Tokyo, Japan and St. Louis, Missouri
May 30, 2002

Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd. (Nissan), and Monsanto Company (Monsanto) announced today the signing of a definitive agreement for the sale of certain Monsanto herbicide assets to Nissan for use in the Japanese market. The proposed transaction includes the transfer of Monsanto's trademarks for Roundup, Lasso and Machete herbicide brands to Nissan in Japan.

The agreement also includes the transfer of related product registrations, labels and certain other assets for use in Japan, as well as a long-term supply arrangement whereby Monsanto will be the supplier to Nissan of these herbicides.

"The addition of these products is in-line with our strategy to strengthen our business in Japan," said Akira Kosugi, Associate Director, Agricultural Division, Nissan Chemical Industries, Inc. "Monsanto has established strong brands, and the addition of these herbicides to our portfolio will complement our core agrochemicals business."

"For Monsanto, this arrangement continues our strategy of forming alliances with partners to serve farmers in certain geographic areas, while also allowing Monsanto's people in Japan to focus their efforts on our seed business and biotechnology initiatives," said Brett Begemann, Vice President of Monsanto's Asia-Pacific operations. "Nissan has a significant portfolio of products serving Japanese agriculture, and we're confident that they will be good stewards of these established products."

Roundup herbicide is the world's largest selling herbicide. In Japan, Roundup is used in a variety of agricultural cropping systems, especially to control weeds before a crop is planted or after it is harvested. Machete herbicide is used by rice growers in Japan, while Lasso is used in upland cropping systems, including vegetables, corn and soybeans.

Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity.

Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd., is one of the leading companies in the Japanese agrochemical market, and has demonstrated its unique and strong position in the Specialty Chemicals and Electronic Materials industries. 

Roundup, Lasso and Machete are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC.