This article posted August 14, 2013
Brazil’s largest soybean cooperative, Aprosoja, has
agreed to end a lawsuit against Monsanto in exchange for a reduced price on the
new Intacta RR2 pro soybeans. According
to an AgProfessional article, Aprosoja decided to “accept Monsanto’s offer to reduce the
price” on the new soybeans in exchange for dropping a case against the company
over its seed technology, Roundup Ready.”
The AgProfessional article is available here.
The lawsuit began when “farmers claimed Monsanto’s
right to charge royalties on Roundup Ready expired in 2010 under Brazilian law,
while the company said it patent didn’t expire until 2014” because U.S. law
applied. In February, Monsanto stopped
charging royalties on Roundup Ready sales, after Brazil’s Upper Tribunal of
Justice (STJ) rejected Monsanto’s choice of law argument. Some farmers, however, “wanted the firm to
pay back the royalties collected since 2010.”
The farm and ranch federation, Famato, in Mato Grosso
(Brazil’s top soy producing state) also supports the agreement. Ricardo Tomczyk stated that while farmers who
have not signed the agreement are free to sue Monsanto for royalties, they
“will no longer have the backing of the country’s two powerful farm groups.”
According to Bloomberg News, Monsanto is giving
Brazilian farmers a 16 percent discount on the new Intacta RR2 pro soybeans for
the next four years. The Bloomberg News
article is available here.
