According to an American Public Media Marketplace Morning Report radio segment on 30 June 2011:
NANCY MARSHALL GENZER: Monsanto's Roundup herbicide was a blockbuster for years. Then China made a generic knockoff. To counter that, Monsanto started a program to give distributors cash incentives to buy Roundup. The SEC wouldn't comment.
But the federal government has investigated Monsanto for alleged anti-competitive practices before. Monsanto declined my interview request. But in a conference call yesterday CEO Hugh Grant said the company is co-operating. The company also says it's phasing out the incentives. And its seed business appears to be blossoming.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has had cause to address the matter of unusual payments with Monsanto & Co. before as seen here:
Monsanto Company: Lit. Rel. No. 19023 / January 6, 2005
First, the Commission filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia charging Monsanto with violating the FCPA and seeking a civil penalty. The Commission further charged that the senior Monsanto manager devised a scheme whereby false invoices were submitted to Monsanto and the senior Monsanto manager approved the invoices for payment. The approximate $700,000 was derived from a bogus product registration scheme undertaken by two Indonesian entities owned or controlled by Monsanto. As a result of the conduct described above, the Commission charged that Monsanto violated the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA (Section 30A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934). In a related proceeding, the United States Department of Justice has entered into an agreement with Monsanto Company to defer prosecution on charges of violating the anti-bribery and books and records provisions of the FCPA.
Monsanto Company: Admin. Proc. Rel. No. 34-50978 / January 6, 2005
File No. 3-11789 In the Matter of MONSANTO COMPANY, Respondent. PTMK reports to Monsanto through Monsanto's Asia Pacific regional management, which is headquartered in Singapore. PTBS reports to Monsanto through Monsanto's Asia Pacific regional management, which is headquartered in Singapore. During the period, the Indonesian affiliates violated the accounting policies, controls, and procedures of Monsanto. Monsanto wanted to increase acceptance of GMO crops in Indonesia. The senior Monsanto manager is a citizen of, and was based in, the United States. On behalf of Monsanto, the senior Monsanto manager, management of the Indonesian affiliates, and the consulting firm employee lobbied for legislation and ministerial decrees favorable to GMO crops. In order to fund the $50,000 payment, the senior Monsanto manager devised a scheme involving false invoices. The invoices were submitted to Monsanto in the United States on December 20, 2001, several weeks before the second trip occurred.
Charles Michael Martin: Lit. Rel. No. 20029 /March 6, 2007
The complaint further alleged that to generate the funds to make the illegal $50,000 payment and to conceal the unlawful activity, Martin directed the Consulting Firm to create a set of invoices to falsely bill Monsanto in an amount sufficient to cover the illegal payment. Martin subsequently approved the false invoices for payment by Monsanto, and took steps to ensure that Monsanto paid the false invoices, thereby causing Monsanto's books and records to be falsified and circumventing Monsanto's system of internal accounting controls. Based, in part, on these allegations, the Commission previously filed a settled enforcement action and instituted settled administrative proceedings against Monsanto. SEC v. Monsanto Co., Case No. 1:05CV00014 (D.D.C. January 6, 2005); Monsanto Company, No. 3-11789, Exchange Act Rel.
Closer to home the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation denies it has links to Monsanto. The denial comes despite its collaborative efforts with that giant biotech corporation with regard to developing novel plant material based on Monsanto patented genes, especially Ingard Cotton in the 1990s and, the fact that this cooperation appears to exist to date if Monsanto itself is to be believed in 2011.
Indeed, these commercial R & D links being so well-known that they are often recognised in academic papers.
['Consolidating Control: Plant Variety Rights, Genes and Seeds']One has to wonder why the CSIRO was so foolish as to make such a blanket denial.
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