February 10, 2006

 

Argentina assisting EU soy importers in Monsanto lawsuits

 

 

The Argentine government is helping European soybean importers in their fight to prevent lawsuits and other actions by Monsanto (MON), a leading maker of soybean seeds, from disrupting soybean exports to the EU, Gustavo Idigoras, Argentina's agricultural attache to the EU, said Thursday.

 

In recent months Monsanto has sought to show that soybean exports to the EU are derived from a Monsanto-made seed, whose patent is recognised in Europe but not in Argentina. Monsanto has been asking customs officials in Denmark, the UK, the Netherlands and Spain to take samples of such shipments to prove that they were made with Monsanto seeds.

 

This has led to the temporary detainment of some soybean shipments. Monsanto's actions aim to pressure the Argentine government into forcing farmers there to pay for the right to use Monsanto's seeds.

 

Monsanto says it is pursuing these actions only after two years of failed dialogue with the government, which, the company says, has not addressed the claim that farmers buy legal soybean seeds only 20 percent of the time. The rest of the time, farmers buy the seeds illegally in an underground market and then replant them after each harvest. The seeds, known as Roundup Ready, are used to plant 95 percent of the soybeans in Argentina.

 

Argentina is now moving to help European importers defend themselves in two lawsuits filed by Monsanto last year in Denmark and Holland. Last week Argentina asked a Dutch judge to allow it to participate as a "joinder to the party" in that case, Idigoras said. Next week the government will make a similar request in Denmark.

 

The Dutch judge has asked the parties if they would accept the Argentine government's involvement in the case. Importers said yes while Monsanto has asked for a few days to ponder the issue.

 

Argentine officials, Idigoras said, are giving importers "technical and legal" assistance to fight Monsanto's claim that importers ought to pay a fee when buying Argentine soybeans. Monsanto wants the fee--US$15 per tonne--to compensate for the company's inability to collect royalties in Argentina.

 

Monsanto's actions recently led to the detainment of three shipments to Spain and England. Idigoras expects another ship to be detained in Germany within the next few days.

 

"We are engaging custom authorities and EU rules to obtain samples form cargo shipments so we can show patent infringement," Monsanto spokesman Federico Ovejero said. "It is not our intention to interfere with trade."

 

Ovejero added that Monsanto "is still committed to finding a local solution to this problem" in Argentina.

 

"We are still participating in meetings with the private sector at the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange to figure out a way to resolve this," he said.

 

Argentina exported 11 million tonnes worth of soybean products to the EU last year. Soybean-related exports to Europe totalled about US$2 billion in 2005, Idigoras said.