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Vietnam has demanded Monsanto pay compensation to the victims of Agent Orange , which the company supplied to the US military during the Vietnam War .
It came in response to the firm being ordered to pay $289m (£226m) to a school groundsman who claims his use of its Roundup weedkiller contributed to his terminal cancer.
“The verdict serves as a legal precedent which refutes previous claims that the herbicides made by Monsanto and other chemical corporations in the US and provided for the US army in the war are harmless,” a spokesman for Vietnam’s foreign ministry, Nguyen Phuong Tra said.
He told state media: “Vietnam has suffered tremendous consequences from the war, especially with regard to the lasting and devastating effects of toxic chemicals, including Agent Orange.”
Agent Orange was a chemical herbicide and defoliant used by the US military to deprive Viet Cong guerilla fighters of food and concealment.
Between 1961 and 1971, the US military sprayed around 12 million gallons of the chemical substance on over 30,000 miles of southern Vietnam.
Show all 12 1 /12The legacy of Agent Orange The legacy of Agent Orange Danang, Vietnam Le Van Dan looks at his disabled grandson Le Van Tam as his daughter feeds another sick grandson in their family house in Phuoc Thai village, outside Danang. Le Van Dan, a former artillery soldier with the South Vietnamese army, said he was exposed to Agent Orange more than once, including being directly sprayed by U.S. planes near his village before he joined the military. Health officials confirmed two of his grandsonsâ disabilities are due to his exposure to the defoliant, Le Van Dan said
Reuters
The legacy of Agent Orange Danang, Vietnam 7-year-old Nguyen Van Tuan Tu, who suffers from serious health problems, is looked after by a family member under a mosquito net in their house near the airport in Danang, in central Vietnam. When Nguyen Van Tuan Tu's father started working at Danang International Airport in 1997, he was not aware of the health risks associated with Agent Orange and he collected fish and snails from a contaminated lake nearby for the family to eat. His first child to be born after he started working at the airport, was born in 2000 and died in 2007. Nguyen Van Tuan Tu was born in 2008 with same symptoms as his late sister and doctors and parents believe their health problems are linked to effects of Agent Orange. The couple have one healthy daughter who was born in 1995, before they started working at the airport, and she is now a university student. Danang airport was a U.S. airbase during Vietnam war and since 2012 both the U.S. and Vietnam are conducting a clean-up operation at the site
Reuters
The legacy of Agent Orange Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 12-year-old Tran Huynh Thuong Sinh is fed by a hospital staff member at the Peace Village in Tu Du hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Tran Huynh Thuong Sinh, whose parents and grandfather were all exposed to Agent Orange, was born without eyes and with other serious health conditions. Officials at the hospital link his health problems with exposure to the defoliant. According to the head of the Peace Village, more than two-thirds of its over 60 patients are from areas that were heavily sprayed by Agent Orange and their health conditions are linked to the use of the defoliant.
The legacy of Agent Orange Lai Van Manh smiles as he lies under a mosquito net in the family home in Tuong An village, in Thai Binh province in northern Vietnam. His father Lai Van Bien, a former intelligence officer in the North Vietnamese army, said that during the Vietnam war he served in an area that was heavily contaminated by Agent Orange. Lai Van Bien and his wife now care for their two physically and mentally disabled sons whose health condition the family and local officials link to the effects of Agent Orange.
Reuters
The legacy of Agent Orange Pham Thi Phuong Khanh is fed by a hospital staff member at the Peace Village in Tu Du hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Both of Pham Thi Phuong Khanh's parents were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. According to the head of the Peace Village, more than two-thirds of its over 60 patients are from areas that were heavily sprayed by Agent Orange and their health conditions are linked to the use of the defoliant.
Reuters
The legacy of Agent Orange Dang Thi Quang and her son Nguyen Van Binh are reflected in an aquarium in their home in Vietnam's Quang Binh province April 11, 2015. Nguyen Van Binhâs father, a soldier who served in the North Vietnamese army's transportation unit, travelled and spent time in areas known as hotspots for Agent Orange contamination
Reuters
The legacy of Agent Orange Phan Van Lam falls out of a hammock in his family home in Quang Binh Province in central Vietnam April 11, 2015. Phan Van Lam's father, a former fighter with the North Vietnamese army, said he was not directly sprayed with Agent Orange during the Vietnam war but lived in areas that were heavily affected by the defoliant. Local doctors told him that his son's health condition, which includes severe brain damage, is linked to Agent Orange
Reuters
The legacy of Agent Orange Doan Tue holds his granddaughter, as a picture of him in military uniform hangs on the wall, at their family house in Truc Ly, in Vietnam's Quang Binh province April 11, 2015. Doan Tue, a soldier who served on 12.7 mm anti-aircraft guns during the Vietnam war, said he lived in several areas that were contaminated by Agent Orange. Two of his sons were born with serious health problems and the family and local health officials link their illnesses to their father's exposure to Agent Orange. His older son died two years ago
Reuters
The legacy of Agent Orange Tang Thi Thang baths her disabled son Doan Van Quy outside their family home in Truc Ly, in Vietnam's Quang Binh Province April 11, 2015. Doan Van Quy's father, a soldier who served on 12.7 mm anti-aircraft guns during the Vietnam war, said he lived in several areas that were contaminated by Agent Orange. Two of his sons were born with serious health problems and the family and local health officials link their illnesses to their father's exposure to Agent Orange
Reuters
The legacy of Agent Orange A former soldier Do Duc Diu is kissed by his disabled daughter Do Thi Nga as his wife sits at the doorway of their house in Quang Binh Province in central Vietnam April 11, 2015. Twelve of his fifteen children died from illnesses that the family and their doctors link to Do Duc Diu's exposure to Agent Orange. Do Duc Diu served as a North Vietnamese soldier in the early 70s, in areas that were heavily contaminated by Agent Orange. He only found out about the possible dangers of Agent Orange before his last child was born in 1994. He said that if he had known about the possible effects of Agent Orange he would not have had children. Before he found out about the effects of Agent Orange, Do Duc Diu said that he and his wife visited many spiritual leaders and prayed at different shrines as they attributed their children's sickness to their ill-fated destiny
Reuters
The legacy of Agent Orange Former soldier Do Duc Diu prays at the cemetery where twelve of his children are buried, after showing the graves to reporters, near his house in Quang Binh Province in central Vietnam April 11, 2015. Twelve of his fifteen children died from illnesses that the family and their doctors link to Do Duc Diu's exposure to Agent Orange. Do Duc Diu served as a North Vietnamese soldier in the early 70s in areas that were heavily contaminated by Agent Orange. He only found out about the possible dangers of Agent Orange before his last child was born in 1994. He said that if he had known about the possible effects of Agent Orange he would not have had children. Before he found out about the effects of Agent Orange, Do Duc Diu said that he and his wife visited many spiritual leaders and prayed at different shrines as they attributed their children's sickness to their ill-fated destiny
Reuters
The legacy of Agent Orange 63-year-old former soldier, Nguyen Hong Phuc, sits on the bed with his son Nguyen Dinh Loc, 20, who is recovering from tumour surgery at Friendship village, a hospice for Agent Orange victims, outside Hanoi. Nguyen Dinh Loc has serious mental and physical problems that his family and doctors link to his father's exposure to Agent Orange. His father joined the military after the U.S. army stopped using Agent Orange in 1971, but lived in areas heavily contaminated by it, including near Danang airport, where the chemical defoliant was stored.
Dioxin, a highly toxic element of Agent Orange, has been linked to major health problems such as birth defects, cancers other deadly diseases.
Millions still suffer to this day, as deformities are passed down to the offspring of exposed victims including Vietnamese and American forces.
Monsanto has argued: “The government set the specifications for making Agent Orange and determined when, where and how it was used. Agent Orange was only produced for, and used by, the government.”
In a post on its website , the company notes it was one of nine government contractors who manufactured the chemical.
Monsanto was founded in St Louis, Missouri, in 1901. In June, it was acquired by Bayer AG.
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