The Competition Bureau announced that it has closed an investigation into allegations of anticompetitive behaviour related to the supply of crop inputs (such as seeds, fertilizer and crop protection products) in western Canada.
The Bureau examined allegations that a number of manufacturers and wholesalers disadvantaged, restricted, or blocked the supply of crop inputs to Farmers Business Network Canada Inc. (FBN).
FBN, which entered Canada in November 2017, is the wholly owned Canadian subsidiary of Farmers Business Network Inc., a United States based company founded in 2014. It operates a digital agriculture platform which gives farmers access to a variety of data-related services.
Following a careful review of the evidence, the Bureau determined that the evidence does not sufficiently demonstrate that an agreement exists between competitors in relation to FBN.
Nonetheless, the evidence does suggest that certain market participants communicated with the goal of influencing suppliers with respect to FBN. The Bureau views these communications – which took place in a highly concentrated sector – to be a significant concern. Firms should be aware that similar communications could create agreements that contravene the civil or criminal conspiracy provisions of the Competition Act depending on their terms.
The Bureau also focused on the conduct of the targets that it believes are most likely to hold dominant market positions under the Act. At this time, the evidence does not clearly demonstrate that their conduct resulted in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition – which is a requirement for behaviour to form an abuse of dominance.
Having carefully considered the full body of evidence, the Bureau does not intend to pursue its investigation.
The Bureau opened a formal inquiry into the allegations in October 2019. On February 11, 2020, the Bureau obtained court orders requiring the targets and their affiliates to produce records and information relevant to its investigation. ■