US biotech giant guilty of poisoning French farmer

Campaigners call for review of herbicide use in Europe following landmark ruling

Paris

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
From the blogs

Sepp Blatter: Penalty shoot-outs must remain, they’re football’s great leveller

As England supporters, we should scorn at any such deciding factor within football. On so many occas...

Why do some men consider the street as a female meat market?

Pronouncements on sexual inequality in the UK are normally met with an eye roll by my generation. As...

Political corruption reflects the widening chasm between the political class and the electorate

The corruption and hypocrisy which has come to characterise politics and politicians, and in particu...

Despite its popularity, the death penalty would allow the state to kill innocent people

The University of Michigan law school and Northwestern University have just compiled a database of o...

In a landmark ruling for global efforts to curb the use of chemicals in agriculture, the US bio-tech firm Monsanto has been found guilty of "poisoning" a French farmer.

A court in Lyon decided the agro-business multinational had ruined the health of Paul François, 47, a cereal farmer from western France who accidentally inhaled fumes from its Lasso weed-killer in 2004.

Monsanto, a dominant player in the global agriculture industry, now faces a multi-million euro compensation ruling later this year. The company, which claimed the farmer ignored safety procedures, says it will appeal.

The judgment, following a long, legal struggle by Mr François, was hailed as a landmark breakthrough by campaigners against the systematic farm use of chemical pesticides and herbicides. "It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a (herbicide) maker is found guilty of such a poisoning," Mr François' lawyer, Maître Francois Lafforgue, said.

"This will give encouragement to a lot of other people," Stéphane Cottineau, a lawyer specialising in environmental causes, said. "It will now be possible to sue manufacturers whenever there is a clear link between illness and a specific chemical product."

Lasso, first used in the 1960s to suppress weeds in cereal fields, has been banned in Canada and the UK since the 1980s. It was finally banned in France in 2007 following a EU directive.

Mr François accidentally inhaled fumes from a Lasso sprayer in April 2004 and was forced to give up his farm in Charente, western France, after suffering neurological and muscular problems, including fainting fits, memory-loss, headaches and stammering.

One year after the accident, his body was found to contain significant traces of monochlorobenzene, a toxic component of Lasso not mentioned on its principal label or packaging. The Lyon court ruled that Monsanto was negligent because it failed to warn users of the precise contents of Lasso or give adequate warnings about the dangers of inhalation.

Mr François said: "People who were used to fobbing people off with reassuring arguments can now be prosecuted if their products are found to be dangerous for people or the environment."

The multi-national plans to appeal. "Monsanto always considered that there were not sufficient elements to establish a causal relationship between Paul François' symptoms and a potential poisoning," its lawyer, Jean-Philippe Delsart, said. A company spokesman said that herbicides were, by their nature, dangerous and safety instructions must always be followed.

The court ruling was hailed by campaigners for traditional or organic agriculture as a slap in the face for successive French governments and the pro-chemical attitude of the dominant farming unions.

French rivers are among the worst polluted by residues of chemical herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers in Europe.

The veteran French campaigner for traditional farming, José Bové, said the fact that Lasso had remained legal in France until 2007 was a disgrace. "It shows that we need to re-examine our rules for herbicide use," he said. "The authorities dragged their feet [on Lasso] despite the internationally recognised dangers."

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos in Greece

For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos

On a secluded peninsula in north-east Greece lies an enclave that's way off the tourist map, especially for women...
48 Hours In: Faro

48 Hours In: Faro

More than just the gateway to the Algarve, this city has much to tempt you off the beach.
Here, the coast is always clear: Celebrating sixty years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

60 years of Pembrokeshire's National Park

Mick Webb reveals a land of puffins, tanks and Hollywood blockbusters.
Free Range: Meet the designers of tomorrow

Free Range

Meet the artists of the future
Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?

As scientists at Rothamsted's GM trials plead with activists not to sabotage their work, Michael McCarthy visits the battle field
Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV

Deep in Cameroon's rainforests, poachers are killing primates for food. Evan Williams reports from Yokadouma on a practice that could create a pandemic
Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Catcalls, whistles, groping: just another day for a young woman

Government urged to take abuse more seriously as London study shows 41 per cent are harassed
Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Jailing of Maori separatists stirs colonial-era resentment

Militant Tuhoe tribe members defiant amid claims race relations had been set back 100 years
Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Fatal crashes are cyclists' fault, says Boris

Mayor condemned for saying that two-thirds of riders killed on the road were at fault in accidents
Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Move over Brangelina, this night belongs to Kingston Bagpuize

Unlikely community movie beats the stars to get prized Leicester Square premiere
Solved after 33 years? Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton

Solved after 33 years?

Case of first missing boy shown on milk carton
Like mamma used to make: Pizza Pilgrims is proving a word-of mouth sensation

Pizza Pilgrims: Like mamma used to make

A van dispensing purist pizzas is proving a word-of mouth sensation
The supper on its uppers: Why we need to learn to entertain lavishly for less

Supper on its uppers: Entertain lavishly for less

Dinner parties are buckling under the pressures of food snobbery and belt-tightening...
The 10 best summer cookbooks

The 10 best summer cookbooks

From Claudia Roden's The Food of Spain to The Art of Cooking with Vegetables by Alain Passard...
Gorgeous Georgian: Now we can enjoy the cuisine of Russia's fiery neighbour nearer home

Gorgeous Georgian cuisine

The food of Russia's fiery neighbour is among the world's most inventive and original