Vietnamese victims of AO/dioxin toxic (Photo: VNA)

In 2004, Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims filed a lawsuit against 37 US firms, including Monsanto, for producing the chemical toxins used by the US army. In 2017, the Monsanto Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, found Monsanto is guilty of ecocide, which has left long-term consequences on the Vietnamese ecosystem.

In an interview with Vietnam News Agency, co-coordinator of the US-based Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign Merle Ratner said a court in California, the US, determined Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller was the direct cause of Dewayne Jonson’s cancer former groundskeeper, and that the corporation must compensate him 289 million USD.

Ratner said she will continue campaigning to urge the US Government and Congress to adopt measures in support of AO consequence alleviation in Vietnam, while pursuing legal procedures to ensure culpable US chemical companies accept their duty to recompense their victims.

Monsanto was one of the main suppliers of more than 80 million litres of herbicides that US troops sprayed over southern Vietnam from 1961-1971. Approximately 4.8 million Vietnamese were exposed to the toxic chemical.