Civil society responds with call for a UN Treaty on Competition

Brussels – The European Union’s Competition Directorate has rolled over and approved the controversial merger of Bayer AG (Germany) with Monsanto (USA), announced on 21 March 2018. Across the Atlantic, it is rumoured that the US Department of Justice will welcome the EU decision and announce its own acquiescence shortly after. 

Acceptance of the deal in Brussels and Washington will likely finalize the last of three mega-mergers that have been in play in the seed and pesticide industries since 2015. Whereas six global companies controlled about two thirds of the global seed market and more than 70% of global pesticides at the beginning of the merger mania, four companies will now be left: Bayer-Monsanto will dominate, followed by Corteva Agriscience (the spinoff agricultural enterprise resulting from last year’s Dow-DuPont merger), and  the earlier agreed merger between Swiss-based Syngenta and ChemChina (the  acquisitive Chinese chemical company that is expected to soon merge with the still larger Sinochem).