(Des Moines, IA) -- Iowa is joining 10 states and the Federal Trade Commission in filing a lawsuit against pesticide makers Syngenta and Corteva. The suit accuses the companies of anti-competitive practices that have harmed farmers.
The complaint, filed in North Carolina, accuses the defendants of using “loyalty programs” with pesticide distributors to exclude generic competitors from the market. The programs reward distributors for selling Syngenta and Corteva products long after their patent and other protections have expired, thus inflating prices.
The complaint alleges the practices have cost farmers many millions of dollars a year.
The lawsuit accuses Syngenta and Corteva of violating state and federal laws, including the FTC Act and the Clayton Act. The FTC and state attorneys general ask the court to end the loyalty programs, and grant equitable monetary relief and attorney fees, among other remedies.
Syngenta -- based in Basel, Switzerland, and a subsidiary of Sinochem Holdings Corp. of China -- and Corteva, based in Indianapolis, are among the largest makers of crop-pesticides in the United States.
Other states in the lawsuit are: California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin.