SAO PAULO, Brazil, April 5 (Reuters) - Argentina"s Agriculture Secretariat said on Friday after a meeting of with ministers from Brazil and Paraguay in Colombia that the ministers in the region had agreed to a proposal that royalties should "only be paid when farmers buy seeds."

Monsanto shares fell sharply on the news last week

Monsanto has had problems collecting royalties for its genetically modified Roundup Ready soy seeds in Argentina, where it has no patent on RR technology and the government allows growers to reproduce RR seeds without paying the royalty.
Talks between the company and Argentine producer collapsed last month when Monsanto warned it could impose $15-per-tonne fines on Argentine shipments of RR beans arriving in Europe where the gene is patented.
After a meeting with U.S. agriculture secretary Mike Johanns in Cartagena last week, Argentine agriculture secretary Miguel Campos said, "Never will we accept the payment of royalties for grain."
The agriculture ministries in Brazil and Paraguay said they would consider Argentina"s proposal but added that they saw no problem with the current royalty payment accord reached by their soy producers and the U.S. company.
The company used to have problems collecting in Brazil and Paraguay, but producers in those countries recently agreed to pay a royalty fee for use of the RR technology at the point of sale of the crop.
As in Argentina, most GMO seed sales in Brazil and Paraguay take place on the black market and make it virtually impossible to collect royalties.
"We need more time to better analyzes the proposal made by Argentina in light of the legal concerns of each country," said Lino Colsero, vice secretary of international relations at Brazil"s agriculture ministry.
The Argentine proposal that the region only allow Monsanto to charge royalties at the point of sale of seeds will be addressed again in the next regional meeting of agriculture ministries on April 28 and 29 in Asuncion, Colsero added.

Monsanto has a patent for its RR soy in Brazil

In the online Paraguayan agricultural news site www.campoagropecuario.com.py  on Tuesday, Paraguay"s agriculture minister Antonio Ibanez also denied Argentina"s claim that Paraguay had rejected
Monsanto"s recent payment agreement reached with local producers. Ibanez said there is a clear accord between producers and Monsanto for the use of GMO soybeans, over which there is no tension or problems in relation to the American company.
On Monday, the United States said it would delay by six months its decision on whether to suspend Brazil"s preferential trade status because of widespread intellectual piracy.
Brazil"s trade status allows it to export $3.2 billion worth of goods to the United State, the largest foreign consumer market for Latin America"s largest economy.