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Concentration of market power
in the EU seed market
11
The increase in size of the EU seed market and its role as the first global exporter of seed has put Europe at the
centre of the international seed sector
21
. As observed by different intergovernmental institutions and studies
at an international level, a large part of the market lies in the hands of a very small number of companies. This
consolidation has happened in the last 15-20 years, starting in the nineties
(table 1)
.
Two recent studies show that the largest 10 companies have a worldwide market share of between 62%
22
and
75.3%
23
: note that five of them are companies that produce both seeds and agro-chemicals, and the four biggest
seed giants have a total market share between 48.2% and 58.2% according to the same studies.
With Europe being the world’s leading exporter in seeds and the third biggest world market for seeds, the
question of dominance of just a few players is a highly relevant one. It would be naïve to consider that such an
important market is not highly interesting for the seed giants. Additionally, from a legislative perspective, critics
claim that
“for the past 50 years Europe has been a laboratory for seed laws that it subsequently imposes on the
entire planet through free trade agreements”
24
. Indeed, the EU has both an economic footprint on the rest of the
world because of its strong export role, and also a legislative footprint because of states outside the EU copying
its laws in order to ease trade with the block.
20. KWS 2013 data for vegetables, maize and sugar beet,
http://www.kws.de/global/show_document.asp?id=aaaaaaaaaaffxwnand
Commission staff working document
impact assessment accompanying the document proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the production and making available on the
market of plant reproductive material,
European Commission, May 2013,
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/pressroom/docs/proposal_aphp_ia_en.pdf21. France is currently the largest world seed exporter and the Netherlands is the third largest (
La filière des semences affiche un excédent record de 836 M d’euro
s,
Agra Presse hebdo, Semaine du 25 novembre 2013 – N° 3423).
22. Fugeray-Scarbel et Lemarie, 2013:
Évolution de l’organisation de la recherche et du secteur des semences
.23. ETC group,
Putting the Cartel before the Horse ... and Farm, Seeds, Soil, Peasants, etc. Who Will Control Agricultural Inputs?,
ETC Group, September 2013,
http://www.etcgroup.org/sites/www.etcgroup.org/files/CartelBeforeHorse11Sep2013.pdf24.
Position on the marketing of seeds, plant health and controls , European Coordination Via Campesina, December 2012, http://www.eurovia.org/spip.php?article711Based on available information on market shares, 40% of the total EU seed market co
extremely concentrated markets.
75% of market share
controlled by the top 5 companies of the sector
maize
86% of market share
controlled by the top 4 companies of the sector
Sugar beet
95% of market share
controlled by the top 5 companies of the sector
vegetables
Figure 2:
EU market shares of the top
companies in the maize, sugar beet
and vegetable seed market, for the
years 2012-2013
20
Based on available information on market sh res, 40% of the t tal EU s ed market corresponds to
extremely concentrated mark ts.
75% of market share
controlled by the top 5 companies of the sector
maize
86% of market share
controlled by the top 4 companies of the sector
Sugar beet
95% of market share
controlled by the top 5 companies of the sector
vegetables