February 27, 2006

Argentina seeks EU intervention in soy row with Monsanto

The Argentine government will be taking a soybean royalties dispute with US biotech company Monsanto Co. to the European Commission next week, an official said on Thursday.

Monsanto has sued European importers of Argentine soymeal in three European countries and halted four shipments to try to enforce patents there on its Roundup Ready gene technology, which was never patented in Argentina but is widely used.

Argentina will brief the EU about the inconveniences of halting shipments and point out the additional costs they bring for European feed processors, Gustavo Idigoras, the Argentine agricultural representative in Brussels said.

Argentina is the biggest exporter of soymeal in the world and Europe is its top client, with nearly US$2 billion in sales annually.

Argentina wants the commission to end the legal actions presented by Monsanto on the grounds that the US company does not have the right to present lawsuits in Europe.

In recent weeks, Monsanto has halted Argentine soy shipments in Spain and England to test for Roundup Ready technology. The company has filed patent suits in 3 EU countries.