Premium agro-chemical producing firm, Monsanto Company (MON), has filed litigation against the regulating authorities of Maui County, assisted by The Dow Chemical Company (DOW) on Nov 13, 2014. The two agricultural companies have challenged the new law introduced for prohibiting genetically modified organisms’ (GMO) cultivation in Hawaii.
Moving Forward
The lawsuit filed in the Federal Court of Honolulu, calls for an immediate abolition of the new law introduced by Maui County for preventing cultivation of GMO plants. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren is presently handling the affairs of the case.
Monsanto aims to prove that the new law, similar to the Kauai Country rule which was proved invalid days back, is not effective. The new Maui law claims that GMO crops can be only grown after accomplishing adequate scientific research on its intrinsic safety aspects.
Opposing the views of the law, both agricultural companies have claimed that their genetically engineered seeds are already subjected to adequate amount of safety-related research studies. Aided by such modernized variety of seeds, farmers have been able to plant multiple crops in the warm weather of Hawaii every year.
Furthermore, the companies have claimed that some of their research facilities are located in the farms of Kauai Countries and Honolulu. Even so, Monsanto has claimed that 90% of domestically produced corn in the U.S. are genetically engineered and primarily grown in Hawaiian farms. Thus, the new Maui Country law passed against the cultivation of GMO plants is simply not necessary.
With a market capitalization of $57.8 billion, Monsanto currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the industry include Cosan Ltd. (CZZ), Alcoa Inc. (AA) and ConAgra Foods, Inc. (CAG). Each of these stocks holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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