Bayer Sees No Glyphosate Shortages Outside U.S. After Executive Order

By Patricia Weiss

Executive Order and Global Supply Impact

FRANKFURT, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. President's executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to ensure U.S. supply of glyphosate underscores U.S. farmers' needs to have access to the herbicide, Bayer said on Thursday, adding the move would not lead to shortages in other countries.

Bayer said last August that it could be forced to stop U.S. production of the widely-used farming weedkiller unless regulatory changes are made to stave off litigation that has been weighing on the German company.

U.S. Production and Chinese Imports

Bayer is the only company producing glyphosate in the United States but the farming sector there also imports large volumes of generic copies from China.

Roundup Litigation and $7.25B Settlement

Bayer, which has been trying for years to fend off contested product liability claims that the weedkiller caused cancer, earlier this week reached an agreement to pay as much as $7.25 billion to resolve tens of thousands of such lawsuits.

Claims by Private Gardening Users

Supreme Court Review and Liability

Separately, the German group has persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal that would sharply limit Bayer's liability in the lawsuits, which have been brought mainly by private gardening users.

Federal Preemption Argument

The top court's decision to rule on the matter came after the Trump administration supported Bayer's view that federal glyphosate regulation, which is mainly in Bayer's favour, should take precedence over state laws invoked by the plaintiffs.

(Reporting by Patricia WeissWriting by Ludwig BurgerEditing by Linda Pasquini)