Little Rock – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement announcing he is ordering a Chinese state-owned company to divest its ownership of approximately 160 acres of land in Craighead County and imposing a civil penalty of $280,000 for failure to timely report foreign ownership:
“This is the first enforcement action I have taken under the authority granted under Act 636 of 2023 by the General Assembly to ban prohibited foreign entities from owning Arkansas agricultural lands. The land in question is owned by Northrup King Seed Co., a subsidiary of Syngenta Seeds, LLC, which is ultimately owned by China National Chemical Company (ChemChina), a state-owned enterprise.
“I am ordering ChemChina, as a ‘prohibited foreign-party-controlled business’ to divest this land within two years or I will commence an enforcement action in Craighead County circuit court.
“Additionally, as the owner failed to file in a timely manner documents required by Act 1046 of 2021 with the Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture, I am also imposing a civil penalty of $280,000, which represents 25 percent of the reported fair market value of the property, the maximum civil penalty allowed by law.
“I thank Secretary Wes Ward and the Department of Agriculture for their help in obtaining information to assist my office in determining the ultimate foreign owners of this land in Craighead County. It is this kind of teamwork across state government that will help us all continue to protect the interests of Arkansans for generations to come.”
Background
Under Act 636, state law bars a “prohibited foreign-party-controlled business” from acquiring or holding public or private land in Arkansas either directly or through affiliated parties. Among the definitions of a “prohibited foreign party” in state law are individuals or entities with a connection to a country subject to the federal International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The People’s Republic of China is subject to ITAR.
In March 2022, Syngenta Seeds, LLC submitted to the United States Department of Agriculture Form 153 regarding the Craighead County property pursuant to the federal Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA), stating that “[u]ltimately, the foreign person that holds indirectly a significant interest in the person owning the land is from China.”
Under Act 1046 of 2021, a foreign person required to file an AFIDA report shall also file a copy of the report to the Arkansas Department of Agriculture “within the time period required under the federal law.”
To read the letter to Northrup King Seed Co. and Syngenta Seeds, LLC, click here.
To read Syngenta’s Form 153 AFIDA filing, click here.