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GMOs
> Financial Liabilities
 US and Canadian Farmers Sued.
Percy
Schmeiser (Canada) and Rodney Nelson (US) are two farmers that have had
legal action taken against them as Monsanto claimed they had not paid
to use their technology.
By 'technology' Monsanto meant
having crops growing that contained a genetic modification that they
had copyrighted to be in that crop.
The Judges in Canada
supported Monsanto saying, 'That no matter how the farmers crops became
pollinated by Monsanto's GM pollen, whether intentionally of by
accident, the crop now belongs to Monsanto. Further that the onus was
on the farmer to tell Monsanto of the 'contamination'
More
recently Percy Schmeiser has contacted Monsanto to ask them to remove
the the more recent contaminated crop, having failed in the courts to
sue Monsanto for the contamination. (The judge stated that Monsanto had
the right to contaminate any crop)
Monsanto however will
only remove the contaminated crops if Percy Schmeiser never tries to
sue them again or talk about the contamination. Something he is not
prepared to do.
So the problem is that any company that
generates a new strain of seed by genetic mutation can claim any ownership of or a technology fee for any other crop that gets cross pollinated with their GM crop.
Monsanto and the like are targeting large farms with substantial incomes. They have their own police force scouring the
country to find contaminated crops to charge a 'technology fee'.
So
not only do farmers in the US and Canada have to accept the contamination with no recourse to
compensation but are liable for the privilege of having
thier crops contaminated.
 The EU is to draft alternative laws hopefully to stop this blatant piracy of conventional farming and horticulture.
The dangers are that either the EU will be forced to backdown by the Big Corporations or make a weak law that allows increasing contamination.
Two practicle issues.
1. The level of contamination
2. The cost of testing
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EVENTS
talk ethical investment christian ecology link Plymouth 23rd Oct 08
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