Monsanto must be liable for compensation for Agent Orange Vietnamese victims

Vice Spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Phuong Tra

The statement was made by Vice Spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Phuong Tra at a press briefing in Ha Noi on August 23 in response to a question about Monsanto’s payment of US$289 million in compensation for its cancer-causing herbicides in the U.S. 

Viet Nam has suffered severely from the war’s consequences, including the lingering and serious impact of toxic chemicals and Agent Orange, she said, adding that Viet Nam backs the San Francisco court’s August 10 ruling that ordered Monsanto company to pay damages to a U.S. resident for the impact of its herbicides on the man’s health. 

The ruling provides a legal precedent, rejecting previous opinions saying the herbicides Monsanto and U.S. chemical producers provided for the U.S. army during the war in Viet Nam caused no harm to human health, she said. 

Regarding to the question about Viet Nam’s recent arrest and trial of a number of Vietnamese Americans, Ms. Tra said that any individual violates Viet Nam’s laws must be put on trial in line with Viet Nam’s regulations and laws, regardless of Vietnamese, U.S. or Vietnamese American citizens or from any other nations. 

By Thuy Dung