Monsanto leaves Europe

[MikeH]

Monsanto has pulled out of GM crop research in Europe and is not planning to request approval for new GM seeds in Europe. Currently Monsanto sells GM corn only in Spain, Portugal and Czech republic. www.ir-d.dk/gmo-lose-europe-victory-for-environmental-organisations/

Monsanto confirmed abandoning GM crop efforts in Europe to Danish reporters: "We have plenty of other things to sell...We will sell it where people want it", said Brandon Mitchener, Public Affairs Lead for Monsanto Europe, "We made a strategic decision in 2011 to focus on entirely on hybrid or conventional,normal crops."

 

Monsanto's confirmation follows a similar decision from German biotech company BASF as well as Bayer CropScience and Syngenta who have also largely moved out of Europe.

[steev]

So Monsanto got its ass handed to it in most of Europe and is responding by saying, "This isn't really our ass in our hands, this is our commitment to do the opposite of what we've been doing". So Monsanto is only going to continue fucking people where their governments don't hand Monsanto its ass. Fair enough. Let's hope all the non-European governments (Hello! USA Congress!) get their priorities straight for the benefit of their citizens, just as if their job were to promote the general welfare, rather than doing corporate bidding.

[Marches]

Jun 5, 2013 21:29:56 GMT -5 steev said:

So Monsanto got its ass handed to it in most of Europe and is responding by saying, "This isn't really our ass in our hands, this is our commitment to do the opposite of what we've been doing". So Monsanto is only going to continue fucking people where their governments don't hand Monsanto its ass. Fair enough. Let's hope all the non-European governments (Hello! USA Congress!) get their priorities straight for the benefit of their citizens, just as if their job were to promote the general welfare, rather than doing corporate bidding.

In Europe there's massive distrust of GMOs and even those that aren't actively against them are still weary of them. In turn the governments have to listen to the people if the voices against GMOs become deafening, just imagine if people in the states were similarly opposed.
However I think the EU has left it up to individual states to decide anyway. But I'd expect ones that embraced GMOs would be target to trade embargoes on food containing such crops from more traditionalist countries such as France.

[nicollas]

Yeah, take that Monsanto.

So now we should get focused on being self suficient in fodder and stop to feed GMO to our livestock

[nastarana]

Don't you believe it. The latest word is that the evil M is merging with Syngenta, like Satan marrying Beelzebub, changing its' name, and relocating to London.

[petitvilaincanard]

Good news,
they realise that they can't impose a disaster to those who don't want it.
Of course they are still willing to help those who absolutely want a disaster.