Penalty Amount
$35,000,000
Minnesota, the FTC, and a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general reached a proposed settlement with Corteva over alleged loyalty programs that restricted pesticide distributors from buying lower-cost generic products. Corteva must end the challenged practices, comply with restrictions for 10 years, and pay $35 million to the state plaintiffs, including $1.25 million to Minnesota.
The proposed settlement requires Corteva to pay $35 million to the state plaintiffs and bars specified loyalty, share-based, and volume-based programs, as well as discrimination or threats against customers for refusing prohibited terms or doing business with competitors. The restrictions apply to all Corteva post-patent active ingredients for 10 years.
Review distributor, reseller, and other sales agreements for rebates or benefits conditioned on purchasing a high share of requirements from the company, exclusivity provisions, market-share or volume thresholds, restrictions on carrying generic or competing products, and terms that penalize customers for dealing with competitors. Check customer incentive programs and related policies for antitrust compliance obligations, non-retaliation protections, and monitoring or approval controls; this release concerns antitrust conduct, not privacy violations.
Entity
Corteva Inc.
Industry
OtherOfficial Press Release
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2026/09/28_Corteva.asp
SyngentaCrop JointMotionforStipulatedOrder
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/SyngentaCrop-JointMotionforStipulatedOrder.pdf
SyngentaCorteva Complaint
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2022/docs/SyngentaCorteva_Complaint.pdf
Minnesota Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/consumer/
"significant proposed settlement with pesticide-manufacturing giant Corteva Inc."
"pay the bipartisan state plaintiffs $35 million to resolve their monetary claims, including $1.25 million to Minnesota."
"alleged that Corteva implemented an anti-competitive post-patent loyalty program that paid distributors to block competitors from selling cheaper generic products to farmers"
"For a period of 10 years, the proposed order will prohibit Corteva from conditioning payments or other benefits to a distributor on that firm purchasing a high share of a given pesticide active ingredient from Corteva or similarly limiting its purchases of generic equivalents."
"along with the Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan coalition of 12 state attorneys general"
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$75.5M
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