Today the AAI released a follow-on paper (Addendum) to its October 2009 White Paper titled Transgenic Seed Platforms: Competition Between a Rock and a Hard Place? Authored by AAI Vice President and Senior Fellow Diana Moss, the Addendum looks further into competitive issues in the transgenic seed industry while responding to numerous claims put forth by Monsanto in its December 2009 report Competition and Innovation in American Agriculture.
Moss addresses Monsanto’s monopoly in genetic traits markets, provides additional insight into how rising prices for transgenic seed have potentially squeezed farmers, and discusses the potential use of patent rights to improperly influence competition. Moss also stresses the need to address the transition to generic competition in herbicide-tolerant soybeans. The AAI has advocated that specific federal policies are needed quickly to facilitate the development of robust competition in the seed markets.
“Patents and generics are major issues for competition in the transgenic seed industry,” Moss stated. “In this Addendum, we have taken advantage of new developments, additional analysis, conversations with industry experts, and a recent federal workshop.” Moss was a panelist at the first Department of Justice/U.S. Department of Agriculture joint workshop on competition in agriculture on March 12 in Ankeny, Iowa.
