Monsanto name gone but Bayer’s commitment to GMOs and pesticides remains
By vast
Published: June 7, 2018
Category: GMO News, The Organic & Non-GMO Report Newsletter
Bayer and Monsanto are completing their $66 million merger or “marriage made in hell” as activists call it, and Bayer will ditch the Monsanto name.
“Bayer will remain the company name,” Bayer said in a statement. “Monsanto will no longer be a company name. The acquired products will retain their brand names and become part of the Bayer portfolio.”
The new combined company name will be Bayer Crop Science, and will continue the two companies’ old practices of selling genetically modified seeds and pesticides.
The name “Monsanto” is linked in the minds of millions of people to the company’s history of producing toxic products such as Agent Orange defoliant used during the Vietnam War, PCBs, and most recently glyphosate herbicide.
But Bayer apparently has no plans to alter its focus on GMOs and pesticides.
“It’s understandable that Bayer wants to avoid having bought Monsanto’s negative image with the billions it has spent on the firm,” said Greenpeace campaigner Dirk Zimmermann.
“More important than giving up the Monsanto name would be a fundamental transformation in the new mega-company’s policies,” he added, accusing Bayer of having “no interest in developing future-proof, sustainable solutions for agriculture.”
Sustainable agriculture advocates are also concerned about the monopoly power of the combined companies dominating the seed and pesticide industries.
In addition to the company name, several Monsanto executives will be also gone including CEO Hugh Grant, chief technology officer Rob Fraley, and others.
Sources: USA Today, AFP, Sustainable Pulse, Feedstuffs
To view full articles, visit:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/06/04/monsanto-bayer-name/668418002/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/bayer-ditch-monsanto-name-mega-merger-104518510.html
https://sustainablepulse.com/2018/06/04/bayer-to-ditch-monsanto-name-after-mega-merger/#.WxWr_0gvyUl
http://www.feedstuffs.com/news/monsanto-leader-several-executive-team-members-leaving-after-merger
