French farmer sues Monsanto over weedkiller Lasso

A French farmer started court proceedings on Monday against U.S. agricultural group Monsanto, which he is suing for damages after inhaling a weedkiller manufactured by the firm which was later prohibited in France.

The trial opened in the southeastern French city of Lyon, with a verdict expected on Feb. 13.

Grain grower Paul Francois, 47, says that inhaling Monsanto's weedkiller Lasso (active ingredient: alachlor) in 2004, while he was cleaning the tank of his sprayer, caused him to suffer faintness and meant he had to go several times to hospital for neurological problems.

The farmer, who used to spray Lasso on some of his 400 hectares (988 acres) of land, says the U.S. firm did not correctly detail Lasso's ingredients on its label.

He also blames it for continuing to sell a product that had already been prohibited in Belgium, Britain and Canada at the time. Lasso weedkiller was banned in France in 2007.

"We want the court to declare Monsanto responsible for the harm and state that the requirement to provide product information on the label was not respected," Francois Lafforgue, the farmer's lawyer, said in court.

The farmer says traces of chemicals used in Lasso were found in his urine and hair a year after he cleaned the tank.

But Monsanto's lawyer, Jean-Philippe Delsart, said it was scientifically impossible to find traces of the product seven months after inhalation.

He also said the farmer should have worn a mask.

Monsanto is embroiled in separate problems in France where the government is trying to ban its controversial genetically modified maize "MON 810", the only type of GMO corn allowed for cultivation in the European Union.