The Justice Department has shut down its high profile antitrust investigation into biotech giant Monsanto without explanation.

On November 16, the Department notified agricultural biotechnology developer, Monsanto, that it closed a lengthy investigation into the company’s competitive conduct involving genetically modified seed.

“Absent a public statement from the Antitrust Division, the public is in the dark about how the Department of Justice will pursue concerns involving intellectual property and competition in important markets,” said the American Antitrust Institute’s Diana Moss.

“This runs counter to the agency’s well-publicized goal of making competitive issues in agriculture a high and public priority.”
The Department of Justice investigation reportedly focused on Monsanto’s licensing practices for the herbicide-tolerant Roundup Ready soybean traits.

The American Antitrust Institute has called on the Department to look into whether the agricultural biotechnology giant’s conduct falls within the legitimate scope of its patents, or whether it licenses its genetic traits in a way that controls competition, to the detriment of competition and consumers.

The Institute has long advocated for antitrust enforcers to provide transparency to aid the public, industry, and policymakers.

“In this case, transparency is vitally important,” said Moss. Monsanto is dominant in the market for the first-generation Roundup Ready soybean trait and transgenic seed is a critical commodity, both domestically and for the export market.

“Given the importance of the markets involved, we would have liked to see the Antitrust Division explain what types of conduct were investigated and why no charges or remedies were pursued,” Moss said.

Moss said that a key part of what makes transparency so important is the looming expiration in 2014 of Monsanto’s patent on its Roundup Ready soybean trait.

That means there is an opportunity for innovators to develop a generic Roundup Ready trait — a beneficial development that could provide farmers with more choice and lower prices.

But without a comprehensive industry accord that includes terms under which rivals can access Monsanto’s Roundup Ready technology for research and development purposes before the patent expires, the window for generic competition may close, Moss said.