A thousand bee stings from global Civil Society have put Monsanto and the
other Gene Giants on virtual life-support. Overseas markets for genetically
engineered (GE) seeds and crops are closing down, protests are continuing,
scientific evidence of risk is mounting, and regulations and labeling
requirements are tightening. As Mexico-based biotech analyst Silvia Ribeiro
from ETC Group stated at a teach-in in Sacramento, "Five Gene Giants
(Monsanto, Syngenta, Dupont, Bayer, and Dow) selling four GE seed crops
(soybeans, corn, canola, and cotton), to farmers in three countries (U.S.,
Canada, and Argentina) with two agricultural traits (herbicide-resistant and
Bt pesticide-spliced) have one goal: control of the global food system."
The
good news, reported daily on the Organic Consumers Association website,
www.organicconsumers.org, and in previous issues of BioDemocracy News and
Organic Bytes, is that the biotech industry's Master Plan for global
domination seems to be failing. Even with George Bush leading the charge,
even with intimidation and bullying reaching new levels of desperation, the
Biotech Express has derailed.
Once mighty Monsanto-whose GE seeds account for a full 91% of all global
Frankencrops-is in critical condition. The company's stock values have
fallen by 50%, reflecting a loss of $1.7 billion on $4.7 billion in sales
last year. As revealed in recent news stories, and a crucial investment
report published in April 2003, by Strategic Value Advisors, Monsanto and
the agbiotech industry's mounting vulnerabilities include:
- Global markets for GE seeds and grains are shrinking, due to
consumer resistance and mounting export and labeling restrictions. Global
sales of GE seeds have leveled off at $4.5 billion, while organic ($23
billion) and non-GE food sales are booming. U.S. and Canadian farmers have
literally lost billions of dollars in export sales of GE-tainted corn,
soybeans, and canola. Even in the U.S., consumer concerns are mounting. An
ABC News poll released July 15, found that the majority of U.S. consumers
(55%) are now opposed to GE foods, while 92% support mandatory labeling. - New labeling and traceability laws are slowly but surely closing
down the market for the last billion dollars of US GE-derived soybeans (down
from $3.2 billion several years ago) exported every year as animal feed to
Europe. Brazil, with a ban on GMOs (genetically modified organisms), has now
replaced the U.S. as the largest exporter of soybeans in the world.
According to the May 2003 trade publication, The Non-GMO Source, Brazil will
export $7.9 billion of soybeans this year, while the U.S. will export "less
than $7 billion." - The international Biosafety Protocol, which requires the labeling
of seeds and "prior consent" from countries importing GMOs, will come into
force in September, despite objections from Monsanto and the Bush
administration. Meanwhile the WTO's food standards body, the Codex
Alimentarius, has ruled that countries may legally require their own
additional safety testing and mandatory labeling for GMOs, including animal
feeds, which currently account for more than 80% of the world's GE crops.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/un_ge_standards.cfm - Monsanto's only real commercial markets for GE seeds (the U.S.,
Canada, Argentina, and China) are quickly becoming saturated. A full 80% of
U.S. and 90% of Argentina's soybeans are already GE. One-third of U.S. corn
is GE, but this is mainly because Monsanto has been selling Bt and
Roundup-Ready corn seeds at bargain basement prices, a practice which it can
no longer afford. Two-thirds of US cotton is already GE. Canada's Roundup
Ready canola acreage has shrunk from 14 million acres to 9 million acres. No
other countries in the world are likely to plant GE crops on a major
commercial scale in the near future. A mounting number of developing nations
are not even willing to take GE-tainted corn and soya in food aid shipments. - Monsanto and the industry's main future crops and projected profits
are in serious jeopardy. GE wheat, rice, trees, and biopharm drugs are
facing unprecedented opposition, not only from overseas buyers, but also
from U.S. and Canadian farmers. Even major trade associations such as the
National Food Processors Association and the Grocery Manufacturers of
America, and food giants such as General Mills and Frito-Lay, have told
Monsanto to back off on GE wheat and biopharm crops. "To the extent that
consumers want choice, they want to choose non-biotech,'' said Karil
Kochenderfer, the biotechnology coordinator for the Grocery Manufacturers of
America, which represents food companies such as Kraft and General Mills. - While Monsanto and the biotech industry continue to lie and paint a
rosy future for GMOs in the media, it is a crime, under U.S. law, for them
to deliberately lie to investors. Thus in their most recent 10K report to
investors, Monsanto admits that genetic drift from biotech and biopharm
crops is unavoidable, that potential financial liabilities are
unpredictable, and that no new countries will be planting their GE seeds in
the near future. - Monsanto's monopoly patent on glyphosate, the active ingredient in
Roundup, the top-selling herbicide in the world, traditional source of
almost half of the company's profits, has expired. Now Monsanto's
competitors, such as Syngenta (formerly Novartis), are selling glyphosate as
well, at reduced prices, slicing away at Monsanto's life support. In
Australia, Monsanto has stopped selling glyphosate altogether, with
lower-priced Chinese imports taking over the market. Monsanto has also
admitted to investors that its sales of Roundup will continue to decline,
from its current global market share of 77% to the low 60's by 2005.
Meanwhile the price per gallon Monsanto receives for Roundup is expected to
drop from $23 to $14-15 per gallon by 2005. - As discussed in previous issues of BioDemocracy News, weeds such as
marestail (horsetail), rye grass, and hemp grass are starting to develop
resistance to glyphosate, a literal death sentence for Roundup-Ready crops,
which comprise 71% of the world's GMOs. In Arkansas, a full 20% of the state
's 2.9 million acres of Roundup Ready soybeans and cotton are sprouting
herbicide-resistant marestail weeds.
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