Agribusiness Mergers: Over 200 organizations line up against them

In an open letter to the European Commission and Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, Slow Food, along with more than 200 organizations, has raised its objections to the planned mergers of six giant agriculture corporations: Dow Chemical with DuPont, Monsanto with Bayer AG, and Syngenta with ChemChina.

Indeed, the three resulting companies would enjoy an unprecedented concentration of market power and “exacerbate the problems caused by industrial farming – with negative consequences for the public, farmers and farm workers, consumers, the environment, and food security”.

Becoming spokesman not only of farmers and producers, but also of the civil society in general, the organizations underline the fact that the proposed mergers will lead to an unacceptable monopoly, with three companies controlling around 70% of the world’s agro-chemicals and more than 60% of commercial seeds. This is why, in the open letter, the organizations have called on the European Commission to reject the mergers, prevent the damage caused by these corporations, and urgently take steps to support just and sustainable food systems less dependent on agri-business.