Agriculture Minister Ricardo Buryaile said the Argentine government will oversee testing of soybean crops in an agreement to assure Monsanto that its genetically engineered seeds are not being pirated, said Reuters. Monsanto, the largest seed company in the world, had threatened to stop selling its seed in Argentina, the No. 3 soy producer, because of the dispute.
Monsanto had wanted export companies to inspect soy cargoes, as they do in next-door Brazil, the No. 2 grower. Argentina’s farmers said they wanted the government to be in charge. Buryaile said the National Seed Institute would supervise spot checks by public and private inspectors.
At stake in the dispute were the royalties that growers pay to Monsanto for permission to use part of their harvest as seed for their next crop rather than buy a new batch of seed beans. In mid-May, a Monsanto official told Reuters, “We’re not going to sit back and let Argentina steal technology” while growers elsewhere pay the royalties.