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Monsanto quits GM wheat
10 May 2004
Monsanto, the world's biggest seller of genetically modified (GM) seeds, has announced that it is stopping all further efforts to commercialise its controversial GM wheat [1]. The decision has been welcomed by Friends of the Earth as "a worldwide victory for consumers and farmers".
Monsanto had applied in the US and Canada to grow the GM wheat - which had been modified to resist the company's own RoundUp herbicide - but has faced worldwide opposition from farmers, food manufacturers and consumers.
Monsanto has failed in attempts to get GM crops approved for import or cultivation in the EU for the past six years after politicians responded to consumer and farmer concerns about the safety of GMOs. The company signaled its withdrawal from GM wheat in the EU last year when its cereals division was put up for sale.Earlier this year Margaret Beckett announced that Monsanto's Round Up tolerant sugar beet and fodder beet would not be approved by the UK government because of damage to farmland wildlife arising from the weed control in the two crops [2].
In March another biotech giant, Bayer CropScience, announced that they no longer intended to press ahead with the commercialisation of GM maize in the UK despite conditional approval by the UK government [3].
Pete Riley GM Campaigner of Friends of the Earth said:
"This is worldwide victory for consumers and farmers. Virtually every major wheat-user in the world rejected this product before it was even allowed on the market. This is another major financial blow to Monsanto. It should now pull-out of this discredited business once and for all. The biotech industry and governments must now recognise that this technology is a blind alley, and that we should focus research on new crop management and technology aimed at sustainable farming."
Notes
1. Monsanto's press release can be found at: www.monsanto.com/monsanto/layout/investor/news&events/2004/05-10-04.asp
2. GM policy Statement by Margaret Beckett 9th March 2004.
3. Bayer CropsScience press release 31st March 2004.
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Last modified: Jun 2008
