆しつつ、”食料作物には不妊種子技術を商業化せず、将来、ターミネータの他の用途を除外することはしない”と公約の記述を修正した。

Acquisition expected to facilitate greater innovation in the cotton industry

In line with its agreement with the DOJ, Monsanto announced that:
-- It has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Stoneville® cotton seed brand and related business assets, subject to Justice Department approval, to Bayer CropScience for $310 million. As part of this agreement, Monsanto has agreed to sell to Bayer CropScience certain conventional cotton parental lines that Monsanto will acquire from Delta and Pine Land's cotton breeding program. Monsanto will retain a non-exclusive license to these same parental lines. Bayer's FiberMax® brand and the Stoneville brand will continue to be licensed to use Monsanto's cotton trait technologies.
-- It has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its NexGen™ cotton seed brand and related business assets, also subject to Justice Department approval, to Americot for $6.8 million. As part of this agreement, Monsanto has agreed to sell to Americot certain conventional cotton parental lines that Delta and Pine Land acquired from Syngenta in 2006. The Americot® and NexGen brands will continue to be licensed to use Monsanto's cotton trait technologies.
-- It will be amending certain cotton licensing agreements so that its other cotton licensees have the same terms that Delta and Pine Land enjoyed with regard to the use of third-party trait technologies.
-- It will provide to Syngenta certain germplasm in Delta and Pine Land's breeding pipeline that contains VIPCot™ trait technology. This action is intended to allow Syngenta to continue its development of this technology.

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/kagaku/pico/kaigai/kaigai_06/06_08/060816_etc_Monsanto.html

　モンサント社 とD&PL 社は、アメリカの綿の種子市場で合わせて57％以上のシェアを持つ。中国、インド、ブラジル、メキシコ、トルコ、及びパキスタンのような主要な市場を含む13カ国にある D&PL 社の関連会社も含むこの買収は、モンサント社が世界の最も重要な貿易農産物のひとつを支配下に置くとともに、数百万の農民が遺伝子組み換え（GM）の綿の種子を受け入れざるを得ない圧力を受ける状況となることを意味する。

デルタ＆パイン・ランド社（D&PL）はアメリカ農務省とともにターミネータ技術−遺伝子組み換えにより収穫時の種子を不妊にする技術−の初期の開発を行ったことで悪名高い。農民、民間社会、及び多数の政府による大規模な反対にもかかわらず、デルタ＆パイン・ランド社（D&PL）はその技術を商業化すると繰り返し主張し、彼らの主要な市場は、アフリカ、アジア、及びラテン・アメリカであると宣言した。同社はすでに温室でターミネータ遺伝子を含む遺伝子組み換えの綿とタバコを栽培していると主張している。

モンサント社による1998年のデルタ＆パイン・ランド社の18億ドル（約2,000億円）での買収計画は、ターミネータ技術に関し世界的に議論が行われていた1999年に破談となった。大きな反対に対応して、モンサント社の前 CEO、ロバート・シャピロは1999年に、同社は不妊種子技術の商業化は行わないと公に約束した。

モンサント社の報道官ロリ・フィッシャーは種子を不妊とする技術を使用するつもりはなく、”食料作物に対しては不妊種子技術を商業化しない”という2005年の公約に立っていると伝えてきた。この公約はまた、”モンサントの人々は技術の発展に伴いこの立場を常に再評価する”と述べている。

Genetic Use Restriction Technology

In 1999, some stakeholders expressed fears that a sterile-seed technology then under development by the U.S. government and a cotton seed company might lead to dependence for poor smallholder farmers. In response, Monsanto made a commitment not to commercialize sterile-seed technologies in food crops. It continues to stand by that commitment today, but Monsanto people constantly reevaluate this stance as technology develops.

Monsanto does not rule out the potential development and use of one of these technologies in the future. The company will continue to study the risks and benefits of this technology on a case-by-case basis.

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Open Letter From Monsanto CEO Robert B. Shapiro To Rockefeller Foundation President Gordon Conway and others

DATE: October 4, 1999

I am writing to let you know that we are making a public commitment not to commercialize sterile seed technologies, such as the one dubbed "Terminator." We are doing this based on input from you and a wide range of other experts and stakeholders, including our very important grower constituency.
As you know, sterile seed technology is one of a class of so called "gene protection systems." This is a group of technologies, all still in the conceptual or developmental stage, that could potentially be used to protect the investment companies make in developing genetically-improved crops, as well as possibly providing other agronomic benefits. Some would work by rendering seeds from such crops sterile, while others would work by other means, such as deactivating only the value-added biotech trait. One of the sterile seed technologies was developed and patented jointly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Delta & Pine Land, with which we announced our intent to merge in the spring of 1998.
Last April, after hearing concerns about the potential impact of gene protection systems in developing countries and consulting with a number of international experts and development leaders, we called for a thorough, independent review of gene protection systems. We also pledged not to commercialize any of them until that review was completed and we had responded to the issues raised.
Since then, however, we have continued to listen to people who have a particular interest in sterile seed technologies, including the concerns you expressed to our Board in June. Though we do not yet own any sterile seed technology, we think it is important to respond to those concerns at this time by making clear our commitment not to commercialize gene protection systems that render seed sterile.
It is also important to understand that the technical and business utility of sterile seed technology is speculative. The specific technology over which Monsanto would gain ownership through its pending merger with Delta & Pine Land is developmental, at least five years away from any possible commercialization, and may or may not prove workable in a commercial setting. The need for companies to protect and gain a return on their investments in agricultural innovation is real. Without this return, we would no longer be able to continue developing new products growers have said they want.
Monsanto holds patents on technological approaches to gene protection that do not render seeds sterile and has studied one that would inactivate only the specific gene(s) responsible for the value-added biotech trait. We are not currently investing resources to develop these technologies, but we do not rule out their future development and use for gene protection or their possible agronomic benefits.
For this reason, we continue to support the open, independent airing of all of the issues raised by the use of gene protection systems to protect the investment companies make in agricultural innovation. We understand, for example, that the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences is planning an international study of these issues. We renew the pledge we made in April that we will not make any decision to commercialize a gene protection technology until a full airing of the issues is complete and we have responded publicly to the concerns that are raised.
We are fully committed to modern biotechnology as a safe, sustainable tool for farmers and an important contributor to the future success of agriculture in meeting the world's needs for food and fiber. The technology has already brought important benefits to growers and the environment after just a few years of commercial application. We are working hard to build on this success.
We also recognize that biotechnology, like any new technology, raises issues that must be addressed. We appreciate your involvement with these important issues and the perspective and expertise you contributed at our June Board meeting. We find significant value in engaging stakeholders and the expert community in active dialogue on issues surrounding biotechnology and the future success of agriculture. I look forward to continuing our dialogue with you on the many issues and challenges that lie ahead.

Sincerely, Robert B. Shapiro Chairman and CEO Monsanto Company

2009/10/9　Bloomberg

Monsanto Questioned by Justice Department on Rival’s Complaint

Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed producer, said it received questions from the U.S. Justice Department about anti-competition complaints that rival DuPont Co. made in a lawsuit.

The Justice Department’s inquiry is another sign the Obama administration is taking an aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement. Philip Weiser, the antitrust division’s deputy assistant attorney general, said at an August meeting on agriculture markets that the government had “concerns about the competitive consequences of how the marketplace is evolving.”

The questions Monsanto received about three months ago weren’t a formal request, known as a civil investigative demand, Lee Quarles, a spokesman for St. Louis-based Monsanto, said yesterday. Other agriculture companies may also be receiving questions after the Justice Department in August said it would examine competition in several farming markets, he said.

Civil Investigative Demands　民事調査請求　（15 USCS §57b-1）
FTC の委員は、不当行為の疑いのある者が当該不当行為の調査に関する文書資料或いは情報を所有、保管支配していると判断できる場合には、法令に基づいて、民事訴訟手続に着手する前の段階において、以下のような資料を提出するよう書面にして、当該者に対してCID を発行する権限を有する。
※ 不当行為の調査に係る資料となる文書の作成とその複写
※ 物的資料
※ 作成された資料等に関する文書による質問への回答
※ 当該文書資料等に関する口頭による証言
CID の書面には、調査の対象が法令違反を構成する疑いのある行為であることを明記しなければならない。

“We are cooperating and openly providing documents,” Quarles said. “We believe these claims are baseless.” Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona had no immediate comment yesterday.

Monsanto rose 64 cents to $74.97 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange, pushing this year’s gain to 5.7 percent.

DuPont’s anticompetitive claim stems from a Monsanto complaint filed in May accusing DuPont of violating a 2002 license by using Monsanto’s Roundup Ready trait with DuPont’s GAT genetics in soybeans. GAT genetics were designed to be an alternative to Roundup Ready crops, which tolerate applications of glyphosate herbicide, known as Roundup.

デュポン社が中心となり、グリホサート農薬耐性大豆とコーンの種子を開発。
この大豆及びコーンはOPTIMUM・GAT と商標登録され、シンジェンタ及び同社とパイオニア（デュポン子会社）のジョイントベンチャーであるGREENLEAF GENETICS 社に使用許可。

20年以上前に開発した除草剤ラウンドアップ。　
1996年にモンサントは、ラウンドアップで枯れない遺伝子組み換え作物を売り出した。　ラウンドアップ・レディと名付けられた作物は、農家が除草剤を圃場に散布しても、作物を殺さずに雑草を殺すことが出来る。　

モンサントと法廷で争っている会社もある。　デュポン社は、モンサントをラウンドアップとラウンドアップレディ作物をセットしにしていることと、競争相手を排除するために、報奨金や資格を使っていることは、独占禁止法に触れるとして２つの訴訟を連邦裁判所に起こしている。

Monsanto Challenges Unauthorized Use of Roundup Ready® Technology by DuPont

DuPont Relying On Monsanto's Proven Technology In Attempt To Repair Optimum® GAT® Problems

ST. LOUIS, May 5, 2009 -- Monsanto Company announced that it filed suit yesterday in federal court in St. Louis against E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., to prevent unlawful use of Monsanto's proprietary Roundup Ready® herbicide tolerant technologies in soybeans and corn.

"As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," said Hugh Grant, Monsanto Chief Executive Officer. "However, unlawfully taking technology is neither imitation nor flattery; it is unethical and wrong. A true technology company respects patents and its contractual agreements and delivers new products through its own innovation and honest collaboration. DuPont has failed on all counts."

Pioneer, like hundreds of other seed companies, has the right to sell soybeans and corn with the Roundup Ready trait. For several years, Pioneer publicly touted plans to replace Monsanto's Roundup Ready trait with DuPont's claimed glyphosate tolerant Optimum® GAT® trait. However, Pioneer has recently admitted that the Optimum GAT trait when used alone presents unacceptable risks to farmers.

In an effort to repair these deficiencies, Pioneer is misusing the Roundup Ready trait to mask problems with their Optimum GAT trait. This violates Monsanto's contract rights and U.S. patents. This suit insists that DuPont honor their agreements and respect patented technologies.

This is not the first time that Monsanto has had to file litigation against Pioneer for breaches of their contractual obligations with Monsanto. In a previous case involving Monsanto's YieldGard® Corn Borer trait, it was determined by the Court that Pioneer had breached its license and improperly used Monsanto's patented technology. After that case, in which Monsanto prevailed, an agreement was reached in which Pioneer was able to continue licensed use of Monsanto's technology. As in this previous case, Monsanto is confident once again that it will prevail.

True inventions will be critical to meeting future global food demand. Experts now predict our planet will need to double agricultural output by 2050 to feed a growing population. Protecting inventions and respecting contracts are critical to driving broad investment to meet this challenge. Monsanto's investment in innovation is clear and consistent. It is presently delivering to farmers two game-changing technologies that will help achieve higher yields, in Genuity™ Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ in soybeans and SmartStax™ in corn.

DuPont Claims

DuPont’s Pioneer unit, the second-largest seed producer, said it has the right to use Monsanto’s trait. Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont also claimed the Monsanto patent is invalid and the company is misusing its patent rights to control the markets for “virtually every commercially important agricultural biotech trait in corn and soybeans.”

“Any time a competitor in an industry would raise an allegation that there is some sort of anticompetitive action going on, the department would look into that,” Quarles said.

The state of Iowa launched a formal antitrust probe into Monsanto’s business practices in 2007. The company has heard nothing since the state attorney general’s office told the company all its questions were answered, Quarles said.

The dispute highlights competition in the $8.3 billion market for biotech seeds that ward off insects or withstand the application of weed killers. More than 90 percent of soybeans and 80 percent of corn in the U.S. are genetically modified.

Antitrust Regulators

In addition to the inquiry into Monsanto, the Justice Department’s antitrust division, headed by Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney, is looking into International Business Machine Corp.’s dominance of the mainframe computer market. The Justice Department is also concerned that the pending merger of Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. and Live Nation Inc. may reduce competition for tickets to live events, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News.

St. Louis Business Journal

Quarles said the nature of the Justice Department's questions are similar to ones Monsanto received from the department leading up to its $1.5 billion acquisition of Mississippi-based Delta & Pine Land in 2007, a deal DuPont actively tried to block.

In August, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced an investigation of competitive practices in agriculture, including the seed industry.

In addition to Monsanto, the Justice Department also has contacted two of Monsanto’s competitors: Delaware-based DuPont and Swiss biotech firm Syngenta.

DuPont spokesman Dan Turner said the company has been contacted by the Justice Department and that the company is cooperating with the investigation.

In May, Monsanto sued DuPont to prevent what it called “unlawful use” of Monsanto’s herbicide-tolerant technologies in soybeans and corn.

DuPont countersued in June, arguing that combining its technologies with Monsanto’s was within its rights under the license agreement with Monsanto.

Then the years-long rivalry ratcheted up in August when Monsanto called for a probe into what it described as DuPont’s “deceitful” attacks on Monsanto’s business practices. Monsanto Chairman and Chief Executive Hugh Grant demanded that DuPont Chairman Charles Holliday Jr. appoint a committee to investigate the alleged attacks.

Monsanto accused DuPont of writing forged letters to Congress, spreading misinformation, trying to improperly influence public officials and hiring “masked third parties, such as Weber Merritt.”

WSJ JANUARY 15, 2010

U.S. Opens Inquiry Into Monsanto
Antitrust Enforcers Probe Business Practices Surrounding Biotech Soybean Seed

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a formal antitrust investigation into crop-biotechnology giant Monsanto Co. as it contends with the loss of patent protection on its blockbuster soybean in 2014.

Monsanto on Thursday received a formal demand from the Justice Department for information about the St. Louis company's business practices surrounding its Roundup Ready soybean, the nation's most popular genetically-modified crop.

Roundup Ready

米国モンサント社が開発した、除草剤(商品名：ラウンドアップ)耐性農作物の総称。

開発された農作物にはダイズ、トウモロコシ、ナタネ、ワタ、テンサイなどがある。これらは除草剤ラウンドアップを処理しても枯れず、雑草だけが除かれるため、除草が簡便で生産者メリットが多いとされている。

Roughly 90% of all the soybeans grown in the U.S. contain a Monsanto gene that helps the plant survive dousing by Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller. Introduced in 1996, the Roundup Ready soybean seed allows farmers to chemically remove weeds from their fields without damaging crops.

With that seed losing patent protection in four years, Monsanto is trying to get farmers to switch to a second generation of Roundup Ready seed that still will be protected.

Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona confirmed Thursday that antitrust regulators have begun a formal investigation of the seed industry. She refused to identify the investigation's target or provide specific details.

In the wake of Monsanto's disclosure, the company's shares fell $1.16, or 1.4%, to $82.79 in 4 p.m. composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Controversy over Monsanto's plans for Roundup Ready soybeans grew so heated across the Farm Belt last year that the company declared that it wouldn't stand in the way of farmers using off-patent seeds.

"We're confident that a thorough review will show that all of our business practices are fair, pro-competitive and in compliance with the law," Monsanto spokesman Lee Quarles said.

Monsanto has been in regulators' sights since the Justice Department said in August it would take a hard look at economic concentration in agriculture as part on an increased emphasis on antitrust enforcement.

Farmers and seed companies that license genes from Monsanto have long complained about the prices it can command. The price of a bag of soybean seed has roughly quadrupled since the biotech-era dawned in 1996.

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Jan. 14, 2010 Monsanto

Monsanto Announces Continued Cooperation With the U.S. Department of Justice

Monsanto Company announced that the U.S. Department of Justice has issued a civil investigative demand (CID) requesting information on its soybean traits business, primarily seeking a confirmation that, as Monsanto has previously indicated, farmers and seed companies will continue to have access to the first-generation Roundup Ready® trait following patent expiry in 2014.

Antitrust questions have been swirling around Monsanto for months. Yesterday, Monsanto said that the Justice Department issued a formal "civil investigative demand" for information about Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybeans. Monsanto said that the demand centered on whether the seeds would remain available after the patent on them expires in 2014. The company is trying to get farmers to switch to a second-generation version of the technology, but says the old version will remain available.

"Monsanto continues to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Justice inquiries, just as we have over the last several months," said Scott Partridge, Monsanto's Chief Deputy General Counsel. "We respect the thorough regulatory process. We believe our business practices are fair, pro-competitive and in compliance with the law."

Monsanto has voluntarily cooperated with regulators to address their questions about its business and the broader agriculture industry. This request represents a continuation of that process. During this time, the company has provided extensive access to millions of pages of documents to ensure that regulators' questions are addressed. Monsanto noted that it will continue to provide information that is requested of its business.

"Given the pace and scale of agriculture biotechnology adoption as well as the expiration of the Roundup Ready soybean patents in 2014, we understand why regulators would want to know more about competition in modern agriculture and how products are commercialized and used," said Partridge. "We believe that an objective review will show our business and our industry to be competitive."

In December 2009, Monsanto took the initiative to clear up growing confusion in the soybean industry by confirming that Roundup Ready soybeans would remain available after patent expiry. The company remains committed to working with the soybean industry, public and private parties alike on this matter, so that the markets served by soybean farmers are not disrupted. Information about this transition is available online here.

December 16, 2009

Monsanto Plans for Roundup Ready® Soybeans Post Patent

The world’s most widely adopted biotech trait, Roundup ReadyR soybeans, is set to go off patent soon in the U.S. ? the last applicable Monsanto-owned patent is expected to expire in 2014. Although it’s still several years off, we’ve been discussing our thoughts about a post-patent environment for the past several years. These discussions culminated in communications with our seed licensees at the American Seed Trade Association annual meeting, held the first week of December.

As the company that first introduced biotech soybeans to the market, we’re also the first company to deal with figuring out what to do next. This is a big responsibility, and we’ve given it serious consideration. The first generation Roundup Ready soybean trait (sometimes referred to as “RR1”) was launched in 1996. Farmers rapidly began using the technology on their farms because of the improved weed control benefits. We sold soybeans with the Roundup Ready trait in our own seed brands, but also made the decision to license the technology broadly to other seed companies so that they could use the technology in their own varieties of soybean seed that they sell under their own brands. This approach made Roundup Ready technology more widely available, and at the same time gave farmers the option to buy seed from the company of their choice.

Now, almost 14 years later, the Roundup Ready trait is so successful that farmers have chosen to plant soybeans that use the technology on 9 out of 10 acres in the U.S.

Beginning in 2015, the RR1 trait will be available for use without royalty because all patents in the U.S. will have expired. We sent a letter yesterday to industry stakeholders to notify them of our plans and explain this in more detail.

The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Agriculture are conducting an ongoing review of the entire agriculture industry, including the seed and trait industry. Monsanto recently submitted comments to the Departments as part of the public comment period which ended on Dec. 31, 2009. The company's comments as well as its response to third party submissions are available on Monsanto's homepage under the "A look at the seed industry" section.

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NYT

The Monsanto Company, the world’s largest seed producer, said on Thursday that the Justice Department had formally requested information on its herbicide-tolerant soybean seed business as part of an investigation into anticompetitive practices.

The company said in a statementthat the Justice Department was seeking confirmation that competitors and farmers would have access to the seed, first-generation Roundup Ready, after the patent expired in 2014.

The Justice Department’s antitrust division “is investigating the possibility of anticompetitive practices in the seed industry,” a department spokeswoman, Gina Talamona, said.

Monsanto will not block seed makers from creating generic versions of any of its gene-modified seeds as they lose patent protection, the chief executive, Hugh Grant, said. Starting in 2015, farmers can replant Roundup Ready soybeans saved from the last year’s harvest, and rival seed makers can create their own Roundup-tolerant seeds.

“We understand why regulators would want to know more about competition in modern agriculture and how products are commercialized and used,” Scott Partridge, Monsanto’s chief deputy general counsel, said in the statement. “We believe that an objective review will show our business and our industry to be competitive.”

The company said it had provided access to “millions of pages of documents” and it was cooperating with the inquiry.

Roundup Ready soybeans are engineered to withstand Monsanto’s Roundup, the world’s most popular weed-killer. Contracts protect Monsanto’s patents in part by prohibiting farmers from planting saved seeds.

The Justice Department made informal inquiries last year into claims from the DuPont Company, the second-biggest seed company, that Monsanto unfairly used genetic licenses to dominate the engineered seed market.

Including seeds made by licensees, about 93 percent of soybean plantings last year contained Monsanto’s Roundup Ready trait.

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January 15, 2010 St. Louis Business Journal

Supreme Court to take up Monsanto alfalfa case

The Supreme Court said Friday it would consider overturning a court order that has blocked Monsanto Co. from selling alfalfa seeds that are genetically modified to resist its Roundup weed killer.

The nation’s highest court said it would hear Monsanto’s appeal of a ruling that prevented its Roundup Ready alfalfa from being planted since 2007.

The court’s decision in this case also could affect a second ruling involving the biotech company’s modified sugar beets.

Opponents claim that Monsanto’s genetically engineered seeds contaminate other crops, and that Roundup Ready promote superweeds, weeds that cannot easily be killed because they have developed a tolerance to weedkiller.

Monsanto defends its products, saying that cross-pollination is unlikely and that the environment benefits because less weedkiller would be used.

The Center for Food Safety filed a 2006 lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of non-profits and farmers who wanted to retain the choice to plant non-modified alfalfa, according to the center. CFS won the case and two appeals by Monsanto in the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2008 and 2009. Now the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case.

2009/9/21

Roundup Ready Alfalfa Court Case

Roundup Ready alfalfa completed review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and went on the market in 2005. However, a federal lawsuit was filed in early 2006 by the Center for Food Safety in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, citing the failure to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by USDA.

In May 2007, Judge Charles R. Breyer enjoined the further sale or planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa pending completion of the EIS by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

2007年5月、サンフランシスコ連邦地裁が米国全土での遺伝子組み換え（GM）アルファルファを栽培することを禁止した。以前の一時的禁止の決定を恒久化するもので、判事は、近隣農家を護るために、それが栽培されている場所を30日以内に公表することも命じた。

この決定の対象となるのはモンサント社が開発した除草剤耐性のラウンドアップ・レディーGMアルファルファで、今年はこの禁止前、主に飼料用に、全国でおよそ9万�f栽培されたという。

判決は、米国農務省（USDA）がGM作物が有機作物・非GM作物を汚染する可能性に関する適切な研究をしなかったと指摘、商業栽培許可前には、他花受粉の可能性などを含む完全な環境影響研究を行うことを命じた。モンサントは上訴するということだが、USDAはこれに従うという。

これはアルファルファにかかわるだけだが、これが前例となり、影響は他のGM作物の承認にも及ぶ可能性がある。米国では、このアルファルファと同類の除草剤耐性GM大豆・トウモロコシ・ワタも大量に栽培されている。

2008年9月、米国第９巡回区控訴裁判所が除草剤耐性遺伝子組み換え（GM）ラウンドアップ・レディーアルファルファの栽培の、完全な環境影響評価書が出るまでの禁止を確認した。

これは、米国農務省（USDA）がラウンドアップ・レディーアルファルファによる通常のアルファルファや有機アルファルファの汚染の問題に十分に取り組んでいないとした07年5月の連邦地裁の判決を改めて確認するものである。

第９巡回区控訴裁判所は、GMアルファルファの栽培が、有機及び通常品種に対する取り返すことができないかもしれない損害、環境に対する損害、そして農業者に対する経済的損害をもたらす可能性があると裁定したということである。

Mar 19, 2016

Monsanto shows interest in Bayer's crop science unit

Monsanto Co, the world's largest seed producer, has approached Bayer AG to express interest in its crop science unit, including a potential acquisition worth more than $30 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move underscores Monsanto's unabated expansion drive after Switzerland's Syngenta AG rejected its takeover approaches last year and agreed earlier this year to be acquired by ChemChina for $43 billion.

It also illustrates Monsanto's determination to further consolidate its industry, as the global seed and crop protection market continues to suffer from high inventories and low prices for agricultural commodities.

Monsanto executives met in Chicago recently to discuss the company's interest in Bayer's agricultural assets, the sources said this week. Monsanto sees valuable synergies between its seed business and the crop protection assets of Bayer, the sources added.

Among the possibilities discussed were an outright acquisition of the crop science unit and a joint venture or other type of partnership between the two companies, the sources said. These talks were preliminary, and another meeting between the two sides has been scheduled for April, the sources added.

Bayer has been holding the talks with Monsanto to probe its interest, the sources said. The German company currently has no plans to actively pursue a sale of its crop science division, the sources added.

The sources asked not to be identified because the discussions were confidential. Monsanto and Bayer declined to comment.

Bayer's crop science division has businesses in seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control. It had sales of 10.4 billion euros ($11.7 billion) in 2015 and posted adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of 2.42 billion euros.

Bayer is the second biggest player in crop chemicals, with an 18 per cent market share, just behind Syngenta, which has a 19 per cent share. Monsanto is a leader in seeds, with a 26 per cent market share, followed by Dupont, with 21 per cent. DuPont agreed last year to merge with Dow Chemical.

Bayer said last year it planned to keep its crop chemicals business, saying it was an "integral part" of the German healthcare group. It has said it aims to concentrate on its core brands in crop protection.

It also wants to strengthen its position in its established crops — cotton, oilseed rape/canola, rice and vegetables — and to establish competitive positions in soybeans and wheat.

August 11, 2018  Reuters　　　カリフォルニアの陪審員、モンサントの除草剤Roundup による癌で289百万ドルの賠償評決　（EPAは発癌性なし、WHOは発癌性の可能性あり）

Monsanto ordered to pay $289 million in world's first Roundup cancer trial

A California jury on Friday found Monsanto liable in a lawsuit filed by a man who alleged the company’s glyphosate-based weed-killers, including Roundup, caused his cancer and ordered the company to pay $289 million in damages.

The case of school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson was the first lawsuit to go to trial alleging glyphosate causes cancer. Monsanto, a unit of Bayer AG following a $62.5 billion acquisition by the German conglomerate, faces more than 5,000 similar lawsuits across the United States.

The jury at San Francisco’s Superior Court of California deliberated for three days before finding that Monsanto had failed to warn Johnson and other consumers of the cancer risks posed by its weed killers.

It awarded $39 million in compensatory and $250 million in punitive damages.

Monsanto in a statement said it would appeal the verdict. “Today’s decision does not change the fact that more than 800 scientific studies and reviews...support the fact that glyphosate does not cause cancer, and did not cause Mr. Johnson’s cancer,” the company said.

Monsanto denies that glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide, causes cancer and says decades of scientific studies have shown the chemical to be safe for human use.

Johnson’s case, filed in 2016, was fast-tracked for trial due to the severity of his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma リンパ腫, a cancer of the lymph system that he alleges was caused by Roundup and Ranger Pro, another Monsanto glyphosate herbicide. Johnson’s doctors said he is unlikely to live past 2020.

A former pest control manager for a California county school system, Johnson, 46, applied the weed killer up to 30 times per year.

Brent Wisner, a lawyer for Johnson, in a statement said jurors for the first time had seen internal company documents “proving that Monsanto has known for decades that glyphosate and specifically Roundup could cause cancer.” He called on Monsanto to “put consumer safety first over profits.”

Over the course of the four-week trial, jurors heard testimony by statisticians, doctors, public health researchers and epidemiologists who disagreed on whether glyphosate can cause cancer.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in September 2017 concluded a decades-long assessment of glyphosate risks and found the chemical not likely carcinogenic to humans. But the World Health Organization’s cancer arm in 2015 classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

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Bayer said in a statement: “Bayer is confident, based on the strength of the science, the conclusions of regulators around the world and decades of experience, that glyphosate is safe for use and does not cause cancer when used according to the label.”

2021/10/6