NOTE: An ad placed by Monsanto in Dutch newspapers claiming Roundup herbicide has no adverse effects on soil was ruled misleading last year by the Dutch advertising standards commission. Monsanto has failed to appeal within the time allowed, so the ruling stands.
Monsanto placed its ad in direct response to a report by Earth Open Source, "Roundup and birth defects: Is the public being kept in the dark?" This report and a peer-reviewed paper based on its findings are here:
http://earthopensource.org/index.php/reports/roundup-and-birth-defects-is-the-public-being-kept-in-the-dark
The Monsanto ad and details of the political row in the Netherlands around the use of Roundup are here:
http://earthopensource.org/index.php/news/122-dutch-parliament-moves-against-glyphosate-citing-evidence-in-earth-open-source-report
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Monsanto forced to accept the opinion of the Advertising Advisory Committee: Roundup advertising was misleading
Press release
Corporate Europe Observatory and toxicsoy.org
Amsterdam, February 4, 2013
Monsanto has been forced to accept the opinion of the Advertising Code Committee in the Netherlands over a misleading advertisement on their agrochemical Roundup. The company did not appeal against the decision of the committee of 11 December 2012. The ad titled "Roundup, the facts" appeared in June 2012 in the Telegraph and The Vokskrant. This advertising is misleading in the propositions that the herbicide "would have no effect on the soil", "would not remain in the soil" and "would not penetrate the soil," the Advertising Code Committee said.
The complaint was filed against by campaign website toxicsoy.org together with Corporate Europe Observatory and Pesticide Action Network. The complaint was substantiated with references to scientific studies from different countries.
Tjerk Dalhuisen, one of the authors, says, "The ad was trying to give the impression that Roundup is harmless. It contained gross factual inaccuracies. Roundup is harmful to the soil and is a major problem for the drinking water supply. Roundup causes considerable damage to humans, animals, and nature."
Kees Beaart, one of the co-applicants, in the 1990s more than ten times successfully submitted complaints about misleading advertising by Monsanto. "The company knows very well how damaging its product is. The dose used in practice is lethal to many types of small animals, including many useful species for agriculture. At the beginning of this century the CTB [pesticide authorisation committee in Netherlands] wanted to prohibit Roundup. But following the declaration of Monsanto that the animals would die anyway because the vegetation around them is killed by Roundup and therefore therefore their habitat is destroyed, the authorisation was renewed and it was even no longer required to put "harmful to non-target arthropods" on the packaging."
The verdict is available at (in Dutch)
http://www.gifsoja.nl/Gifsoja/nieuws/Artikelen/2012/12/15_Reclame_Code_Commissie__Roundup_advertentie_Monsanto_is_misleidend_files/Uitspraak%20RCC%20Monsanto%20Roundup%20advertentie%20121211.pdf
The complaint can be found at (in Dutch)
http://www.gifsoja.nl/Gifsoja/nieuws/Artikelen/2012/9/21_Klacht_tegen_misleidende_Roundup_reclame_van_Monsanto.html
Contact: Nina Holland (Corporate Europe Observatory): 06 30285042