Argentine Soybean Seed Tracking Registry Created to Discourage Re-Selling of Monsanto Seeds

As a means of eliminating the illegal resale of soybean seeds developed by Monsanto, Argentina’s Agriculture Ministry has created a registry that will be used to track the amount of genetically modified soybean seeds gathered and saved from the country’s farmers’ soybean crops.

Monsanto has claimed that farmers are required to pay the company a royalty payment if seed containing the company’s Intacta technology are sold after being gathered from a prior harvest, while the ministry maintains its position that farmers should only have to pay a seed royalty one time - at the point of purchase from the company.

This registry, which will require farmers to declare how much seed they replant and how much they set aside, represents a compromise between the two sides, as a vehicle to discourage farmers from reselling the seeds generated from their crops.

In April, Argentine soy exporters began inspecting cargoes for bootlegged technology at the request of Monsanto, causing increased tensions between the company and the country’s farmers and agriculture ministry.

The ministry announced that through negotiations, it has been agreed upon that the country’s largest producers would pay into a fund that would be created “to finance the development of biotechnology in the country”, but it remains unclear if these funds will be ultimately paid to Monsanto.