Monsanto Protection Act

'Monsanto Protection Act' slips silently through US Congress 26 Mar 2013 The US House of Representatives quietly passed a last-minute addition to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for 2013 last week - including a provision protecting genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks. The rider, which is officially known as the Farmer Assurance Provision, has been derided by opponents of biotech lobbying as the "Monsanto Protection Act," as it would strip federal courts of the authority to immediately halt the planting and sale of genetically modified (GMO) seed crop regardless of any consumer health concerns. The provision, also decried as a "biotech rider," should have gone through the Agricultural or Judiciary Committees for review. Instead, no hearings were held, and the piece was evidently unknown to most Democrats (who hold the majority in the Senate) prior to its approval as part of HR 993, the short-term funding bill that was approved to avoid a federal government shutdown [that Obama signed]. [Hungary got rid of Monsanto by 'burning and booting.' First, farmers burned Monsanto's poisonous crops to the ground. Then, the people kicked Monsanto out of the country. 'Burn and boot.' That's how they roll in Hungary.]

Monsanto Bullies Small Farmers Over Planting Harvested GMO Seeds
Puck Lo
March 26th, 2013

Does Monsanto own all future generations of genetically modified seeds that it sells? The Missouri-based agribusiness giant wants farmers to pay a royalty to plant any seed that descended from a patented original. The legal decision has ramifications for other patented "inventions" that reproduce themselves like strands of DNA.

See http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15825