The Canadian Competition Bureau said on Thursday it was investigating certain agriculture companies for alleged anticompetitive practices over allegations of trying to block an online farm-supply startup from doing business in Western Canada, reports Reuters.
The regulator did not provide details on specific companies involved in the probe, but court documents filed on Jan. 30 in Canadian federal court show Bayer AG, Corteva Inc. and BASF were among those that were being investigated following a complaint from California-based online retailer Farmers Business Network Inc (FBN).
Farm-supply wholesalers, including Cargill Inc. and Univar Solutions Inc., are also being probed, the court documents show, confirming an earlier report by the Wall Street Journal.
The Competition Bureau said in its court filings it was seeking records and communications from the seed, pesticide and wholesaling companies involved in the probe who are alleged to have stopped supplying FBN’s newly acquired Canadian business in 2018, and some company officials urged farmers and others in the industry not to do business with the company.
Read the full report at Reuters.
