Food & Water Watch is denouncing the Obama administration approval of the proposed merger between ChemChina and Syngenta, two global agrichemical giants.

“This deal would consolidate even more economic power over farmers, increase the prices they pay and limit their choices for seeds and farm inputs,” said Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter.

“At the end of the day, President Obama’s executive orders and speeches on economic consolidation are merely window dressing when his administration does nothing to prevent a $43 billion takeover that creates the world’s biggest seed and agrichemical goliath,” Hauter said.

“The hyper-secretive Committee for Foreign Investment (CFIUS) in the United States cavalierly approved the takeover of Syngenta by the state-owned ChemChina without considering the tectonic shakeup taking place in the seed industry today.”

“As CFIUS approves this deal, the Department of Justice is scrutinizing the proposed Dow-DuPont seed and chemical merger, while another rumored deal between Bayer and Monsanto waits in the wings. These three seed company mergers would dramatically reshape an industry that is already critically over-consolidated into a monopolistic triad of seed powerhouses.”

“These deals unfold as U.S. crop prices and farm incomes experience steep and protracted declines. The rapid approval of this deal does not bode well for U.S. farmers and consumers. Food & Water Watch urges the Department of Justice to reject the proposed Dow-DuPont merger in light of the impacts of the ChemChina-Syngenta deal.”