U.S. Department of Agriculture is launching an Interagency Working Group on Competition and Intellectual Property in Seeds and Other Agricultural Inputs.
The group's formation follows the recommendation detailed in the "More and Better Choices for Farmers: Promoting Fair Competition and Innovation in Seeds and Other Agricultural Inputs" report, according to a March 23 news release.
"Farmers deserve choice in the marketplace," USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt said in the news release. "Today’s interagency meeting is one more step this administration is taking to support competition and innovation in the seed sector."
Moffitt joined USDA Competition Senior Advisor Andy Green and Project Cooperator Julie Dawson for an initial working group meeting with Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Kathi Vidal and her team, according to the news release. Also taking part in the initial meeting was Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, representing the U.S. Department of Justice, and Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, representing the Federal Trade Commission, as well as their staffs.
"The working group will promote fairer competition in seeds and other agricultural inputs and enhance the delivery of services to the public," the news release said.
The collaboration will promote U.S. seed and agriculture innovation while advancing competition, in addition to showing President Joe Biden's administration's "strong commitment to American farmers, especially small and family-owned farms," Vidal said in the news release.
"We look forward to our work and ensuring that the patent system, while a driver of innovation in the agriculture ecosystem, does not reduce competition in this critical space," Vidal added, according to the release.
Protecting agricultural market competition and the rule of law, including in seeds, is at the core of DOJ's Antitrust Division, Kanter said in the news release.
"Farmers and their families work incredibly hard and deserve to enjoy the benefits of free and fair competition," Kanter said in the release. "The Antitrust Division is committed to ensuring that anticompetitive practices do not diminish those benefits or lead to undue market concentration or unlawful monopolies in these critical agricultural markets. We are grateful for the leadership of our partners at USDA on this issue, and look forward to working with FTC, USDA and USPTO to enforce the antitrust laws and protect farmers."
