Monsanto fined $1.5m for bribery

Catholic New Times, Feb 13, 2005

JAKARTA -- The U.S. agrochemical giant Monsanto has agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine for bribing an Indonesian official.

Monsanto admitted one of its employees paid the senior official two years ago in a bid to prevent environmental impact studies of its cotton. In addition to the penalty, Monsanto also agreed to three years' close monitoring of its business practices by U.S. authorities. It said it accepted full responsibility for what it called improper activities.

A former senior manager at Monsanto directed an Indonesian consulting firm to give a $50,000 bribe to a high-level official in Indonesia's environment ministry in 2002. The manager told the company to disguise an invoice for the bribe as "consulting fees."

Monsanto was facing stiff opposition from activists and farmers who were campaigning against its plans to introduce genetically modified cotton in Indonesia. Despite the bribe, the official did not authorize the waiving of the environmental study requirement. Monsanto also has admitted to paying bribes to a number of other high-ranking officials between 1997 and 2002.