프랑스 최고법원(대법원)이 미국의 농화학 거대기업 몬산토가 슈퍼 제초제 라운드업의 안전성에 대해 진실을 이야기하지 않았다는 이유로 유죄판결을 내렸다는 소식입니다.(아래 BBC 뉴스 참조)
재판부는 몬산토가 라운드업 제초제가 “미생물에 의해 무해한 물질로 분해되며”, “토양을 청결한 상태로 유지한다”며 거짓 광고를 했다고 판단했습니다. 이에 따라 몬산토에게 1만 5천 유로의 벌금을 부과했습니다.
프랑스 환경운동진영은 지난 2001년 몬산토사의 라운드업 제초제의 주성분인 glyphosate가 유럽연합에 의해 “환경에 유해한 물질(dangerous for the environment)”로 분류된 것에 근거하여 몬산토사를 제소했습니다.
프랑스 대법원은 최근 몬산토사에 대한 지난 2007년 리옹 지방법원의 유죄판결과 2008년 리옹 항소법원의 유죄판결에 대해 확정판결을 내렸습니다.
한편 2009년 10월 초, 라운드업 제초제의 판매가 하락함에 따라 몬산토사의 4/4분기 손실이 2억3천3백만$에 이를 것으로 발표되었습니다.(자세한 내용은 아래 AP 기사 참조)
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Monsanto guilty in ‘false ad’ row
출처 : BBC Thursday, 15 October 2009 14:13 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8308903.stm
France’s highest court has ruled that US agrochemical giant Monsanto had not told the truth about the safety of its best-selling weed-killer, Roundup.
The court confirmed an earlier judgment that Monsanto had falsely advertised its herbicide as “biodegradable” and claimed it “left the soil clean”.
The company was fined 15,000 euros (£13,800; $22,400). It has yet to comment on the judgment.
Roundup is the world’s best-selling herbicide.
Monsanto also sells crops genetically-engineered to be tolerant to Roundup.
French environmental groups had brought the case in 2001 on the basis that glyphosate, Roundup’s main ingredient, is classed as “dangerous for the environment” by the European Union.
In the latest ruling, France’s Supreme Court upheld two earlier convictions against Monsanto by the Lyon criminal court in 2007, and the Lyon court of appeal in 2008, the AFP news agency reports.
Earlier this month, Monsanto reported a fourth quarter loss of $233m (£147m), driven mostly by a drop in sales of its Roundup brand.
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Monsanto 4Q loss widens, adjusted earns beat view
출처 : AP통신 Wed Oct 7, 5:12 pm ET
ST. LOUIS – Monsanto Co., the world’s biggest seed maker, said Wednesday its fourth-quarter loss widened to $233 million in the fourth quarter on lower revenue, led by a drop in sales of its Roundup herbicide which is facing on onslaught of generic competition.
Its adjusted earnings narrowly beat Wall Street estimates, however.
Monsanto said its loss amounted to 43 cents per share in the quarter ended Aug. 31. That’s larger than its loss of $172 million, or 31 cents per share, a year earlier.
When one-time items are excluded, Monsanto said it earned 2 cents per share on an ongoing basis, beating Wall Street estimates for earnings of 1 cent per share. The estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Revenue fell to $1.88 billion from $2.05 billion the previous year.
The global market for Roundup has been deteriorating as rivals flood the market with generic versions of the chemical.
Sales in the agricultural chemical division, which includes Roundup, fell 12.5 percent to $971 million. By contrast, sales in Monsanto’s seed and genomics division fell nearly 4 percent to $908 million during the quarter.
Chief Executive Hugh Grant said Monsanto is still on target to meet its 2007 goal of doubling that year’s profits by 2012. The decline in Roundup sales only strengthens Monsanto’s plan to focus on genetically engineered crops, while de-emphasizing its longer-standing chemical business.
“We believe today, as we did in the fall of 2007, that the growth of this company is absolutely, directly correlated to the value of our seeds and traits on the farm,” Grant said during a conference call Wednesday.
Monsanto is moving ahead aggressively with its plan to release corn plants with multiple engineered genes, called SmartStax corn, during 2010, Grant said. A boost in sales of the more expensive SmartStax seeds helped Monsanto boost its corn seed profits by 10 percent during the fourth quarter.
The company posted a $114 million charge for its restructuring plan that started in the summer and will cut 900 jobs, or 4 percent of its work force. Grant said the jobs cuts will help Monsanto focus more on selling seeds than chemicals.
The company’s stock fell $1.03, or 1 percent, to close at $74.33 Wednesday.
