MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Monsanto in collision course with the administration of president Macri
Monsanto has rejected a request by Argentina for more time to collect monies owed by small farmers for royalties on genetically modified soybean seeds. Argentine agricultural minister Ricardo Buryaile and members of his staff have met with Monsanto representatives, including chief operating officer Brett Begemann to request a waiver on the monies owed. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesMonsanto don't give a F about anything but makin money.
Apr 21st, 2016 - 12:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Economic terrorists!
Monsanto will win.
Apr 21st, 2016 - 12:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Why oh why can't Argys ever stick to a contract?
Argentos in arrears in payments. Argie government actions to keep creditors from getting paid. Government sponsored theft.
Apr 21st, 2016 - 01:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Gosh.
Whatever happened to all this crap about Argentina joining the real world?
rg = thief
Apr 21st, 2016 - 05:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0If Macri keeps going with this he will be no better than TMBOA.
Apr 21st, 2016 - 06:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0(As they say in LatAm) So we will see what we will see!
@1 Klingon:
Apr 21st, 2016 - 06:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“ Argentine soy farmers don't give a F about anything but makin money.
Economic terrorists!”
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Macri cabinet 1: “ thousands of millions of foreign investors are falling all over themselves to come to Argentistan!”
Macri cabinet 2: “ of course, we're not going to have anyone honour contracts from foreign companies., because, you know, we're like, sovereign, you know. And we've got a big sailboat to enforce that. ”
Same old populist-nationalist Argentistan as always. Nothing has changed.
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Buryaile, Macri's agro minister, referring to Monsanto contracts with growers: “No se puede poner en la cabeza una pistola a un Gobierno a cuatro meses de haber asumido” (“ You can't put a gun to the head of a new government only four months old” ) (Apparently it's OK to do so after six months, or if there is an annoying prosecutor involved)
Nothing has changed.
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Buryaile,: “We object to any contract clause that restricts commerce. We set the rules around here, not some company.”
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If Argentina refuses to provide for honouring the obligations and testing before the soy leaves Argentina, Monsanto is prepared to do the testing at the destination port, before unloading, where market ports are obliged to respect intellectual property and contract requirements. In 2006 Monsanto held up a ship with 5,900 tonnes of argie soy product then worth about US$1 million in the UK, and two more such shipments in Spain. And you think that Singer getting Ghana to detain one of their little sailboats in a foreign port was a big deal?
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Buryaile was asked by the press if he thought Monsanto might enforce their contracts by holding up ship loads of soy as they did in 2006. “ I don't think so....” he said.
No?
Well, we're going to find out.
Because nothing has changed.
Klingon is a typical Argy. Companies are in in for PROFIT and they are not terrorists.
Apr 22nd, 2016 - 11:26 am - Link - Report abuse 0Farmers don't have to buy their products
But if they do they need to abide by the agreements
I don't know why this is such a hard concept for 3rd worlders.
Actually I should not have said “nothing has changed” without qualifying that. I should have been more clear in indicating that Argentina's historical attitude of taking without paying is what really has not seen any improvement in the new government. The new government's excuse this time: meeting Monsanto's contract requirements for payment is “interference with commerce.” The other North Korea could not have said this more clearly.
Apr 22nd, 2016 - 01:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Soy is what keeps Argentina afloat. Or rather, Monsanto's GM soy. Argentina's economic recovery after the 2002 default was largely due to production and export of Monsanto soy, which was introduced in 1996. Almost all soy produced in Argentina is GM. Money made from Monsanto soy allowed the Kirchners to pay for their legions of ñoquis and their dubious social programmes. But this year, flooding of biblical proportions is wiping out a large part of the Argentine soy crop, perhaps as a type of justice, at a time when Argentine farmers and the new populist government are saying they are refusing to meet their contractual obligations to their soy strain provider. Monsanto soy may be Roundup-Resistant but it's not Rain-Resistant. And the current soy imbroglio is another good reminder of Argentina's inveterate thieving nature, for refusing to meet payments and other obligations to foreign providers of goods and services. And in that respect, Argentina hasn't changed.
They'll pay either when the grain reaches its foreign port or next year when they want more seed or spray.
Apr 22nd, 2016 - 08:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Argentina has no leverage.
None whatsoever
Not sure why they think they do
@9 “Argentina has no leverage.”
Apr 22nd, 2016 - 09:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Actually, they do. Or at least alternatives.
There are some GM soy seeds that are now outside of Monsanto patent rights and available as generics, with many of the desirable characteristics of the Monsanto plants. Monsanto does not have a monopoly on GM soy. If the argie government wished to avoid conflict and give some indications of eventually possibly maybe someday perhaps being viewed as reliable in international commerce (not holding my breath) then they would pursue a programme of lawful alternatives. There is leverage in that. Unfortunately, the Macri government has demonstrated that it's not mature enough for that, and so it looks as though it will continue the confrontational populist-nationalist rah-rah.
Again, nobody is forcing them to use a product. If they don't want to pay find another alternative.
Apr 23rd, 2016 - 10:34 am - Link - Report abuse 0But they did use it and they must pay.
You'll see
Argentina has a long history of losing.
This will be chalked up as another loss.
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