BRICS Urged to Unite on Antitrust Laws Amid Grain Trade Monopoly Fears

At the 9th UN Conference on Competition and Consumer Protection held in Geneva, global economic and regulatory experts voiced urgent concerns about the growing monopolization in the global grain trade, warning that unchecked market consolidation among agricultural giants could jeopardize food security, price stability, and fair trade practices. Among the strongest voices was Alexey Ivanov, Director of the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre at the Higher School of Economics, who called on BRICS nations to coordinate their antitrust policies and legislative frameworks to confront rising corporate power in food systems.

A Call for Coordinated Antitrust Action by BRICS

Ivanov emphasized the need for a unified BRICS response to increasing corporate consolidation in food supply chains, noting the parallels between major grain traders and digital platform giants that have drawn global regulatory scrutiny.

“Global companies from the food sector should receive the closest attention from antitrust authorities,” said Ivanov. “They are now akin to the organizers of digital ecosystems — commanding enormous influence over pricing, distribution, and access.”

Ivanov warned that this influence can pose significant risks in times of supply shocks, fertilizer shortages, or food price spikes, particularly affecting vulnerable BRICS members. He proposed that cooperation initiatives among BRICS states could help mitigate such crises through emergency responses, disaster management, and coordinated policy measures — all aligned with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and global trade norms.

“These measures must not enable unfair trade practices, but rather uphold food security and international solidarity,” he said.

Bunge–Viterra Merger: A Global Warning Sign

Ivanov pointed to the recent mega-merger between Bunge and Viterra as a critical example. Despite global ramifications, the merger was approved by 31 competition authorities worldwide, including in several BRICS countries, without conditions or remedies to limit its influence on global grain value chains.

“This merger went ahead without commitments to address its immense market power,” Ivanov noted, adding that regulators in Brazil and China had flagged concerns about the spillover effects of global pricing onto domestic markets, but no binding solutions were implemented.

The Bunge–Viterra consolidation significantly increases concentration in an already oligopolistic sector, effectively reducing competition and increasing the risk of coordinated price setting, supply manipulation, and market exclusion — especially in lower-income and importing nations.

The Growing Threat of Financialization

Expanding on these concerns, Anastasia Nesvetailova, Head of the Macroeconomic and Development Policies Branch at UNCTAD, discussed the role of financial speculation and opacity in the global food system. She highlighted the dominance of the ABCD group — ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus — which controls a majority of global agricultural trade, and noted that three of these companies do not disclose key operational data, making regulatory oversight nearly impossible.

“The financialization of commodity trading has grown significantly,” Nesvetailova said. “Today, 70% of transactions in U.S. and European commodity markets are speculative in nature and detached from the real economy.”

This speculative dominance has allowed commodity traders to evolve into non-bank financial institutions, posing systemic risks not only to food supply chains but also to global financial stability.

A Looming Crisis?

Drawing parallels to the 2007–2008 financial crisis, Nesvetailova warned that the unregulated power of commodity giants could be a ticking time bomb.

“The last time debt-driven financial obligations operated outside effective oversight, it led to a global economic collapse. A similar scenario could now play out in commodity trading,” she cautioned.

She called for urgent structural reforms, improved transparency, and international regulatory frameworks to ensure that commodity markets function in the interests of food security and economic stability.

Toward a BRICS-Led Solution

Ivanov concluded by stating that the BRICS bloc — comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — is uniquely positioned to challenge market monopolization and shape a more equitable global trade system.

“We need a collective voice from the Global South to demand antitrust accountability, ensure fair market access, and build resilient food systems,” he urged.

Key Recommendations

• Establish a BRICS Antitrust Task Force to share data and coordinate enforcement

• Implement joint investigations and reviews of mergers with global market implications

• Push for disclosure norms for commodity traders operating within BRICS territories

• Promote transparent trading practices to reduce volatility and speculation

• Develop emergency trade mechanisms to respond to supply crises collaboratively

As food security and inflation remain pressing global issues, the Geneva conference served as a clarion call for greater oversight, cooperation, and resilience — with BRICS nations now seen as pivotal players in reshaping the global competition landscape for food and agriculture.