In a significant victory for Mexico, Monsanto has withdrawn its legal challenge against the 2020 presidential decree aimed at banning glyphosate and GM corn for human consumption. The National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conahcyt) heralded the decision as “a triumph for life, health and food sovereignty”. Monsanto’s subsidiaries ratified their withdrawal on June 25. The legal battle was initiated in response to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s 2020 decree to ban the widely used but controversial herbicide, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified as a “probable carcinogen”, though its safety remains a subject of debate. The battle included over 30 amparo (judicial protective order) suits aiming to declare the decree unconstitutional. In July 2022, for example, Bayer, which acquired Monsanto six years ago, obtained a court order against the application of the decree. In spite of this victory against Monsanto, however, what has not been abandoned and is still progressing is the dispute settlement panel requested by the US government over Mexico's plan. Mexico News Daily

 

 

Global seed and agrochemical giants are ganging up to stop farmers from saving seeds. Of course, they mean "their" seeds, the ones over which they claim intellectual property rights. But where did those come from? @GRAIN.org on X

 

 

Billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett will stop donating to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after he dies. Mr Buffett has given $US55 billion in donations since 2006 to five different organisations. His three children will decide where his $US128 billion fortune will be donated, with 99 per cent marked for philanthropic causes. [GMW: Tim Schwab, author of the book, The Bill Gates Problem, comments on Buffett's move here.] ABC News

 

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