Monsanto settles GM cotton dispute with three Indian seed firms

Kaveri Seed

11/10/2017 16:31

* Six companies had delayed licence payments over royalty 
dispute 
    * Monsanto settles with three seed firms - CEO letter 
    * Monsanto trying to negotiate with other groups 
 
    By Mayank Bhardwaj 
    NEW DELHI, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Three leading Indian cotton 
seed makers have settled an intellectual property dispute with 
Monsanto Co  MON.N  over its genetically modified (GM) seed 
technology, partly ending a legal tussle that has drawn in the 
Indian and U.S. governments. 
    Ajeet Seeds, Kaveri Seed Co Ltd  KVRI.NS  and Ankur Seeds 
were among six Indian companies that delayed payments to 
Monsanto, demanding a cut in royalties they paid to the U.S. 
firm to licence its technology. 
    "The arbitration proceedings with each of these (three) 
companies have concluded by way of consent orders which record 
the mutually discussed and accepted settlement terms," Shilpa 
Divekar Nirula, CEO of Monsanto India, wrote in a letter to 
India's farm minister last month, and seen by Reuters. 
    A ministry spokesman said he was not aware of the letter. 
    The dispute sparked a series of government actions that 
prompted the world's biggest seed company to withdraw from some 
businesses in India, one of the world's most important seed 
markets, Reuters revealed in a special report earlier this year. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1H61F0  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1B542X (http://reut.rs/2ncBknn) 
    Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) (MMB), a joint venture 
between Monsanto and local firm Mahyco, licenses a gene that 
produces its own pesticide to more than 45 local cotton seed 
companies in lieu of royalties and an upfront payment. 
    Acting on complaints by some local seed companies that MMB's 
royalties were too high, the farm ministry last year cut the 
fees these local firms paid to Missouri-based Monsanto. (http://reut.rs/2yf4qvA) 
    Since then, Monsanto - which is being bought by Germany's 
Bayer  BAYGn.DE  for $66 billion - has been at loggerheads with 
the seed firms and India's government over how much it can 
charge for its GM cotton seeds, costing it tens of millions of 
dollars in lost revenue a year. 
     
    BIGGER PICTURE 
    Ajeet Seeds and Ankur Seeds told Reuters on Wednesday they 
had resolved their differences with Monsanto. Calls to Kaveri 
Seeds' CEO G.V. Bhaskar Rao were not answered. 
    "In the larger interest of Indian farmers and agriculture, 
we have settled our differences with Monsanto," said M.G. 
Shembekar, managing director of Ankur Seeds. 
    "It's business as usual" with Monsanto now, added Sameer 
Mulay, managing director of Ajeet Seeds. 
    Neither disclosed the terms of the resolution. 
    However, the Sept. 19 letter to Farm Minister Radha Mohan 
Singh said Monsanto has yet to settle with Sri Rama Agri 
Genetics, Amar Biotech and Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd (NSL), along with 
two NSL group companies, Prabhat Agri Biotech and Pravardhan 
Seeds. 
    "While we remain committed to amicable dialogue with any 
disputing party, and despite our numerous attempts to arrive at 
a closure, the outstanding disputes with a few companies ... 
continue," Monsanto India's Nirula wrote. 
    Monsanto says NSL, based in the southern city of Hyderabad, 
owes it more than $20 million in royalty payments. 
    M. Prabhakara Rao, NSL's chairman and managing director, did 
not respond to requests seeking comment. 
    Earlier this year, citing a local law that excludes seeds 
from being patented, Rao told Reuters that Monsanto should never 
have been allowed to collect royalties after an initial payment 
to use its technology. Or, at the very least, he added, prices 
should have been set by the government. 
    New Delhi approved the first GM cotton seed trait in 2003 
and an upgraded variety in 2006, helping transform India into 
the world's top producer and second-largest exporter of the 
fibre. 
    "MMB has made several unsuccessful attempts to amicably 
resolve the bilateral dispute that resulted in such withholding 
of amounts payable under long-standing agreements," said a 
Monsanto India spokesman. "Currently, these matters are pending 
arbitration in various legal forums." 
 
    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
Monsanto meets its match as Hindu nationalists assert power in 
India    http://reut.rs/2ncBknn 
India overtakes China in cotton production    http://tmsnrt.rs/2ndBrzU 
The bollworm threat    http://tmsnrt.rs/2mGP0XK 
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> 
 (Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Krishna N. Das and 
Ian Geoghegan) 
 ((mayank.bhardwaj@thomsonreuters.com; +91-11-4954 8030; Reuters 
Messaging: mayank.bhardwaj.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: INDIA MONSANTO/