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Massive legal battle against laws protecting US pesticide companies
2023-11-03 18:23:19 / BOTA
Although courts rule against manufacturers of carcinogenic herbicides, measures proposed by the industry limit lawsuits and restrict local use of the substances.
Many cancer patients have celebrated legal victories in three US states where Bayer and Monsanto have been ordered to pay more than $500 million in damages for neglecting the health of users of their herbicide chemical 'Roundup'.
But consumer victories have been accompanied by legislation backed by the Bayer group that limits lawsuits against the agriculture industry in the future.
Known as the 'Uniform Agricultural Products Labeling Act', it gives broad protection to companies and their pesticides from local governments, blocking legal claims that have hit Bayer and its main US producer Monstanto.
More than 360 agricultural organizations have opposed the measure proposed by Congressmen Dusty Johnson and Jim Costa, as data shows that Bayer and industry lobby group CropLife America have made passage of the measure a priority.
They argue that herbicides that have proven to be carcinogenic "are essential to our food and protecting communities," according to CropLife.
But on October 27, more than 150 US congressmen signed a letter to the congressional agriculture committee expressing "strong opposition" to preventive measures protecting pesticides.
Local laws require that they not be used near schools, parks and gardens, and they are required to protect water supplies and wildlife.
The congressmen's letter provides that "the limitation of liability to the producers of these substances prohibits informing customers about the high risk of pesticides".
Bayer is under pressure from lawsuits in several courts alleging violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide (rodent-killing) Act, which alleges that it and Monsanto failed to warn about the cancer risk of their products.
Among the legislative confrontations is that of complainant Larry Gainey, a 65-year-old gardener from Carolina who had been using Monsanto's herbicides for years and was diagnosed with cancer in 2011. "Now I continue to receive therapy and I can no longer work," he said.
"I thought you could go to the store and buy a product controlled for use, but you end up with this serious illness and you don't even have the right to ask for compensation. This is not right", he said./The Guardian/
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