Monsanto Challenging Brazilian GMO Ban

St. Louis Business Journal

2:43 PM CDT 9/2/04

Report: Monsanto to appeal Brazilian ban on Roundup Ready soy

Monsanto Co. said it intends to appeal a ban by Brazil on selling Roundup
Ready soybeans after a court opened the door for an appeal, according to
published reports.

A Brazilian federal court decision allowed Brazil's National Technical
Committee on Biosafety to begin regulating genetically modified products
again, according to published reports. The committee cleared Roundup Ready
soybeans for commercial use in 1998, but a year later, Greenpeace won a
court ruling against releasing the beans.

"Monsanto intends to launch a legal appeal to correct the contradiction of
the maintenance of the injunction that restricts Roundup Ready soy," the
company said, according to the reports.

Last December, Monsanto's Brazilian unit launched a US$2 million campaign
in that country to clarify information to the public about genetically
modified crops.

Brazil is the No. 2 soy producer in the world after the United States. It
is estimated that about 30 percent of Brazil's soybean crops are Monsanto's
Roundup Ready, smuggled in from Argentina.

St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) develops insect- and
herbicide-resistant crops and other agricultural products.