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Syngenta says it plans ‘business as usual’

 

ChemChina’s proposed acquisition of Syngenta has raised some concerns in the agriculture industry, but the company says it plans to operate ‘business as usual’.

Paul Minehart, head of Syngenta Corporate Communications for North America says after the deal is approved nothing will change. “I think the key message about the acquisition is that Syngenta will remain Syngenta,” he says.  “It will be business as usual.”

Last month, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack expressed his concerns over how the potential merger would affect biotechnology and innovation in agriculture.  Minehart says Syngenta also had those same concerns.  “We hope that all countries, especially those that are importing technology developed and grown in the United States will be reviewed in a synchronized way and a science based process with predictable timelines,” he says.

He says Syngenta hopes this could be a stepping stone towards a more synchronous approval process.  “There are no guarantees,” he says. “There is nothing that we can point to that would says, definitively, but certainly it seems like it could be a step in the right direction.”