MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The commission said it had concerns that the merger could reduce competition in pesticides, seeds and traits.
"Seeds and pesticide products are essential for farmers and ultimately consumers. We need to ensure effective competition so that farmers can have access to innovative products, better quality and also purchase products at competitive prices. And at the same time maintain an environment where companies can innovate and invest in improved products," Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said, as quoted by the statement.
Bayer is a leading producer of insecticides and Monsanto is best known for developing genetically modified seeds to increase crop yields.
In a letter, a coalition of 24 farm, consumer and rural advocacy organizations urged the US Department of Justice to block a proposed merger between agribusiness giants Bayer and Monsanto, claiming the that farmers and families would suffer from a resulting vegetable seed monopoly.
Meanwhile, the nonprofit group Organic Consumers Association said that the five international judges in the Monsanto Tribunal, a civil society initiative, have ruled that US agricultural corporation Monsanto has engaged in activities that violate basic human rights.
