Reuters | December 15, 1999 | By Greg Frost
PARIS - The environmental activist whose group backed a class action lawsuit filed against Monsanto Co said on Wednesday he would not rule out the U.S. government joining the suit as a plaintiff.
Jeremy Rifkin, head of the Foundation on Economic Trends, compared the lawsuit filed on Tuesday against Monsanto to the U.S. government's anti-trust case against software giant Microsoft or the case against the tobacco industry brought by U.S. attorneys general.
"There are many instances in new, controversial areas of law where issues are first raised by the private sector. That does not mean the Justice Department could not join (the lawsuit at a later date)," Rifkin said at a news conference here.
"Let me just say it would not surprise me if this (lawsuit) were broadened," he added.
However, Rifkin declined to comment on whether the plaintiffs had spoken with the Justice Department about its joining the lawsuit, and referred all such questions to the lawyers handling the case in Washington.
The lawsuit, which was brought at Rifkin's urging and which names a group of Iowa, Indiana and French farmers as plaintiffs, accuses Monsanto of rushing genetically altered seeds to market without first ensuring they were safe for consumers and the environment.
ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES CLAIMED
The complaint also accuses the life sciences giant of violating anti-trust law, saying its patented genes had given it too much control over how staple crops are used.
Monsanto denied the charges and said it would fight the lawsuit.
"Monsanto has created a global cartel in which it is the hub and other companies are the spokes," Rifkin said.
"Through various anti-competitive practices, it seeks to control world production of agriculture and food, with particular concentration on power over seeds," he said.
Also named in the court case as alleged co-conspirators were Novartis AG, DuPont Co, Dow Chemical Co, and AstraZeneca Plc. Lawyers for the farmers said the companies were not formally charged as defendants in the case, but could be added to the lawsuit in the future.
Rifkin noted that Monsanto and others were trying to alter age-old agricultural practices by making farmers license the genetic material inside its seeds and preventing them from using the seeds for future crops without first paying for them.
"What this means is that if the companies get their way, no farmer in the world will ever own a seed again. If that doesn't hold implications for anti-trust law in the world of agriculture, then I don't know what does," he said.
Rifkin said he hoped the lawsuit would alter the debate over genetically modified foods, which until recently had centred on international trade and regulatory questions involving federal agencies.
"We think this will refocus the spotlight on giant global companies and the power they are exerting over food, farming and cultural sovereignty," he said.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.
