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Biotech / Medical : Monsanto Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (569)	11/18/1998 9:29:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2539

Monsanto Faces Mounting Opposition to Genetic Crops in Europe Bloomberg News November 18, 1998, 6:36 p.m. ET Monsanto Faces Mounting Opposition to Genetic Crops in Europe St. Louis, Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Monsanto Co., one of the world's leading agricultural biotechnology companies, faces mounting hostility to its genetically enhanced crops in Europe, according to a report prepared for the company by a U.S. political pollster. Opposition is greatest in Germany and the U.K., where hostility to science in general, and genetically altered food in particular, has overwhelmed attempts by the company to persuade consumers its products are safe, according to the report, leaked to the environmental group Greenpeace. The report was prepared for Monsanto by Stan Greenberg, a U.S. polling advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, according to reports in British newspapers. ''Biotechnology and Monsanto face their toughest European test in Britain,'' the report said. ''The broad climate is extremely inhospitable to biotechnology acceptance and, absent political support in government, Monsanto would surely face unfavorable decisions on its key products.'' Greenberg's report said the findings were based on consumer surveys done in Britain and Germany between Sept. 5 and 11, plus interviews with politicians, members of the press, retailers and state officials. Polls conducted for Monsanto show that the climate of opinion towards biotechnology in the U.K. has deteriorated over the past year and in some ways poses more of a threat to Monsanto than German opposition, where consumers may be more willing, eventually, to accept genetically enhanced foods, according to the report. Crisis of Confidence Opposition to genetically enhanced foods in Britain reflects a broader, Europe-wide collapse of faith in science and a crisis of confidence in food safety sparked by the ''Mad Cow'' beef scare, said Greenberg's study, which was first reported in The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. German opposition, while influenced by a skepticism towards science, reflects also a growing anti-Americanism, the report said. ''The opposition has begun to center on the American character to this technology, on transnational corporate threats to the consumer, and on the role of Monsanto in particular,'' the report said. ''Monsanto's image is being hurt and the company has begun to emerge as an issue in Germany. The report also evaluated Monsanto's recent three-month advertising campaign, which ran from June through August in the Sunday sections of Britain's upscale newspapers. It found that the campaign, which drew attention to the benefits and safety of Monsanto's products, did little to win support for Monsanto's products. Some retailers called the campaign ''too soft.'' ''They were looking for something that would address the broader consumer public and that might address the environmentalist challenge in the newspapers themselves,'' the report said. --Toni Clarke in the Chicago newsroom (312) 692-3725 /mfr