Monsanto hunts readers of anti-GM handbook

13 April 1999

Monsanto hunts readers of anti-GM handbook

By FWi staff

BIOTECHNOLOGY giant Monsanto is seeking legal powers to identify the recipients of a campaign handbook from the environmental group Genetix Snowball.

Monsanto was last year granted an injunction preventing members of Genetix Snowball from damaging or encouraging others to damage its genetically modified crops.

The company is now threatening further action against Genetix Snowball if anyone uproots GM crops after reading the pressure groups Handbook for Action.

The handbook, published last December, includes a guide to identifying and destroying trial sites of GM crops.

Genetix Snowball launched the handbook outside the Houses of Parliament with Alan Simpson, Labour MP for Nottingham South.

The civil rights group Liberty has described Monsantos attempt to force Genetix Snowball to hand over the mailing list as a “very worrying” attack on free speech.

Monsanto said it had a duty to ensure that everyone who had received the handbook also received a copy of any relevant court order.

“Only people who break the law will face legal action,” said a Monsanto statement.

The handbook is understood to have been sent to some 650 recipients, including the Pope, Prince Charles and Tony Blair.