Monsanto's World Conquest
Plan Moving Forward?

Scripps Howard News Service
May 03, 2002,

Monsanto awaits $1 billion in decisions
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
BY DAVID NICKLAUS

Five regulatory decisions in the next year could add $1 billion to Monsanto
Co.'s revenue, Chief Executive Hendrik Verfaillie told shareholders at this
week's annual meeting.

One of the decisions already has gone in Monsanto's favor: India approved
the company's BollGard cotton for planting this spring. Verfaillie said he
also expects decisions from Brazil on planting Roundup Ready soybeans; the
United States on planting new varieties of corn and cotton; and the
European Union on imports of Roundup Ready soybeans. The Brazilian decision
is up to an appeals court, and the lead judge favors Monsanto's position,
Verfaillie said. U.S. decisions on the new corn, which is genetically
engineered to resist the corn rootworm, and on second-generation BollGard
cotton should come in time for next year's planting season, he said.

Any EU decision on genetically engineered crops is bound to be contentious,
but Verfaillie said he thinks European leaders are beginning to look more
favorably on biotechnology. "They realize they are losing opportunities by
not being involved," he said. "They want to partner in this new technology."

If all the decisions go in Monsanto's favor, Verfaillie said, they could
add $1 billion to Monsanto's revenue and $600 million to earnings before
interest and taxes. Compared with last year's results, that amounts to an
18 percent rise in revenue and a doubling of the earnings figure.

Verfaillie said the new varieties of seed awaiting approval are indicators
of the depth of Monsanto's research efforts. BollGard II cotton, for
instance, combines two insecticidal traits, and Monsanto says it diminishes
the chance that insects will develop resistance to the bug-killing seeds.

"It's like software; you continuously develop better versions," Verfaillie
said. "Our competitors are still working on the first generation. We are
introducing the second generation, and we are working on the third."

At the meeting, two women representing Catholic religious orders asked
questions about Monsanto's commitment to the environment. They then
listened politely as Verfaillie and Chairman Frank V. AtLee III explained
the Monsanto "Pledge" - the company's commitment to publish extensive
safety data on its bioengineered crops and to put certain basic research
into the public domain.