ST. LOUIS — The Justice Department has intensified its antitrust investigation into Monsanto Co., demanding internal documents that outline marketing tactics of the world’s biggest seed company.
The demand, disclosed Thursday by Monsanto, formalizes a months- long investigation into possible antitrust violations at the company, which has gained unprecedented power in the multibillion-dollar market for biotech seeds. It has already provided millions of pages of documents to the department and is cooperating with the agency’s civil probe, spokesman Lee Quarles said Thursday.
The government asked this week for information on Monsanto’s biotech soybean business, Quarles said. Monsanto’s patented genes are inserted into roughly 95 percent of all soybeans and 80 percent of all corn grown in the U.S.
The government is examining whether farmers and seed companies will have access to Monsanto’s popular Roundup Ready soybeans after the seeds’ patent expires in 2014.
The company is trying to shift customers to the next generation of patented soybeans but said in a statement it will grant full access to the current variety even after the patent expires.
