Monsanto Europe

Case Study “Monsanto Europe”
Cheri Falk
Marian University

Abstract
Monsanto was founded in 1901. The company through the years dipped into several area including artificial sweeteners, chemicals pesticides, plastics, growth hormones, and genetic sequencing. The United States and Japan were open to genetically manufactured products but the European countries were not. Monsanto continues to combat environmentalists and the inability to educate the Europeans in the benefits of biotechnology.

Monsanto Europe
Monsanto was founded in 1901 by John Sweeny in St Louis Missouri. The first product the company produced was artificial sweetener. A trade war with Germany caused the company to diversify and they began production of other familiar items such as caffeine and Aspirin. Then came World War I during this time Monsanto was able sell in markets that Germany could not.

Monsanto joined the stock market exchange in 1927 (Lane, Maznevski, Deetz, & DiStefano, 2009). Through the years Monsanto had acquired or purchased other chemical companies and had become one of the largest chemical companies in the world. The Monsanto was the creator of Roundup herbicide which is a killed all vegetation and allowed the farmers to plant crops suing less labor to prepare the fields. This product was eco-friendly. Other divisions also included petrochemicals, paper chemicals and plastics.

In 1960 Monsanto started its agricultures division specializing in pesticides. This was also the beginning of the Environmental Activists. Pesticides were believed to be harmful to both the environment and humans. This was later proven correct and new ways of pest control had to be developed. This began the research to develop genetically manufactured crops.

Genetically manufactured crops were herbicide, insect and disease resistant, greater in nutritional value, able to grow in less desirable environments and had an increased shelf life and a greater yield. (Lane, Maznevski, Deetz, & DiStefano, 2009) Monsanto developed the growth hormone BST that increased the milk production in cows. This took years to be approved and accepted in the United States and other countries. The European countries posed a ban on the growth hormone. The United States went to the World Trade Organization and demanded that the ban be lifted or the European Nation pay punitive tariffs totaling $120 million (Hill, 2011). To this day the EU still enforces the ban and continues to pay the punitive tariffs.

From there Monsanto developed a technique to insert a gene into a seed making it resistant to herbicide. This now allows the farmers plant their crops and spray herbicides on afterwards. In the beginning this research and application was very costly. Through the years the advancements on technology and computer reduced the cost of genetic sequencing from $2.5 million to $150 per gene (Lane, Maznevski, Deetz, & DiStefano, 2009). Consumers in the United Stated and Japan supported the genetically manufactured products. Soybeans are used in a variety of manufactured foods. Monsanto began buying up biotech companies and seed distributors. Thirty million acres in the United States and Canada were planted with Monsanto’s seeds (Lane, Maznevski, Deetz, & DiStefano, 2009). The Europeans did not have the same support for genetically manufactured food item. The European counties set a high value of food purity.

In 1996, a United States company, Monsanto, sent the first shipment of genetically modified soybeans to Germany. An organization called Greenpeace was there to protest. The Europeans were unaware that the United States was producing and shipping the genetically modified soybeans. Before shipping the soybeans it was recommended that the genetically manufactured and organic soybeans be separated and labeled accordingly.
The United States is the largest exporter of soybeans. Germany is one of the top importers of soybeans. German companies have pledged not to use genetically manufactured foods. The task ahead of Robert Shapiro, the chief executive officer of Monsanto, is to convince the Europeans that genetically manufactured soybeans are the best option for the future.

The European commission had made public health and food safety major focus. Some countries took action by banning the import and sale of genetically manufactured food items and others has various restrictions. Farmers are willing to plant the genetically manufactured crops but are hesitant due to the actions of the environmentalists. Seminars to educate the farmers and consumers were scheduled, but canceled due lack of interest or threats by environmentalists, crops had been burnt or uprooted in opposition to genetically altered food products. Many biotech scientists have left European countries and fled the United States to pursue their career in biotechnology.

Many countries value organic production of their food. Monsanto has tried various tactics from seminars, advertising and imposing punitive tariffs to get the European countries to change their values. They have been unsuccessful. Farmers within the United States have refused to use GMO seed in order to export their products.

In the state of California on the November 6th ballot the people will be voting for on Proposition 37, a Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food. Labeling of genetically modified food item is mandatory on 61 other countries. (Imhoff & Dimock, 2012) The question has become “Who benefits from GMO’s” (genetically modified organisms)? The companies that produce the seeds also produce the herbicide. The price of seed for corn has risen 259% and soy 325% since 1995. (Imhoff & Dimock, 2012). Rice farms in California have refused to use GMO seed due to the ban Japan on imports GMO foods.

References

(2011). In C. W. Hill, Global Business Today (7th ed., p. 215). New York: McGraw Hill.

Imhoff, D., & Dimock, M. (2012, Oct 12). Know what you eat. Los Angeles Times.

Lane, H. W., Maznevski, M., Deetz, J., & DiStefano, J. (2009). International Management Behavior: Leading with a Global Mindset (6 ed.). Great Britain: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated.

References: (2011). In C. W. Hill, Global Business Today (7th ed., p. 215). New York: McGraw Hill. Imhoff, D., & Dimock, M. (2012, Oct 12). Know what you eat. Los Angeles Times. Lane, H. W., Maznevski, M., Deetz, J., & DiStefano, J. (2009). International Management Behavior: Leading with a Global Mindset (6 ed.). Great Britain: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated.