1999: From the October 1999 open letter from Monsanto CEO Robert B. Shapiro to Rockefeller Foundation President Gordon Conway:
“I am writing to let you know that we are making a public commitment not to commercialize sterile seed technologies, such as the one dubbed ‘Terminator.’ We are doing this based on input from you and a wide range of other experts and stakeholders, including our very important grower constituency…Though we do not yet own any sterile seed technology, we think it is important to respond to those concerns at this time by making clear our commitment not to commercialize gene protection systems render seed sterile.”
1999: Greenpeace Business Conference, London October 1999: Monsanto CEO Robert Shipiro stated:
"In that connection, you may have seen the public commitment that we made on Monday not to commercialize the sterile seed technology popularly known as terminator. You should know that we reached that decision after extensive consultation and dialogue with people in groups around the world who had a variety of points of view, especially in the developing world."
2005: From Monsanto’s 2005 Pledge Report, Genetic Use Restriction Technology, p. 29. On the Internet: www.monsanto.com/monsanto/content/media/pubs/2005/pledgereport.pdf
“Issue Discussion: Genetic Use Restriction Technology
In 1999, some stakeholders expressed fears that a sterile-seed technology then under development by the US government and a cotton seed company might lead to dependence for poor smallholder farmers. In response, Monsanto made a commitment not to commercialize sterile-seed technologies in food crops. It continues to stand by that commitment today, but Monsanto people constantly reevaluate this stance as technology develops.
Sterile-seed technologies represent only one type of a larger class of genetic use restriction technologies (GURTs). One technology under investigation would turn a trait on or off so that the plant expresses the trait only in the first generation. In subsequent generations, the genetic material would be inactive and would slowly disappear since it affords no selective advantage. This technology would give inventors an opportunity to protect some of their intellectual property rights in biotech traits.
The responsible approach is to investigate the range of available GURTs and the appropriate applicators. To the end, Monsanto is engaged in dialogue with experts and interested parties to learn what technology applications might be available and how they could be used to address biotech stewardship, maintenance of intellectual property rights, and protection of the needs and rights of farmers. Monsanto does not rule out the potential development and use of one of these technologies in the future. The company will continue to study the risks and benefits of this technology on a case-by-case basis.”(emphasis added)