Glanbia’s case against molasses supplier ED&F Man Liquid Products Ireland Ltd was reserved for judgement by Mr Justice Mark Sanfey following a hearing in the High Court on Tuesday.
The case arose following the detection of traces of the banned hormone zilpaterol in some batches of Glanbia-owned GAIN Equine Nutrition’s horse feed in October 2020.
Laboratory testing at the time detected the growth hormone in a sample of molasses which had been supplied by ED&F to GAIN for incorporation into its feed.
Back in October 2020, the detection of zilpaterol led French horse racing authority, France Galop, to withdraw 18 horses from several races.
Glanbia claims ED&F’s supply of the contaminated molasses lost it some €9m and the High Court is being asked to decide whether the case should go to arbitration. Coolmore Stud was impacted by the horse feed contamination and its separate case against Glanbia is expected to be heard next month.
ED&F says it is the leading supplier of molasses and liquid products for animal feed mills and livestock farmers in Ireland.
Negligence
Due to ED&F’s supply of molasses allegedly contaminated with zilpaterol, Glanbia contests that the company was in breach of the supply contract between the two parties.
Glanbia, now known as Tirlán, contests that ED&F is guilty of negligence, leading to the molasses contamination. It argues that ED&F failed to carry out sufficient testing or inspection of the molasses products it supplied.
ED&F’s argument , before Mr Justice Sanfey in the High Court on Tuesday, focuses on the nature of its contract to supply the molasses to Glanbia.
Glanbia contests that a “deal was done” on this supply contact through an email it sent the defendant at 5pm on 24 April 2020.
No agreement
Senior counsel for ED&F Douglas Clarke spoke for more than two hours before the judge contending that “neither party could objectively be regarded as having considered that the contracts were concluded when [a Glanbia employee] sent this email”.
He said there “plainly cannot be” a “final and unqualified assent by ED&F to Glanbia’s offer”.
He said that it was clear that ED&F was not agreeing to the supply of the molasses other than on the basis of the official contracts which he says the company had later sent following receipt of the [molasses] purchase orders. Clarke said that this was as ED&F had done on “numerous previous occasions”.
Ultimately, ED&F contests that it supplied the molasses on different terms than Glanbia claims it did. The molasses supplier is seeking an order from the court declaring that the contract requires that any dispute should go to arbitration.
Mr Justice Mark Sanfey reserved the case for judgement.
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Glanbia’s case against molasses supplier ED&F Man Liquid Products Ireland Ltd was reserved for judgement by Mr Justice Mark Sanfey following a hearing in the High Court on Tuesday.
The case arose following the detection of traces of the banned hormone zilpaterol in some batches of Glanbia-owned GAIN Equine Nutrition’s horse feed in October 2020.
Laboratory testing at the time detected the growth hormone in a sample of molasses which had been supplied by ED&F to GAIN for incorporation into its feed.
Back in October 2020, the detection of zilpaterol led French horse racing authority, France Galop, to withdraw 18 horses from several races.
Glanbia claims ED&F’s supply of the contaminated molasses lost it some €9m and the High Court is being asked to decide whether the case should go to arbitration. Coolmore Stud was impacted by the horse feed contamination and its separate case against Glanbia is expected to be heard next month.
ED&F says it is the leading supplier of molasses and liquid products for animal feed mills and livestock farmers in Ireland.
Negligence
Due to ED&F’s supply of molasses allegedly contaminated with zilpaterol, Glanbia contests that the company was in breach of the supply contract between the two parties.
Glanbia, now known as Tirlán, contests that ED&F is guilty of negligence, leading to the molasses contamination. It argues that ED&F failed to carry out sufficient testing or inspection of the molasses products it supplied.
ED&F’s argument , before Mr Justice Sanfey in the High Court on Tuesday, focuses on the nature of its contract to supply the molasses to Glanbia.
Glanbia contests that a “deal was done” on this supply contact through an email it sent the defendant at 5pm on 24 April 2020.
No agreement
Senior counsel for ED&F Douglas Clarke spoke for more than two hours before the judge contending that “neither party could objectively be regarded as having considered that the contracts were concluded when [a Glanbia employee] sent this email”.
He said there “plainly cannot be” a “final and unqualified assent by ED&F to Glanbia’s offer”.
He said that it was clear that ED&F was not agreeing to the supply of the molasses other than on the basis of the official contracts which he says the company had later sent following receipt of the [molasses] purchase orders. Clarke said that this was as ED&F had done on “numerous previous occasions”.
Ultimately, ED&F contests that it supplied the molasses on different terms than Glanbia claims it did. The molasses supplier is seeking an order from the court declaring that the contract requires that any dispute should go to arbitration.
Mr Justice Mark Sanfey reserved the case for judgement.
Read more
Banned growth hormone detected in horse feed
Feed contamination forces O'Brien to pull Arc runners
Contaminated molasses the cause of GAIN horse feed investigation
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