The first of a series of national summit meetings on antitrust issues in agriculture has been held, with Attorney General Chris Koster one of the key players. He’s the co-chair of the National Association of Attorneys General antitrust task force.
Koster says much of the discussion focused on antitrust implications of Monsanto’s dominance of the biotechnology and breeding in seed development. He says research is fine and development is fine, but there is a danger if one company can control both. “Eventually, market domination leads to market destruction, unnaturally high prices for consumers, for purchasers, and an unwarranted consolidation of intellectual property around the various seed traits that are in question,” he says.
Koster was one of 900 people at the meeting which also drew United States Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department’s Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust issues, and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. He was there as the co-chairman of the antitrust task force of the National Association of Attorneys General.