Report on Impacts of Genetically Engineered Seed

RESOLVED: Shareholders request that our Board review the Company's policies for genetically engineered (GE) seed and report to shareholders by March 2004. This report, developed at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, would identify the risks, financial costs (including opportunity costs) and benefits, and environmental impacts of the continued use of GE seed sold or manufactured by the company.

Supporting Statement
There continue to be indicators that genetically engineered seed may be harmful to humans, animals, or the environment:
· Crops engineered to produce pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals could pollute the food system if companies and farmers do not adhere to the voluntary planting guides of the industry (10/2002). Recent disclosures of contamination of crops by GE corn in Nebraska and Iowa illustrate the seriousness of the situation (Washington Post 11/13, 11/14/02). The full cost of these contaminations is not yet known;
· Research has shown that GE-Bt crops are building up Bt toxins in the soil, with unknown long-term effects on soil ecology;
· Research reported to the Ecological Society of America indicated that a gene artificially inserted into crop plants to fend off pests can migrate to weeds in a natural environment and make the weeds stronger (8/8/02);
· The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report The Environmental Effects of Transgenic Plants calls for "significantly more transparent and rigorous testing and assessment" of GE-plants (2/2002);
· The NAS report, Genetically Modified Pest-Protected Plants, recommends improved methods for identifying potential allergens in genetically engineered pest-protected plants and found the potential for gaps in regulatory coverage (4/2000);
· Since fall 2000, many millions of dollars have been spent by food companies in recalling food containing GE corn not approved for human consumption.

Markets for GE-foods are threatened by extensive resistance:
· Upon ratification by 50 countries, the Biosafety Protocol, signed by over 100 countries, will require that genetically engineered organisms (GEOs) intended for food, feed and processing must be labeled "may contain" GEOs. Countries can decide whether to import those commodities based on a scientific risk assessment;
· Countries around the world, including Brazil, Greece, and Thailand, have instituted moratoriums or banned importation of GE seeds and crops;
· Labeling of GE foods is required in the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Australia, and favored by 70-93% of people surveyed in approximately a dozen opinion polls in the U.S;
· For human health and environmental concerns, the European Union has proposed regulations to phase out by 2005 antibiotic-resistant marker genes, widely used to develop GE seeds.

We urge that this report:
1) identify the scope of the Company's products that are GE seed;
2) outline a contingency plan for removing GE seed from the ecosystem should circumstances so
require;
3) identify the potential for using non-food crops as an alternative to produce pharmaceuticals and
industrial chemicals;
4) cite evidence of independent long-term safety testing that demonstrates that GE crops, organisms,
or products thereof are actually safe for humans, animals, and the environment.