FSHL Blog

DOJ begins Monsanto probe

On October 8, the seed and agrochemical giant Monsanto revealed that it is being questioned by the Department of Justice for a possible violation of anti-trust laws related to its control of much of the genetically engineered seed market, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The timing of the investigation coincides with an announcement in late August from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about a series of workshops to hear farmers’ concerns about corporate consolidation in the agricultural industry. Christine Varney, the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, also recently announced a commitment to investigate competition issues within the agricultural industry.

Monsanto is characterizing the investigation as an informal, “business as usual” questioning, rather than a formal probe, but that may well be because it is no stranger to being investigated on anti-trust charges. In 2007, the Peoria Journal Star reports, Monsanto acquired the cottonseed company Delta and Pine Land, which gave them control of more than half of the U.S. cottonseed market. In order to approve the deal, federal regulators required Monsanto to divest itself of another cottonseed company that controlled about 12% of the market, as well as amend its licensing policies to allow other companies to “stack” or combine Monsanto’s patented genetic traits with their own. This meant billions of dollars in licensing fees for Monsanto. In May of this year, Monsanto sued DuPont, one of its largest competitors, for intellectual property right infringement. DuPont promptly counter-sued, accusing Monsanto of unlawful anti-competitive behavior. Monsanto is the world’s biggest seed company and fifth largest agrochemical company (thanks largely to its ubiquitous herbicide, Roundup). DuPont is the world’s second biggest seed company is also the sixth largest agrochemical company. All of the genetically engineered traits involved in the litigation between the two companies relate to herbicide tolerance.

http://www.panna.org/resources/panups/panup_20091015#1

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