Brazil soy farmers, Bayer clash over seed ‘breeding incentives’

An association representing soybean farmers nationwide asked Brazil’s antitrust watchdog to formally complete a pending review of a case challenging the legality of “breeding incentives” offered by one biotechnology company to its commercial partners, reports ADM Investor Services.

According to a public complaint lodged in mid-August with competition watchdog CADE, Aprosoja Brasil specifically expressed concern regarding the timing for issuance of a final opinion by the agency’s General Superintendent regarding the case. The latest significant development came in September 2023, when CADE’s Economic Studies Department concluded “the granting of breeding incentives led to a decrease in the number of cultivars developed with alternative technology” to Bayer’s Roundup Ready, according to public disclosures. Two months later, CADE’s SG concluded additional studies that supported the department’s findings, ADM Investor Services shared.

“The case is ripe,” Amanda Oliveira, a lawyer representing Aprosoja before CADE, told Reuters.