The Argentine Oilseed Chamber and the Cereals Export Center, which represent the country's leading grain and oilseed exporters, called on farmers and the government Thursday to solve a patent rights dispute with Monsanto (MON), saying the dispute poses a "grave risk to international oilseed trade."
Earlier Thursday, Monsanto confirmed that it has asked Spanish customs officials to inspect samples of soybean meal products recently shipped to that country from Argentina. The request is part of a broader effort by Monsanto to force Argentine farmers to pay for the right to use Monsanto-made soybean seeds.
Monsanto wants authorities to study the samples "to determine whether the shipment contains unlicensed technology.
"If so," Monsanto said, it "will (pursue) patent infringement proceedings in Spain in respect to the shipment."
According to a statement released by the two groups, Monsanto's actions mean that soybean meal shipments to Spain will be detained by customs officials there, preventing the products from being delivered to their European buyers.
"The Oilseed Chamber and the Cereals Export Center express their profound concern over the situation this has created and for the consequences that this action will bring to the oilseed production and trade chain," they said in a statement.
"It should be kept in mind that exports to the E.U. surpass $2 billion annually and these (soybean) products represent more than 60% of our overseas sales," the statement continued. "This situation has increased concern among European importers about trading with our country, seriously complicating (our) exports and increasing uncertainty in the market about these products, which are so important to our foreign trade."
The groups said all involved parties need to "urgently" find a solution to the situation.
Monsanto has tried for two years to get the Argentine government to help address the company's claims that Argentine farmers properly pay the company's Roundup Ready soybean seeds only about 20% of the time. The rest of the time, seeds are bought illegally in an underground seed market or replanted after each harvest.
In June, Monsanto began filing lawsuits over the shipment of soybean products to the E.U. Many E.U. nations recognize Monsanto's patent on the genetically modified seeds, which are used to plant 95% of the soybeans in Argentina. In contrast, the Argentine government has never allowed Monsanto to patent the seeds.
The European feed industry, which imports up to 10 million tons of soybean meal annually from Argentina, last year called on the government and farmers here to resolve this dispute so that it doesn't affect trade with the E.U.
