Monsanto's new food fight

http://www.fourwinds10.net/siterun_data/science_technology/dna_gmo/news.php?q=1342192092

They began by attaching a rider to the U.S. House of Representatives' 2013 Agriculture Appropriations bill that would allow new genetically engineered crops to be planted even when courts rule that the US Department of Agriculture has approved them illegally. This would result in, as one federal judge described it, "the potential elimination of a farmer's choice to grow non-genetically engineered crops, or a consumer's choice to eat non-genetically engineered food....

Now, Monsanto has slipped a similar provision into the House version of the Farm Bill.

Even if the US congress can be bought off by Monsanto, it appears that they are running into more trouble in Brazil, where Monsanto is being sued for $7.5 billion.

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15747

Monsanto's very presence in Brazil was predicated on fraud, as its GM soy seeds were first smuggled into the country illegally back in 1998....

But the entire Monsanto growing system for GMOs, which prohibits farmers from freely saving seeds and reusing them the following year -- and in this case, requires farmers to pay private taxes directly to Monsanto to do so -- is entirely against the law in Brazil....

Monsanto has indicated that it plans to continue collecting fees and charging taxes until the courts issue their final ruling on the matter. But this ruling is not expected to be issued until 2014.