Mergers Bill Introduced

OMAHA (DTN) -- With concerns mounting as to the effects of several large agribusiness mergers in the works, U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., introduced legislation Tuesday designed to better protect agriculture interests.

The "Food Security is National Security Act of 2017" would give USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services permanent representation on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS. The Department of Health and Human Services oversees the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The CFIUS is a panel of government officials that reviews proposed mergers and acquisitions of U.S. companies for national security purposes. That includes foreign entities wishing to buy U.S. agricultural and food assets.

The bill would establish new agriculture and food-related criteria for that committee to consider when transactions could result in foreign companies owning U.S. businesses.

Three possible mergers between Syngenta and ChemChina, Dow and DuPont, and Bayer and Monsanto could be completed this year. Those announced mergers have raised concerns among farmers that the moves would eventually hit them in the pocketbook in the form of higher prices for seeds and chemicals.

Last August, CFIUS approved the $43 billion ChemChina purchase of Syngenta. Neither Treasury Department, which oversees the CFIUS committee, nor company officials would comment on whether the committee required any demands of the companies to approve the merger.

Company executives who testified before Congress last September cited the growing complexity of the regulatory system and the cost to bring new ag products to market as reasons for a recent wave of mergers.

The legislation also adds new criteria to the CFIUS review process. The criteria would help to ensure proposed mergers and other transactions are reviewed for potential effects on American food and agricultural systems, as well as on the availability of and access to safe and quality food.

"Today there is not a food shortage in the world," Grassley said Tuesday during a news conference with agriculture journalists, "it is a distribution problem. Currently reviews appear more focused on the current state of the industry and not on future supply. They need to be more strategic."

In a statement, Stabenow said that protecting the integrity, safety, and resiliency of America's food system is core to the country's national security."

"As foreign entities continue their aggressive acquisitions of U.S. food and agriculture companies, it's imperative that these transactions face additional scrutiny," Stabenow said. "This bill ensures that the U.S. has the appropriate tools and people in place to safeguard America's food security, food safety, biosecurity, and the highly competitive U.S. farm sector as a whole."

The legislation is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Farmers Union.

In February, a group of nearly 325 consumer, food, farm and anti-pesticide interest groups sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, asking him to use antitrust laws to block the mergers. They were concerned the mergers would lead to higher food and farming costs, threaten global food security, curtail innovation, threaten the health of farm workers and limit farmer choices.

The coalition said in the letter the mergers would translate into fewer options for farmers and raise input prices.

In other issues, ahead of President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for April 6-7 in Florida, Grassley told reporters Tuesday he's hopeful agriculture will be part of the discussions.

"I would suggest it's very important on our products getting into China with China in the WTO (World Trade Organization)," Grassley said, "and connected to agriculture, their violations of intellectual property on our national security.

"I think it's a very, very important meeting."

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @toddneeleyDTN

(CC/AG)

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