Competition Issues in the Agriculturl Sector在农业部门的竞争问题.pptVIP

Competition Issues in the Agricultural Sector Cornelius Dube CUTS Centre for Competition, Investment and Economic Regulation (CUTS CCIER) Introduction and Outline Agriculture sector chosen for detailed research under 7up4 Many competition concerns in broad agriculture sector Stock feeds; dairy; beef; agrochemical; farm implements etc. Presentation focus on crop produce only examines the value chain Input supply Crop production Marketing Input Supply Stage Focus on seed and fertiliser purchase Conduct of suppliers, i.e supply terms and pricing Significance: multiplier effects downstream, especially on production decisions, thus prices and supply Implication for policy: Check anticompetitive behaviour, especially abuse of dominance Competition Concerns in Seed Sector Concerns about varieties produced under intensive research technology by MNCs: exploitative monopolistic practices Excessive pricing, unfair buying conditions e.g. difficult minimum buying quantities Unfair use of power stemming from IPR DuPont alleges Monsanto abuses its IPR in genetically modified corn and soy bean seeds (June 2009) Cartelisation (price fixing and market allocation) Co-existence of Shortages and abundance Outcomes of government induced outcomes Price controls and poorly designed subsidy programmes Competition Concerns in Fertiliser Sector Policy induced and behavioural anticompetitive conduct Price controls and poorly designed subsidy regimes Shortages in developing countries Subsidies on Bangladeshi publicly run urea factories shut out private players (7up2) Monopolised and cartelised production processes Record fine for Sasol in SA for abuse of dominance and collusion Competition Concerns in Production/Farming Stage Few competition concerns, and only arising from market power Crops dominated by huge firms / associations tea for domestic use in Mauritius, Zimbabwean sugarcane Companies initiating contract farming/ controlling vertically integrated processes finan