Editing Monsanto (section)

===United States===
Monsanto regularly [[Lobbying in the United States|lobbied]] the US government with<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120110044613/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9RL51J81.htm Monsanto spent $2 million lobbying gov't in 3Q], [[Associated Press]] December 15, 2011, ©2012 BLOOMBERG L.P.</ref> expenses reaching $8.8 million in 2008<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?lname=Monsanto+Co&year=2008 Monsanto lobbying expenses], ''Open Secrets.''</ref>  and $6.3 million in 2011.<ref name="OpenSecrets">{{cite web|url=http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000000211&year=2011 |title=Lobbying Spending Database – Monsanto Co, 2011 |publisher=OpenSecrets |date=September 17, 2012}}</ref> $2 million was spent on matters concerning "Foreign Agriculture Biotechnology Laws, Regulations, and Trade". Some US diplomats in Europe at other times worked directly for Monsanto.<ref name="07Paris4723" />

[[California]]'s 2012 [[Proposition 37#Proposition 37|Proposition 37]] would have mandated the [[GMO food labelling|disclosure]] of [[genetically modified crops]] used in the production of California food products. Monsanto spent $8.1 million opposing passage, making it the largest contributor against the initiative. The proposition was rejected by a 53.7% majority.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/nov/07/prop-37-californian-gm-labelling?INTCMP=SRCH|title=Prop 37: Californian voters reject GM food labelling|last=Vaughan|first=Adam|date=November 7, 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London}}</ref> Labeling is not required in the US.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-05-02/california-heads-for-vote-on-modified-food-labeling|title=California Heads for Vote on Modified Food Labeling |magazine=Businessweek |date=May 2, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Huffington Post">{{cite news|last=Gillam|first=Carey |title=Prop 37: California GMO Fight Pits Big Food Against Activists| url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/17/prop-37-california_n_1791555.html|work=The Huffington Post|date=August 16, 2012}}</ref>

In 2009 [[Michael R. Taylor]], food safety expert and former Monsanto VP for [[Public Policy]],<ref name="Fda.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm170842.htm|title=Noted Food Safety Expert Michael R. Taylor Named Advisor to FDA Commissioner|publisher=Fda.gov |date=July 7, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="Sandra Hoffmann 2005">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bguf6j-BOR0C|title=Toward Safer Food: Perspectives on Risk and Priority Setting|last1=Hoffmann|first1=Sandra|last2=Taylor|first2=Michael R.|date=September 30, 2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-52451-6}}</ref><ref name=WilsonCenterBio>{{cite web |url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/sept_20_bios.pdf |title=Woodrow Wilson Center bio |access-date=May 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107023113/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/sept_20_bios.pdf |archive-date=January 7, 2019  }}</ref> became a [[senior advisor]] to the FDA [[Commissioner#United States|Commissioner]].<ref name="fda">FDA News Release July 7, 2009 [https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm170842.htm Noted Food Safety Expert Michael R. Taylor Named Advisor to FDA Commissioner]</ref>

Monsanto is a member of the Washington D.C.–based [[Biotechnology Industry Organization]] (BIO), the world's largest biotechnology [[trade association]], which provides "advocacy, business development, and communications services."<ref>{{cite web | title = Modified crops increase herbicide use, WSU researcher says &#124; Local News &#124; The Seattle Times | work = The Seattle Times | url = http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019418644_pesticides13m.html }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = About BIO &#124; BIO | url = http://www.bio.org/articles/about-bio | access-date = November 7, 2012 | archive-date = November 12, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121112012349/http://www.bio.org/articles/about-bio  }}</ref> Between 2010 and 2011 BIO spent a total of $16.43 million on lobbying.<ref>{{cite web | title = Lobbying Spending Database-Biotechnology Industry Organization, 2010 &#124; OpenSecrets | url = https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000024369&year=2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Lobbying Spending Database-Biotechnology Industry Organization, 2011 &#124; OpenSecrets | url = https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000024369&year=2011 }}</ref>

The Monsanto Company Citizenship Fund aka Monsanto Citizenship Fund is a [[political action committee]] that donated over $10 million to various candidates from 2003 to 2013.<ref>[[OpenSecrets]]  [http://www.followthemoney.org/database/topcontributor.phtml?u=1758&y=0 Monsanto] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225161526/http://www.followthemoney.org/database/topcontributor.phtml?u=1758&y=0 |date=February 25, 2012 }}</ref><ref>Staff, Monsanto. Retrieved July 22, 2013 [http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/political-disclosures.aspx Monsanto's official "Political Disclosures" page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829054837/http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/political-disclosures.aspx |date=August 29, 2013 }}</ref><ref>Federal Election Commission. [http://query.nictusa.com/pdf/287/13941177287/13941177287.pdf FEC Form 3x: Report of Receipts and Disbursements, Monsanto Company Citizenship Fund aka Monsanto Citizenship Fund, generated 7/8/2013] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150507203827/http://query.nictusa.com/pdf/287/13941177287/13941177287.pdf |date=May 7, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?C00042069 |title=COMMITTEE DETAILS FOR COMMITTEE ID C00042069 |access-date=June 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000557/http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?C00042069 |archive-date=March 4, 2016  }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.libertyff.com/committees.php?id=C00042069|title=LibertyFF report on the Monsanto Citizenship Fund PAC|access-date=July 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014091653/http://www.libertyff.com/committees.php?id=C00042069|archive-date=October 14, 2013}}</ref>

As of October 2013, Monsanto and [[DuPont Co.]] continued backing an anti-labeling campaign, spending roughly $18 million. The state of Washington, along with 26 other states, made proposals in November to require GMO labeling.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-25/monsanto-bets-5-million-in-fight-over-gene-altered-food.html | work=Bloomberg | title=Monsanto Bets $5 Million in Fight Over Gene-Altered Food}}</ref>

====Revolving door====
In the US regulatory environment, many individuals move back and forth between positions in the public and private sectors, including at Monsanto. Critics argued that the connections between the company and the government allowed Monsanto to obtain favorable regulations at the expense of consumer safety.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Revolving Doors: Monsanto and the Regulators |journal=The Ecologist |last=Ferrara |first=Jennifer |date=September–October 1998 |volume=28 |number=5 |pages=280–286 |url=http://exacteditions.theecologist.org/browsePages.do?issue=5361&size=3&pageLabel=280 |access-date=December 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226013506/http://exacteditions.theecologist.org/browsePages.do?issue=5361&size=3&pageLabel=280 |archive-date=December 26, 2013  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://mises.org/daily/6580/ |title=Monsanto's Friends in High Places |work=Mises Daily |date=November 9, 2013 |last=Lewis |first=Hunter |author-link=Hunter Lewis |publisher=[[Ludwig von Mises Institute]] |access-date=December 25, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/04/10/1832621/monsanto-protection-act-power |title=The Real Monsanto Protection Act: How The GMO Giant Corrupts Regulators And Consolidates Its Power |last=Shen |first=Aviva |date=April 10, 2013 |work=ThinkProgress |access-date=December 25, 2013}}</ref> Supporters of the practice point to the benefits of competent and experienced individuals in both sectors and to the importance of appropriately managing potential [[conflicts of interest]].<ref>Stephanie Armour for Bloomberg News. February 29, 2012. [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-29/food-safety-official-s-ties-to-monsanto-spur-petition-for-ouster.html Food Safety Official's Past Work for Monsanto Spurs Petition for Ouster]</ref><ref>OECD August 23, 2010 [http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/governance/post-public-employment/post-public-employment-practices-and-concerns_9789264056701-4-en#page4 Post-Public Employment: Good Practices for Preventing Conflict of Interest] {{ISBN|9789264056701}}</ref>{{rp|16–23}} The list of such people includes:

*[[Linda Fisher|Linda J. Fisher]]—EPA assistant administrator, then Monsanto VP from 1995 to 2000. then EPA deputy administrator.<ref name="url_monsantoharvest">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/05/monsanto200805|title=Monsanto's Cruel, and Dangerous, Monopolization on American Farming|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=April 2, 2008}}</ref>
*Michael A. Friedman, MD—FDA deputy commissioner.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Dr. Michael Friedman, After Serving at the NCI, FDA, and Pharmacia, Returns to Academia as CEO of City of Hope|journal=Oncology Times|volume=25|issue=12|pages=41–42|date=June 25, 2003|doi=10.1097/01.COT.0000289833.46951.54|last1=Laino|first1=Charlene|doi-access=free}}</ref>
*Earle H. Harbison Jr., Central Intelligence Agency Deputy Director, then President, Chief Operating Officer, and Director, from 1986 to 1993.<ref name="ForbesPlanet" />
*Robert Holifield—chief of staff of Senate Agriculture Committee, then partner in Lincoln Policy Group.<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/16/monsanto-blanche-lincoln-_n_4110750.html "Monsanto Hires Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln As Lobbyist"], ''The Huffington Post''.</ref>
*[[Mickey Kantor]]—US [[Office of the United States Trade Representative|trade representative]], then Monsanto board member.<ref name="url_monsantoharvest" />
*[[Blanche Lincoln]]—US Senator and chair of [[US Senate Agriculture Committee|Agriculture Committee]], then founder of lobbying firm Lincoln Policy Group
*[[William D. Ruckelshaus]]—EPA Administrator, then acting Director of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], and then [[United States Deputy Attorney General|Deputy Attorney General of the United States]], then EPA administrator, then Monsanto Board member.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ruckelshauscenter.wsu.edu/advisory-board-members/william-d-ruckelshaus/|title=William D. Ruckelshaus|publisher=Ruckelshauscenter.wsu.edu}}</ref>
*[[Donald Rumsfeld]]—[[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] and previous secretary of Searle, a Monsanto subsidiary, for eight years<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|jstor=j.ctt183p5cm|title=Making the World Safe for Capitalism: How Iraq Threatened the US Economic Empire and had to be Destroyed|last=Doran|first=Christopher|publisher=Pluto Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7453-3222-2|page=214|doi=10.2307/j.ctt183p5cm}}</ref>
*[[Michael R. Taylor]]—assistant to the FDA commissioner, then attorney for [[King & Spalding]],<ref>{{cite news |title=New FDA deputy to lead food-safety mandate |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/13/AR2010011304402.html |first=Lyndsey |last=Layton |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 14, 2010}}</ref><ref>Palast, Gregory (February 21, 1999) [https://www.theguardian.com/business/1999/feb/21/observerbusiness.theobserver8?INTCMP=SRCH Soured milk of Monsanto's 'kindness'], The Guardian</ref> then FDA deputy commissioner for policy on food safety between 1991 and 1994.<ref name="url_monsantoharvest"/> He was cleared of conflict of interest accusations. Then he became Monsanto's VP for Public Policy,<ref name="Fda.gov"/><ref name="Sandra Hoffmann 2005"/><ref name="WilsonCenterBio"/> becoming Senior Advisor to the FDA Commissioner for the Obama administration.<ref name="fda" />
* [[Clarence Thomas]]—[[Supreme Court Justice]] who worked as an attorney for Monsanto in the 1970s, then wrote the majority opinion in ''[[J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.]]''<ref name="cornell1996">{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-1996.ZS.html |title=J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. V. Pioneer Hi-Bredinternational, Inc|publisher=Law.cornell.edu }}</ref> finding that "newly developed plant breeds are patentable under the general utility patent laws of the United States."<ref name="url_monsantoharvest"/><ref name=":3" /><ref name="cornell1996"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/articles/harl/HarlMar02.htm |title=Key Supreme Court ruling on plant patents – McEowen, Harl March 2002 |publisher=Extension.iastate.edu |date=January 18, 2002 |access-date=May 19, 2008 |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202000652/http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/articles/harl/HarlMar02.htm  }}</ref>
*[[Ann Veneman]]—Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, and member of the board of directors of Calgene<ref name=":3" />