GuelphMercury - Local organic insiders watching closely as Monsanto...
Local organic insiders watching closely as Monsanto sued over seed patents
GUELPH — Monsanto, the world’s largest seed and biotechnology company, is being jointly sued by American and Canadian organic farmers, seed businesses and agricultural organizations.
The lawsuit, filed by the Public Patent Foundation in the federal district court of Manhattan, is an effort to protect organic and conventional farmers from being accused by Monsanto of patent infringement when crops come to be influenced by the company’s genetically modified seed. The legal action is expected to take years to reach a conclusion.
In a Reuters report, Monsanto called the lawsuit misleading and a “publicity stunt.” The company said it has never sued and has committed to never suing farmers over the inadvertent presence of biotechnology traits in their fields. Speaking of the lawsuit, Monsanto said such efforts “seek to reduce private and public investment in the development of new higher-yielding seed technologies.”
Local organic insiders say the lawsuit, aimed at challenging Monsanto’s genetically modified seed patents as not in the public interest, has far-reaching ramifications for organic farmers in Ontario and across Canada.
“It’s basically a game changer in genetic modification,” said Jodi Koberinski, executive director of the Guelph-based Organic Council of Ontario.
Laura Telford of Canadian Organic Growers said the Public Patent Foundation will argue that Monsanto has received several patents that the foundation regards as being “contrary to the public’s interest.” The foundation will argue Monsanto patents for GMO technologies are invalid over the plaintiffs’ belief the patents are not beneficial to society, one of the requirements of a patent.
“A good part of the reason why groups like Canadian Organic Growers signed on is we are sick of these companies suing farmers,” Telford said, adding that GM seed is particularly devastating for organic farmers because contamination can force them to lose their organic certification and consequently their livelihood.
Suing Monsanto is a “huge risk,” she added.
Telford said Monsanto is regarded as litigious and financially able to enter into additional litigation even if it proves protracted.
Organic Council of Ontario is not opposed to the registration of seed varieties as a way of protecting the seed developer’s investment, Koberinski added. But it is opposed to patenting seeds or any other form of life.
“Part of what is interesting about this case is, basically it is saying that if we know this product is going to end up anywhere and everywhere, it means that anybody and everybody is potentially in violation of the patent,” he said.
The Public Patent Foundation suit argues the cross-pollination of GM seed with conventional or organic seed is unavoidable.
In a press release, Dan Ravicher, the organization’s executive director, called the situation that a farmer could be sued for having crops with unintended GM components “perverse.”
“It seems quite perverse that an organic farmer’s crops, contaminated by transgenic seed, could be accused of patent infringement ... so we had to act to protect the interests of our clients,” he stated.
Monsanto holds patents on several GM seeds, including ones for corn, canola, alfalfa and soybeans. The company has sued farmers for patent infringements after crops were found to contain the genes of Monsanto’s GM seed.
Canadian Organic Growers, along with several producers on the prairies, are among the Canadian plaintiffs in the case. The suit comes at a time when new Monsanto GM seeds for alfalfa and sugar beets have been authorized for sale in the U.S., but vehemently opposed in Canada by organic producers who assert they fear it will contaminate their crops and destroy their organic certification.
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