Folks: as you might expect, there is more to the story. Ann
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: RAFI News Posting Account <herald@rafi.org>
> To: Multiple recipients of news - Sent by <herald@rafi.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 1999 7:55 AM
> Subject: News Release from RAFI
>
> > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> >
> > Rural Advancement Foundation International
> > News Release - 4 October 1999
> > rafi@rafi.org
> > http://www.rafi.org
> >
> >
> > *** Terminator Terminated? ***
> >
> > Monsanto surrenders 'suicide seeds'
> > but continues work on other Traitor Technologies
> >
> > With biotech's Silver Bullet firmly imbedded in its own foot, Monsanto is
> > dropping its guns, abandoning the Terminator, and telling farmers that it
> > wants to play nice. Not so fast, hombre!
> >
> > Following 18 months of controversy and intense popular opposition around
> > the world, Monsanto CEO Robert B. Shapiro has advised Gordon Conway,
> > President of the Rockefeller Foundation that Monsanto has decided to
> > abandon plans to commercialize Terminator Technology (causing crop seed to
> > become sterile at harvest time). Monsanto's open letter to Rockefeller is
> > available on the company's web site at:
> > http:/www.monsanto.com/monsanto/gurt/default.htm
> > However, the company says it will continue to pursue closely-related
> > research targets that could allow Monsanto to switch on - or off - other
> > genetic traits vital to a crop's productivity. RAFI calls it "Traitor"
> > technology.
> >
> > "Congratulations should go to the civil society organizations,
> > farmers, scientists, and governments all over the world
> > who have waged highly effective anti-Terminator campaigns during the
> > past 18 months," said Pat Mooney, Executive Director of RAFI, in reaction
> > to Monsanto's announcement. "The public unanimously
> > rejected Terminator because its bad for farmers, food security, and the
> > environment," explained Mooney.
> >
> > "Monsanto would never have abandoned the profit-generating
> > potential of sterile seeds just because it was an immoral technology,"
> > said RAFI's Research Director, Hope Shand. "The company
> > finally realized that Terminator will never win public acceptance.
> > Terminator has became synonymous with corporate greed, and it was
> > met with intense opposition all over the world," adds Shand.
> >
> > Limping from a Silver Bullet:
> >
> > Monsanto is the second major "Gene Giant" to back away from Terminator
> > Technology. In June of this year, the UN Convention on Biological
> Diversity
> > received a letter from UK-based AstraZeneca announcing that it would
> > not commercialize seed sterility technologies. "In all, more than a
> > dozen companies and public institutes have at least 31 patents that
> > include claims involving seed sterilization," Pat Mooney says. Monsanto
> was
> > the big gun, however, and Terminator became a public relations disaster
> > for the company when it made a bid to acquire Delta & Pine Land Seed
> > Company in May, 1998. Delta & Pine Land co-owns the "prototype"
> > Terminator patent with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) --
> > US patent number 5,723,765. In addition, Monsanto
> > holds a second patent, WO 9744465, published 27 November 1997.
> >
> > Terminator Turn-Around:
> >
> > Even though RAFI does not question Monsanto's public commitment
> > to abandon Terminator, it notes that market and technical realities may
> > eventually force a different outcome. In a letter dated 24 February 1999
> > AstraZeneca categorically stated that it abandoned the development of its
> > Terminator-type technology for the purpose of seed sterilization in 1992.
> > RAFI discovered that ExSeed, an AstraZeneca joint venture with Iowa State
> > University, won a new seed sterilization patent on 11 August 1997, based
> on
> > a claim made in 1995 - three years after AstraZeneca's research was to
> have
> > been abandoned.
> >
> > "We can't trust where the technology and companies may be taking us," said
> > RAFI's Pat Mooney. "The technology for seed sterilization and trait
> control
> > are on the same trajectory. At some point, either through a corporate
> > take-over or a change in management, trait control could easily be
> > transformed back into genetic seed sterilization," cautions Mooney.
> >
> > Transnational Trait Control = Bioserfdom
> >
> > All the Gene Giants are pursing R&D on Terminator and Traitor technology,
> > warns RAFI. Companies, including Monsanto, are working to control
> important
> > genetic traits of plants with external chemical catalysts. Once
> perfected,
> > a seed's genetic trait(s) could be turned on or off with the application
> of a
> > proprietary chemical, such as an herbicide or fertilizer, for example.
> > "The companies tell us that trait control will mean more
> > options for farmers, but chemically-dependent seeds will more likely lead
> > to bioserfdom," warns Hope Shand, RAFI's Research Director. RAFI's
> > in-depth report on Traitor technology, and a list of private and public
> > sector institutions who hold Terminator-type patents, is available at:
> > http://www.rafi.org
> >
> > USDA Stands Alone:
> >
> > When will USDA follow suit? USDA is now in the shameful position
> > of supporting and defending a genetic technology that the world's 2nd
> > largest seed corporation has clearly rejected due to public opposition. At
> > a meeting with civil society organizations in June, Under-Secretary of
> > Agriculture Richard Rominger told RAFI that USDA refuses to abandon
> > the patent it co-owns with Delta & Pine Land (a Mississippi-based seed
> > company in the process of being acquired by Monsanto) because it wants
> > to see the technology widely licensed.
> >
> > Robert Shapiro's letter says that Monsanto made the decision to reject
> > Terminator, in part, because it was responding to the views of its
> > "very important grower constituency." "Why is USDA ignoring its
> > farm constituency? Why does USDA insist on defending a technology that
> > is bad for farmers, food security, and the environment?," asks RAFI's Hope
> > Shand.
> >
> > "USDA is increasingly marginalized in its support of Terminator, it should
> > immediately cease negotiations with Delta & Pine Land, abandon the
> > patent, and develop a strict policy prohibiting the use of taxpayer funds
> > for the development of genetic seed sterilization," said Hope Shand.
> >
> > Governments Need to Pull the Plug on Terminator:
> >
> > "Monsanto has taken a positive step, but let's not forget that farmers
> can
> > never depend on the charity and good will of
> > the Gene Giants to reject immoral technologies," concludes
> > RAFI's Moooney. "Without government action to firmly reject Terminator
> > and Traitor technology, these technologies will be commercialized
> > within a few years with potentially disastrous consequences," cautions
> > RAFI's Mooney.
> >
> > RAFI urges national governments to take action at WTO and
> > elsewhere to reject Terminator and Traitor technology on the basis
> > of public morality. Next month, Ministers of Agriculture will gather for a
> > ministerial meeting at the United Nations Food and Agriculture
> > Organization in Rome. "It's the perfect opportunity for Ministers to
> > affirm Monsanto and AstraZeneca's conclusion that Terminator technology
> > is not safe for farmers or food security," concludes RAFI's Shand.
> >
> > * * * * *
> >
> > RAFI is a non-profit international civil society organization
> headquartered
> > in Winnipeg, Canada. For more than twenty years, RAFI has worked on the
> > social and economic impact of new technologies as they impact rural
> > societies.
> >
> > For further information:
> >
> > Pat Roy Mooney
> > Executive Director,
> > RAFI
> > 110 Osborne St., Suite 202
> > WINNIPEG MB R3L 1Y5 CANADA
> > Tel: (204) 453-5259
> > Fax: (204) 925-8034
> > E-mail: rafi@rafi.org
> >
> >
> > Hope Shand,
> > Research Director
> > RAFI
> > 118 E. Main Street, Room 211
> > Carrboro, NC 27510-2300
> > USA
> > Ph. (919) 960-5223
> > Fax: (919) 960-5224
> > E-mail: hope@rafi.org
> >
> >
> >
> > RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation Int'l.)
> > 110 Osborne St., Suite 202
> > WINNIPEG MB R3L 1Y5
> > CANADA
> > Tel: (204) 453-5259
> > Fax: (204) 925-8034
> > E-mail: rafi@rafi.org
> > Internet: www.rafi.org
> >
> >
> >
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Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 12:03:35 -0600
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From: shirley bray <sbray@TELUSPLANET.NET>
Subject: Fw: News Release from RAFI
To: GENETICGENIE-L@LISTSERV.UOGUELPH.CA
----- Original Message -----
From: RAFI News Posting Account <herald@rafi.org>
To: Multiple recipients of news - Sent by <herald@rafi.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 1999 7:55 AM
Subject: News Release from RAFI
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> Rural Advancement Foundation International
> News Release - 4 October 1999
> rafi@rafi.org
> http://www.rafi.org
>
>
> *** Terminator Terminated? ***
>
> Monsanto surrenders 'suicide seeds'
> but continues work on other Traitor Technologies
>
> With biotech's Silver Bullet firmly imbedded in its own foot, Monsanto is
> dropping its guns, abandoning the Terminator, and telling farmers that it
> wants to play nice. Not so fast, hombre!
>
> Following 18 months of controversy and intense popular opposition around
> the world, Monsanto CEO Robert B. Shapiro has advised Gordon Conway,
> President of the Rockefeller Foundation that Monsanto has decided to
> abandon plans to commercialize Terminator Technology (causing crop seed to
> become sterile at harvest time). Monsanto's open letter to Rockefeller is
> available on the company's web site at:
> http:/www.monsanto.com/monsanto/gurt/default.htm
> However, the company says it will continue to pursue closely-related
> research targets that could allow Monsanto to switch on - or off - other
> genetic traits vital to a crop's productivity. RAFI calls it "Traitor"
> technology.
>
> "Congratulations should go to the civil society organizations,
> farmers, scientists, and governments all over the world
> who have waged highly effective anti-Terminator campaigns during the
> past 18 months," said Pat Mooney, Executive Director of RAFI, in reaction
> to Monsanto's announcement. "The public unanimously
> rejected Terminator because its bad for farmers, food security, and the
> environment," explained Mooney.
>
> "Monsanto would never have abandoned the profit-generating
> potential of sterile seeds just because it was an immoral technology,"
> said RAFI's Research Director, Hope Shand. "The company
> finally realized that Terminator will never win public acceptance.
> Terminator has became synonymous with corporate greed, and it was
> met with intense opposition all over the world," adds Shand.
>
> Limping from a Silver Bullet:
>
> Monsanto is the second major "Gene Giant" to back away from Terminator
> Technology. In June of this year, the UN Convention on Biological
Diversity
> received a letter from UK-based AstraZeneca announcing that it would
> not commercialize seed sterility technologies. "In all, more than a
> dozen companies and public institutes have at least 31 patents that
> include claims involving seed sterilization," Pat Mooney says. Monsanto
was
> the big gun, however, and Terminator became a public relations disaster
> for the company when it made a bid to acquire Delta & Pine Land Seed
> Company in May, 1998. Delta & Pine Land co-owns the "prototype"
> Terminator patent with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) --
> US patent number 5,723,765. In addition, Monsanto
> holds a second patent, WO 9744465, published 27 November 1997.
>
> Terminator Turn-Around:
>
> Even though RAFI does not question Monsanto's public commitment
> to abandon Terminator, it notes that market and technical realities may
> eventually force a different outcome. In a letter dated 24 February 1999
> AstraZeneca categorically stated that it abandoned the development of its
> Terminator-type technology for the purpose of seed sterilization in 1992.
> RAFI discovered that ExSeed, an AstraZeneca joint venture with Iowa State
> University, won a new seed sterilization patent on 11 August 1997, based
on
> a claim made in 1995 - three years after AstraZeneca's research was to
have
> been abandoned.
>
> "We can't trust where the technology and companies may be taking us," said
> RAFI's Pat Mooney. "The technology for seed sterilization and trait
control
> are on the same trajectory. At some point, either through a corporate
> take-over or a change in management, trait control could easily be
> transformed back into genetic seed sterilization," cautions Mooney.
>
> Transnational Trait Control = Bioserfdom
>
> All the Gene Giants are pursing R&D on Terminator and Traitor technology,
> warns RAFI. Companies, including Monsanto, are working to control
important
> genetic traits of plants with external chemical catalysts. Once
perfected,
> a seed's genetic trait(s) could be turned on or off with the application
of a
> proprietary chemical, such as an herbicide or fertilizer, for example.
> "The companies tell us that trait control will mean more
> options for farmers, but chemically-dependent seeds will more likely lead
> to bioserfdom," warns Hope Shand, RAFI's Research Director. RAFI's
> in-depth report on Traitor technology, and a list of private and public
> sector institutions who hold Terminator-type patents, is available at:
> http://www.rafi.org
>
> USDA Stands Alone:
>
> When will USDA follow suit? USDA is now in the shameful position
> of supporting and defending a genetic technology that the world's 2nd
> largest seed corporation has clearly rejected due to public opposition. At
> a meeting with civil society organizations in June, Under-Secretary of
> Agriculture Richard Rominger told RAFI that USDA refuses to abandon
> the patent it co-owns with Delta & Pine Land (a Mississippi-based seed
> company in the process of being acquired by Monsanto) because it wants
> to see the technology widely licensed.
>
> Robert Shapiro's letter says that Monsanto made the decision to reject
> Terminator, in part, because it was responding to the views of its
> "very important grower constituency." "Why is USDA ignoring its
> farm constituency? Why does USDA insist on defending a technology that
> is bad for farmers, food security, and the environment?," asks RAFI's Hope
> Shand.
>
> "USDA is increasingly marginalized in its support of Terminator, it should
> immediately cease negotiations with Delta & Pine Land, abandon the
> patent, and develop a strict policy prohibiting the use of taxpayer funds
> for the development of genetic seed sterilization," said Hope Shand.
>
> Governments Need to Pull the Plug on Terminator:
>
> "Monsanto has taken a positive step, but let's not forget that farmers
can
> never depend on the charity and good will of
> the Gene Giants to reject immoral technologies," concludes
> RAFI's Moooney. "Without government action to firmly reject Terminator
> and Traitor technology, these technologies will be commercialized
> within a few years with potentially disastrous consequences," cautions
> RAFI's Mooney.
>
> RAFI urges national governments to take action at WTO and
> elsewhere to reject Terminator and Traitor technology on the basis
> of public morality. Next month, Ministers of Agriculture will gather for a
> ministerial meeting at the United Nations Food and Agriculture
> Organization in Rome. "It's the perfect opportunity for Ministers to
> affirm Monsanto and AstraZeneca's conclusion that Terminator technology
> is not safe for farmers or food security," concludes RAFI's Shand.
>
> * * * * *
>
> RAFI is a non-profit international civil society organization
headquartered
> in Winnipeg, Canada. For more than twenty years, RAFI has worked on the
> social and economic impact of new technologies as they impact rural
> societies.
>
> For further information:
>
> Pat Roy Mooney
> Executive Director,
> RAFI
> 110 Osborne St., Suite 202
> WINNIPEG MB R3L 1Y5 CANADA
> Tel: (204) 453-5259
> Fax: (204) 925-8034
> E-mail: rafi@rafi.org
>
>
> Hope Shand,
> Research Director
> RAFI
> 118 E. Main Street, Room 211
> Carrboro, NC 27510-2300
> USA
> Ph. (919) 960-5223
> Fax: (919) 960-5224
> E-mail: hope@rafi.org
>
>
>
> RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation Int'l.)
> 110 Osborne St., Suite 202
> WINNIPEG MB R3L 1Y5
> CANADA
> Tel: (204) 453-5259
> Fax: (204) 925-8034
> E-mail: rafi@rafi.org
> Internet: www.rafi.org
>
>
>
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