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Monsanto Lobbying: an Attack on Us, Our Planet and Democracy

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Monsanto Lobbying: an Attack on Us, Our Planet and Democracy Monsanto lobbying: an attack on us, our planet and democracy 1 INTRODUCTION table of contents Competitors or Allies? Lobby associations 3 Corporations like Monsanto have limitless resources to buy political power through lobbying. Not only are they represented by numerous lobbying associations at every Big budgets to buy power 5 level from local to global, they also have an army of hired- gun lobbyists, fund scientists to act as their mouthpiece, Who is Who? 6 and participate in ‘greenwashing’ projects. US: Lobbying EU institutions and the US government often actively through the government - Revolving doors 8 solicit corporations to lobby them, giving corporations privileged access to decision-making. This perverse symbiosis allows corporations to capture decision- EU: Monsanto hides behind lobby associations 10 making, but leads to hollowed out democracy, environmental disaster, and grave social injustice. A Trojan Horse? Pushing GM in Africa and Asia 12 There are roughly three fields of industry lobbying: directly targeting decision-makers; PR and propaganda; Undermining the science 14 and undermining science. Broadly three types of actors exist: those giving the orders, those following them, and ‘Free’ Trade Agreements - the ultimate weapon 17 those who are accomplices to these attempts. This short guide, published at the occasion of the Capturing UN Biodiversity and Climate Talks 18 International Monsanto Tribunal in The Hague, exposes some of Monsanto’s key lobbying strategies Bayer-Monsanto Merger: Monopolies Allowed? 18 and tools, illustrated with examples from different parts of the world. lobby strategies Sit in expert groups Organise in lobby associations Employ hired-gun lobbyists, law firms, Direct Revolving door: headhunt a politician think tanks lobbying: Meetings, dinners, events Use trade agreements Commission a study Push an industry-friendly alternative to a proposed rule or decision Scaremonger with job loss and demand impact assessment Set up a front group Vilyfy critics and NGOs PR & Orchestrate third-party voices Media strategies propaganda: (fund scientific journals, internet platforms..) Spread myths about nobel goals of the industry (“We Feed The World”) Attack whistleblowers Greenwash activities Take advantage of / create Targetting conflicts of interest in government agencies Hire a product defence company science: Initiate public-private research projects Fund and use scientists as third-party voice 2 Competitors or Allies? Lobby associations Monsanto’s lobbying to a large extent takes place via lobby associations, organized at global, regional, and national level. Here, corporations operating in the same sector coordinate joint lobbying efforts for their common interests. For Monsanto, this coordination happens principally through chemical and pesticide, biotech and seeds lobby groups. These groups coordinate many of the direct lobbying activities and messages. The global lobbying association Croplife International In the EU, Monsanto’s lobby associations include the unites the biotech and pesticide sectors – which are seed lobby European Seed Association (ESA), pesticide largely the same corporations. Its member list includes lobby European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) the biggest agribusiness companies (Monsanto, Bayer, and biotech lobby EuropaBio. These lobby groups’ BASF, Dow/Dupont, Syngenta, etc) and the regional members include the corporations but also national-level biotech and pesticide associations (including BIO, associations, which makes it easy to exert pressure at EuropaBio, AfricaBio; and the European Crop Protection both EU and national level. In the US, the equivalent Association ECPA, CropLife America, CropLife Africa organisations are the American Seed Trade Association Middle East, and CropLife Asia, etc.). (ASTA), Croplife America, and the Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO). CropLife Africa Middle East ECPA CropLife Asia pesticide sector ... biotech sector biotech sector AfricaBio chemical sector chemical sector seed sector seed sector US Eu 3 Monsanto’s interests are also defended by the chemical sector lobby associations. In the US this is the American Biotech corporations like Monsanto are Chemistry Council (ACC), and in the EU, the European increasingly buying up local seed companies, Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC). CEFIC is the biggest thereby also becoming more influential in national single lobby group in the EU, with around 135 staff, and seed associations. The African Seed Trade has Bayer, BASF, and Syngenta among its members Association (AFSTA) includes various Monsanto, (Monsanto is not a member). Syngenta, and Bayer national chapters and even the North American seed lobby ASTA is a Lobbying strategies are closely aligned between different member!3 AFSTA has pushed for new intellectual sectors in the industrial food chain. The Agri-Food Chain property rights for companies at the expense of Coalition (AFCC) unites the pesticide, biotech, animal feed, farmers’ rights to their seed through the 2015 food and fertilizer industries, who jointly push1 the EU to Arusha Protocol.4 In the Netherlands, Monsanto cut regulations and to speed up approvals of GMOs and has bought up vegetable seed businesses like De pesticides. Ruiter Seeds and Seminis. In this way Monsanto has an entry into the national seed association The pesticide lobby groups are often aided by (industrial) Plantum, challenging Plantum’s opposition to farmers’ organisations. In Europe, the union of large patents on seeds.5 farmers COPA-COGECA regularly teams up with ECPA, when it comes to defending GMOs and pesticides. In the US, Monsanto is member of lobby groups such as the US Grains Council and supports activities of the American Soybean Association (ASA) for its members, soy growers.2 Lobby campaigns are also coordinated between these sectoral lobby associations. At the global level, including climate and trade agreements, Monsanto, Bayer and other agribusiness companies are represented by lobby Available figures on platforms that cover all major industrial sectors such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the American Monsanto lobbying spending (US) Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), BusinessEurope, the Trans-Atlantic Business Council (TABC), and for a green touch, the World Business Council on Sustainable +$ 528.000 Croplife International Development (WBCSD). +$ 500.000 ILSI +$ 350.483 to Croplife America, etc. + $ 861.323 to the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) + Monsanto's election campaign donations $ 662.000, mostly to Republican $ 4 330.000 candidates from corn and soy growing states. + Monsanto's state-level campaigns (against GM labelling in California: $ 8.1 million) 4 Big budgets to buy power Figures on lobby spending that can be found in the EU and In the US corporations are obliged to register who lobbies US lobbying registers are very limited and only represent a for them, on what topic and with what budget. Based on fraction of the real amount that corporations spend to bend these figures, the non-profit website Opensecrets.org the rules. The figures presented below do not yet include shows that Monsanto and Bayer together spent $120 the costs for studies commissioned from ‘independent million on lobbying in Washington over the last decade. scientists’, PR campaigns or the many lawyers it hires to defend its interests in the political arena. In the US, Monsanto spent $4.33 million on its own lobbying in 20157. In addition, Monsanto discloses on Brussels is the second lobbying capital in the world its website8 that it paid in total $2 million to the many after Washington. The EU does not demand lobbying lobby associations it is part of like the Biotechnology transparency from the estimated 20,000-30,000 Industry Organization (BIO) and Croplife America. But lobbyists that roam the Brussels EU quarter on a daily the list is still not complete, as it does not include ILSI basis. The EU Transparency Register for lobbyists is for instance. An overview of ILSI sponsors of 2012, ob- voluntary, and is riddled with inaccurate and misleading tained by US Right To Know, shows that no less than 43 information. Many do not even sign up, such as the per cent of its budget in that year came from Monsanto International Life Science Institute (ILSI) that Monsanto ($500,000) and its lobby platform Croplife International is part of, the Glyphosate Task Force (GTF) that is run ($528,000).9 This is certainly not yet the whole picture: by Monsanto, nor the German lobby firm Genius, that it does not include Monsanto’s state-level campaigns runs the GTF website. According to Monsanto’s own (against GM labelling in California: a reported $8.1 mil- estimates the company spent around €400,000 directly lion10) nor election campaign funding. Monsanto makes on lobbying in Brussels (mid-2014 – mid-2015). But the many campaign donations mostly to Republican candi- real figure is much higher.6 dates from corn and soy growing states.11 Available figures on Monsanto lobbying spending (EU) 1.8M 1.5M 1.5M ? 900.000 ? ? ? ? 400.000 300.000 200.000 Not Registered Not Registered Declared lobbying expenditure Salaries The highest number in the EU Transparency Register has been taken National Bank of Belgium. Most recent figures have been taken (between 2013-2015) 5 WHO is WHO? A relatively small group of names appears time and again in the international pro-GMO and pro-pesticide PR campaigns, and in the decision making spheres. This graph gives a (very incomplete) overview: a small group of top-level
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