St. Louis, Missouri
March 24, 2005
Today, Brazil's President Lula
signed a biosafety bill into law which establishes the
regulatory process for the approval of biotech crops. This step
is another indication of the growing acceptance of biotechnology
around the world, said Brett Begemann,
Monsanto's Executive Vice
President, International.
"The biosafety law demonstrates that Brazil is committed to a
science-based regulatory system," said Begemann. "This law,
combined with a solid demonstration for respecting intellectual
property protection, would make it possible for Monsanto to
consider the introduction of new technology into Brazil."
Begemann said that a working system that allows Monsanto to be
compensated for the use of its technology must be firmly
established before the company brings new products to Brazil.
"Monsanto invests more than $500 million dollars a year in the
research and development of technology that benefits growers,"
said Begemann. "We need to know that we can protect this
investment so we can continue to bring new products to growers
globally."
Monsanto has been working since 1997 for the right to legally
commercialize Roundup Ready soybeans in Brazil. The CTNBio
regulatory agency will continue to have the approval authority
for research and commercialization of biotech crops under the
new law just enacted.
Grower adoption of agricultural biotechnology continues to grow.
In 2004, growers in 18 countries planted 200 million acres (81
million hectares) of biotechnology crops, an increase of 20
percent over 2003.
Monsanto (NYSE: MON) is a leading provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality.
Note to editors: Roundup Ready is a trademark owned by Monsanto
Technology LLC. |