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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Syngenta AG is a large global agribusiness which markets seeds and pesticides. Syngenta is involved in biotechnology and genomic research. The company is a leader in crop protection, and ranks third in total sales in the commercial agricultural seeds market. Sales in 2008 were approximately US$ 11.6 billion. Syngenta employs over 24,000 people in over 90 countries. Syngenta is listed on the Swiss stock exchange and in New York.
Syngenta History
Based in Basel, Switzerland, Syngenta was formed in 2000 by the merger of Novartis Agribusiness and Zeneca Agrochemicals. Its roots are considerably older.
In 1758 the city’s Johann Rudolf Geigy-Gemuseus began trading in “Materials, Chemicals, Dyes and Drugs of all kinds”. In 1876, Sandoz Laboratories began business in Basel, followed in 1884 by Ciba. These three companies ultimately became Novartis in 1995. Ciba-Geigy, formed in 1971, had concentrated mainly on crop protection in its agro division, Sandoz more on seeds.
Zeneca Agrochemicals was part of AstraZeneca, and formerly of Imperial Chemical Industries. ICI was formed in the UK in 1926. Two years later, work began at the Agricultural Research Station at Jealott’s Hill near Bracknell.
In 2004, Syngenta Seeds purchased the North American corn and soybean business of Advanta, as well as Garst and Golden Harvest.
In 2005, Syngenta opposed a Swiss ban on genetically modified organisms.[2]
In 2007, Syngenta's Canadian division was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, as published in Maclean's magazine, one of only a handful of agribusiness firms to receive this honour.[3]
On 21 October, 2007, a Brazilian peasant organization, the Landless Workers' Movement, led a group of landless farmers in an occupation of one of the company's seed research farms, in protest against genetically-modified vegetables and in hopes of obtaining land for landless families to cultivate. After the occupation had begun, a group of gunmen arrived in a minibus and attacked the protesters. A security guard was killed, various protesters were wounded, and Valmir Mota de Oliveira, known as Keno, was found dead, "killed execution-style by two shots to the chest" according to some reports "at the centre of a bitter dispute"[4].
Protesters and sympathizers (including Sarah Wilson, of Christian Aid) claimed that the gunmen were under orders of Syngenta to kill the occupiers, but the company says that the guards of the security company they contracted were not allowed to carry guns. The MST claimed further that NF Security was a front company controlled by rural producer organizations linked to the agribusiness. Amnesty International expressed concern, and said that threats and intimidation by gunmen hired by landowners and agricultural companies are a common occurrence in Paraná.[4]
The police investigation completed in February 2008 implicated MST members and employees of NF Security but not Syngenta.[5]
Syngenta condemned the violence and severed the contract with the security firm.[6]
The Civil Court of Cascavel granted an order for the repossession of the site on December 20, 2007. On June 12, 2008, the remaining MST members left the Santa Teresa site they had been occupying.[6] On October 14, 2008, Syngenta announced donation of the 123-hectare station to the Agronomy Institute of Paraná (IAPAR). IAPAR will use the site for research into biodiversity, recovery of degraded areas and agriculture production systems, as well as environmental education programs.[7]
Syngenta Legal issues and controversies
Syngenta and its predecessor companies have been involved in numerous legal actions over the years.
Following a series of fatalities due to accidental consumption in the 1960s, the company’s herbicide, Gramoxone (Paraquat), gained notoriety in the 1970s and 80s due to a rash of suicides using the product, similar to the use of Monsantos herbicide Roundup/glyphosate for suicidal purposes. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies it as only moderately hazardous, in the United States it is labeled a restricted use pesticide and it is banned in several countries. The U.S. Center for Disease Control describes the herbicide as "dangerously poisionous" to humans if ingested, inhaled, or absorbed into the body. Syngenta has added a blue dye, a foul odor, and a powerful vomit-inducer to Gramoxone to help prevent mistakes and misuse.
Atrazine has been banned in several Wisconsin counties in the United States and in the European Union. Syngenta has been linked to attempts to block the publications of UC Berkeley Professor Tyrone Hayes - Syngenta has denied those claims. Tyrone Hayes researches the herbicide Atrazine, which he has found to cause hermaphroditism in frogs.[12] However, EPA and its independent Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) examined all available studies on this topic - including Hayes' work - and concluded there is "currently insufficient data" to determine if atrazine may affect amphibian development. Hayes, formerly part of the panel, resigned in 2000 to continue studies independently.
The company has also faced questions on its Galecron insecticide’s possible relationship to bladder cancer and other illnesses. Production of Galecron stopped between 1976 and 1978 for new safety assessments, and then halted permanently in 1988 after more research showed potential risk. In a 1995 class action in the US, Ciba-Geigy agreed to cover costs for employee health monitoring and treatment.
In 2001, the United States Patent and Trademark Office ruled in favor of Syngenta when the company filed suit against Bayer to protect its patent on a class of neonicotinoid insecticides. The following year Syngenta filed suit against Monsanto and a number of other companies claiming infringement of its U.S. biotechnology patents covering transgenic corn and cotton.
In 2004, the company again filed suit against Monsanto, claiming antitrust violations related to the U.S. biotech corn seed market.
In September 2008 Syngenta's U.S. subsidiaries announced settlements with the United States Environmental Protection Agency totalling $284,000. In various separate cases, the company had been alleged to have failed to store PPE away from areas contaminated with pesticides;[13] distributed its Mesotrione Wet Paste herbicide with a chemical composition different to that registered with the EPA; and violated rules governing the advertisement of restricted-use pesticides.[14]
In October 2008 Syngenta was found guilty of wrongful termination in a federal lawsuit in Baltimore, Maryland. A female employee who complained to management about an abusive manager was terminated after the complaint was filed. A jury awarded her $1.85 million.[15] On May 8,2009 the judge in the case awarded the woman an additional $244,113.24 in legal fees. The judge, Benson Everett Legg, noted in his order that the counsel for the defense, Whiteford, Taylor and Preston, had billed Syngenta $264,003 for 2,025.5 hours of work. The judge ruled that the fees charged by the counsel for the plaintiff were reasonable.[16] The Syngenta legal record also includes citations by regulators, NGOs, and individuals for health issues related to its products.
