Monsanto Stops More Argentine Soy in Europe, Sues
Date: 08-Feb-06
Country: ARGENTINA
Author: Hilary Burke
Monsanto Argentina told Reuters on Tuesday the company stopped another boatload of Argentine soy two days ago, in Liverpool, England.
Last week, Monsanto sued two importers of Argentine soymeal in Spain. The company is seeking economic compensation and recognition in that country of its patent rights for Roundup Ready soybeans, genetically engineered to tolerate exposure to Monsanto's Roundup weed killer.
Spokesman Federico Ovejero said Monsanto Argentina remained "willing to work on a local solution but today, in the absence of other solutions, we have decided to take these actions."
Last June, the multinational sued importers of Argentine soy in Denmark and the Netherlands to enforce patents in those countries on its Roundup Ready gene technology, used by nearly all Argentine farmers but which is not patented locally.
Europe is the top market for soymeal from Argentina, the world's No.1 soymeal supplier.
Argentina's government estimates that 30 percent of the country's farmers buy GMO seeds on the black market, avoiding royalty fees. Local law allows farmers to reuse GMO seeds without paying fees.
Monsanto has been lobbying for two years for a new royalties scheme in Argentina, and stopped charging other companies licensed to use the Roundup Ready technology in their own seed varieties. But the government is unwilling to change the basic structure of payments.
A spokeswoman at the Agriculture Secretariat said Argentina will keep working "to show that Monsanto does not have a legal basis for doing the things it does and that it is clearly harming our nation" with its latest moves.
In the last week, Argentina petitioned the Dutch court to participate in the suit as an interested third party, saying the lawsuit harms exports and drains government coffers.
The Agriculture Secretariat said on Monday it will try to intervene in the Danish suit as well, "and without a doubt, it will do the same if the company takes action in Spain's national courts."
The government is also contemplating suing Monsanto separately in Europe, which buys nearly $2 billion a year of Argentina's soy-related goods.
(Additional reporting by Nicolas Misculin)
