MINNETONKA, Minn. – Cargill Inc. filed a federal lawsuit against commodities trader International Exchange Services LLC (IES) alleging the company breached its contract and violated the Clean Air Act by selling invalid renewable fuel credits and then refused to correct the transaction. Cargill filed the lawsuit on Sept. 18 in the New York Southern District Court in Manhattan.

The renewable fuel credits are called Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs). A RIN is a numeric code generated by a renewable fuel producer or importer. It represents a gallon of renewable fuel produced or imported to the US. RINs are assigned to every batch of US biofuel.

According to the lawsuit, Cargill said it bought 1.2 million credits from International Exchange Services in April 2010. However, Cargill discovered that more than 1.1 million of the credits were invalid and asked IES to correct the transaction. IES refused, saying in a letter that the credits were from a producer in Texas.

Cargill is demanding civil penalties, damages and a correction of the transaction. The company also wants the court to stop IES from making transfers of RINs.