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 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.
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