{"id":18438,"date":"2019-10-31T05:46:01","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T05:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=18438"},"modified":"2019-11-02T10:44:35","modified_gmt":"2019-11-02T10:44:35","slug":"monsanto-wins-7-7b-lawsuit-in-brazil-but-farmers-fight-to-stop-its-amoral-royalty-system-will-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/monsanto-wins-7-7b-lawsuit-in-brazil-but-farmers-fight-to-stop-its-amoral-royalty-system-will-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"Monsanto wins $7.7b lawsuit in Brazil \u2013 but farmers’ fight to stop its \u2018amoral\u2019 royalty system will continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Karine Eliane Peschard<\/a>, Graduate Institute \u2013 Institut de hautes \u00e9tudes internationales et du d\u00e9veloppement (IHEID)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

A Brazilian appeals court has decided<\/a> in favor of Monsanto, the global agribusiness conglomerate, in a landmark class-action lawsuit filed by Brazilian farmers\u2019 unions.<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s nine justices unanimously ruled on Oct. 9 that farmers cannot save seeds for replanting if the seeds are harvested from Monsanto\u2019s patented Roundup Ready soybeans, which are genetically engineered to withstand direct application of the company\u2019s Roundup herbicide.<\/p>\n

The Brazilian ruling aligns with similar decisions in the U.S.<\/a> and Canada<\/a>. Courts in all three countries determined that, as a product of genetic engineering, Roundup Ready soybeans are protected by domestic patent law.<\/p>\n

In a public statement<\/a>, Monsanto \u2013 which was acquired by Bayer<\/a> in 2018 \u2013 said the decision will strengthen \u201cagricultural innovation in Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n

How strict patenting of seeds affects innovation, however, is a matter of debate<\/a>. And the lawsuits challenging Monsanto\u2019s aggressive pursuit of its patent rights<\/a> raise a vexed legal issue: When intellectual property laws that protect companies conflict with the rights of farmers to plant their fields, who should win?<\/p>\n

Monsanto \u2018owns everything\u2019<\/h2>\n

The Brazilian lawsuit is a sign of growing uneasiness<\/a> with the control Monsanto has over farmers, my research<\/a> on biotechnology and seeds<\/a> finds.<\/p>\n

Founded as a chemical manufacturer in 1901, Monsanto has invested heavily in agricultural biotechnology to become the world\u2019s largest seller of seeds<\/a>. Its biotech seeds have proved attractive to farmers because they simplify farm management<\/a>. Monsanto says its genetically modified seeds also increase crop yields<\/a>, and thus farmer income \u2013 but evidence on this subject is not probative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Monsanto\u2019s genetically modified corn seeds, sold under the brand DeKalb, are widely used in the U.S.<\/span>
\nAP Photo\/Seth Perlman<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the United States and Canada, Monsanto requires buyers of its genetically modified seeds to sign extensive licensing contracts<\/a> that prevent them from saving seeds. North American farmers who violate those agreements have been sued for patent infringement<\/a> and compelled to pay tens of thousands of dollars in damages<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Brazil, Monsanto charges 2% royalties on the sale of its patented soybeans, a conventional industry practice<\/a>. More unusually, the company charges an additional royalty \u2013 3% of farmers\u2019 sales \u2013 when soybeans are grown from saved Roundup Ready seeds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Soybeans are Brazil\u2019s biggest export<\/a>. The royalties in dispute in the class action, which is likely to be appealed to the Brazilian Supreme Court<\/a>, are estimated at US$7.7 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t stand it anymore \u2013 seeing those Monsanto people showing up at the grain elevator and behaving as if they own everything,\u201d one grain cooperative manager told the Brazilian Congress during a special commission on agriculture I attended in December 2017.<\/p>\n

\u2018Amoral\u2019 royalty collection<\/h2>\n

The Brazilian appeals court\u2019s Oct. 9 decision reverses a past ruling establishing the rights of small farmers in Brazil.<\/p>\n

In their original petition, farmers\u2019 unions in 2009 asserted that Monsanto\u2019s royalty collection system is arbitrary, illegal and abusive. They argued that it extends Monsanto\u2019s intellectual property rights to their own production and violates their right to freely save seeds for replanting, as guaranteed under Brazil\u2019s Plant Variety Protection Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In April 2012, a civil court agreed with the farmers<\/a>, affirming their rights to save seeds and sell their harvests as food or raw material without paying royalties<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Monsanto got this ruling overturned<\/a> on appeal. The Brazilian farmers\u2019 unions then appealed that decision, leading to the Oct. 9 ruling against them.<\/p>\n

\u201cMonsanto is amoral,\u201d Luiz Fernando Beninc\u00e1, a soybean producer and litigant in the class action suit told me in January 2017. \u201cIt will do anything for profits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Controversial products and practices<\/h2>\n

Monsanto is accustomed to litigation. Several of its other products – such as Agent Orange<\/a>, the synthetic chemicals PCBs<\/a> and, more recently, the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup<\/a> – have been embroiled in legal controversies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For decades, the St. Louis-based company, valued at $63 billion last year<\/a>, used its deep pockets and large teams of lawyers to intimidate farmers and defeat opponents<\/a> in courts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Due to concerns about its links with cancer, the Monsanto herbicide Roundup has been removed from many stores in the U.S. and Europe.<\/span>
\nJeepers Media\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From 1997 to 2018 Monsanto won every single intellectual property lawsuit that went to trial in the U.S. and Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It has had less success abroad. Courts in Argentina, the European Union and other countries with stronger farmers\u2019 rights<\/a> have checked<\/a> the company\u2019s aggressive use of royalties<\/a> to profit off the byproducts of patented products<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Judges in these cases confront a tricky legal issue.<\/p>\n

In theory, a genetically engineered DNA sequence like the one that confers herbicide resistance to Monsanto\u2019s Roundup Ready soybeans can be protected under patent law. Yet the plant variety in which the genetic sequence is introduced may also be legally protected, as it is under Brazil\u2019s Plant Variety Protection Act.<\/p>\n

In practice, however, it is virtually impossible to separate genetically engineered DNA sequences from the rest of the physical plant. So the two laws \u2013 one recognizing the rights of farmers to save seeds for replanting in their fields, the other protecting Monsanto\u2019s intellectual property \u2013 conflict with each other.<\/p>\n

Defend farmers or protect corporations?<\/h2>\n

Faced with this conundrum, the Canadian<\/a> and U.S. Supreme Courts<\/a> have ruled that the exclusive rights of a patent holder over plant genetic sequences extend to the plants themselves, thereby allowing companies like Monsanto to prohibit farmers from saving seeds.<\/p>\n

Brazil has effectively agreed with this interpretation \u2013 for now. The lawyer for the Brazilian farmers unions, N\u00e9ri Perin, says the ruling \u201cdisregards Brazil\u2019s international commitment<\/a> to guarantee farmers\u2019 rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

But more troubles await Bayer-Monsanto.<\/p>\n

In a separate lawsuit, Brazilian soybean farmers are challenging the validity of Monsanto\u2019s patent on second-generation Roundup Ready soybeans<\/a>. In India, the courts have been asked to rule<\/a> on the validity of Monsanto\u2019s patent for a cotton variety genetically engineered to be insect resistant.<\/p>\n

Monsanto has long had the upper hand over the farmers who use its products. But the momentum may be shifting.<\/p>\n

[ Like what you\u2019ve read? Want more?<\/em> Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s daily newsletter<\/a>. ]\"The<\/p>\n

Karine Eliane Peschard<\/a>, Anthropologist and Research Associate, Graduate Institute \u2013 Institut de hautes \u00e9tudes internationales et du d\u00e9veloppement (IHEID)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Karine Eliane Peschard, Graduate Institute \u2013 Institut de hautes \u00e9tudes internationales et du d\u00e9veloppement (IHEID) A Brazilian appeals court has decided in favor of Monsanto, the global agribusiness conglomerate, in a landmark class-action lawsuit filed by Brazilian farmers\u2019 unions. The court\u2019s nine justices unanimously ruled on Oct. 9 that farmers cannot save seeds for replanting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":18432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,1862],"tags":[216,804,4533,7170,4901,7172,7171,7173,4708],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18438"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18449,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18438\/revisions\/18449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}