Monsanto, Farm Groups Sue California Over Glyphosate Warning Requirement

Monsanto Co. says it has joined a coalition of U.S. farm groups in a lawsuit against the state of California to stop a requirement for cancer warnings on products containing glyphosate.

This case was filed on Nov. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of California.

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California added glyphosate to its Proposition 65 list of cancer causing chemicals in July, and will require products containing the herbicide to carry warnings by July 2018.

“Because of California’s unjustified listing of glyphosate in July 2017,
manufacturers of products containing glyphosate, or products with even
trace residues of glyphosate, sold in California could be required to
affix a false and misleading warning label to their products starting in
2018. This labeling requirement would not only impact Monsanto and its
Roundup-branded products, but also other glyphosate-based herbicides
produced by other companies, the crops grown by U.S. farmers who use the
herbicide, and food products derived from those crops. The consequences
of this labeling requirement could be significant, including higher
production and compliance costs that translate into higher prices for
consumers at the grocery store,” the company said in a statement.

Monsanto is pleased to stand today with leading farmer
organizations from across the nation to challenge the constitutionality
of California’s unjustified and harmful Proposition 65 listing of
glyphosate,” said Scott Partridge, Monsanto’s vice president of global
strategy. “Glyphosate is a safe, environmentally sustainable and
cost-effective tool for farmers. This labeling requirement would do
nothing more than compel false warnings about a safe product and
unnecessarily increase food prices for consumers.”

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Leading the farmers’ coalition are the National Association of Wheat
Growers, the National Corn Growers Association, Associated Industries of
Missouri, Iowa Soybean Association, Agribusiness Association of Iowa,
Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Missouri Farm Bureau, North
Dakota Grain Growers Association, South Dakota Agri-Business Association
and the United States Durum Growers Association and Western Plant Health
Association.

Monsanto added: “California’s unjustified listing was based solely on a highly
controversial and deeply flawed 2015 opinion by the International Agency
for Research on Cancer (IARC). Recent investigations have shown that
IARC members concealed and manipulated data that would have undermined
IARC’s opinion. IARC’s flawed opinion and non-transparent process have
come under investigation by the U.S. Congress.”

 

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