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Despite being a relatively ‘new’ company, Syngenta inherits the dubious legacies of both parent companies, promoters of GM GMO (genetically modified organism) technology and manufacturers of hazardous chemicals (paraquat and atrazine11). In the late 1990s Novartis and AstraZeneca wanted to establish themselves as "lifesciences" companies in order to exploit potential synergies between their pharmaceutical, chemical and agricultural sectors. Both invested heavily in acquiring seed and biotechnology companies. The Syngenta spin-off was a result of the poor performance of both companies' agribusiness divisions in 1999 and at least partially due to the global backlash against GM crops.
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'''Novartis''' is a global [[pharmaceutical]] and [[biotechnology]] corporation with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. The company specializes in biotechnological drugs, vaccines, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, animal healthcare products, contact lenses and lense care products. It is the world's 5th largest vaccine producer. It distributes in over 140 countries through approximately 100,000 associates. <ref>[http://www.novartis.com/about-novartis/people/index.shtml Welcome to Novartis], Novartis, January 2010</ref>
Novartis and [[AstraZeneca]] are the parent companies of global agribusiness coporation [[Syngenta]]. Syngenta is , a Swiss agricultural global agribusiness company formed in 2000 from the agrochemical and seed businesses divisions of Novartis, and the agrochemicals and biotechnology research divisions of AstraZeneca. It Syngenta is the world’s second biggest player in agrochemicals and the third biggest seed producer. <ref>[http://archivewww.corporatewatch.org.uk/genetics/commercialisation/syngenta.htm ?lid=212 Syngenta: A Corporate Profile], Corporate Watch, accessed January 2010November 2002</ref>
In the fiscal year ending in December of 2008, Novartis reported sales of 42.58 billion dollars and had 96,717 employees. <ref>[http://www.hoovers.com/company/Novartis_AG/htscri-1.html Company Description: Novartis AG], Hoovers, accessed December 2009</ref>
===Syngenta===
The creation of Syngenta enabled the parent companies to make considerable savings and rid themselves of their controversial agricultural biotechnology ventures. Syngenta has so far managed to avoid the public vilification of [[Monsanto]], while it quietly develops controversial agricultural biotechnology, including genetic use restriction technologies (GURTs)/traitor technology. <ref>[http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=212 Syngenta: A Corporate Profile], Corporate Watch, November 2002</ref>
In December of 2007, hundreds of activists broke into Novartis' subsidiary Syngenta's agrochemical plant in Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to a company spokesperson, 50 employees were expelled and production was shut down. Members of the ''Landless Rural Workers’ Movement'' (MST) and its allied group ''Via Campesina'', destroyed genetically-modified corn and soy seedlings at a Syngenta farm in the northeastern state of Ceara. The groups accused Syngenta of attacking landless workers and violating environmental laws and demanded that Syngenta leave Brazil.
===Peasant Activist shot and killed while protesting GMO fields===In October of 2007, a peasant an activist was shot and killed during a protest at a Syngenta farm in the southern Parana state.According to the MST, the farm illegally produced genetically modified crops (GMO)'s within a protected enviromental zone close to the internationally acclaimed Iguacu water falls. The Paraná State Federal Justice decided that experiments with GMOs in the surroundings of the Iguaçú National Park are illegal. According to Judge Vanessa Hoffman, the park has a a 10 km buffer zone and the company was fined R$ 1 million by Brazilian environmental authorities.
Syngenta is the world's largest agrochemical company. According to a company statement, it was "dismayed by the occupations" but denied any participation in the October shooting death. According to activists, the company's private security force at the farm were responsible for the shooting death of Valmir Mota de Oliveira. The MST and other groups frequently occupy farms, block highways, torch crops and stage rallies to pressure the government to give land to the poor. In response, landowners hire armed guards and hit squads to repel invasions. Landless militants have also blocked railroads run by Brazilian mining companies, interupting the flow of iron ore to foreign markets.
