January 15, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) said that the U.S. Department of Justice has issued a civil investigative demand requesting information on its soybean traits business.

According to Monsanto, DOJ is primarily seeking a confirmation that, as Monsanto has previously indicated, farmers and seed companies will continue to have access to the first-generation Roundup Ready trait following patent expiry in 2014.

The company said it has voluntarily cooperated with regulators to address their questions about its business and the broader agriculture industry. This request represents a continuation of that process. During this time, the company has provided extensive access to millions of pages of documents to ensure that regulators’ questions are addressed. Monsanto noted that it will continue to provide information that is requested of its business.

The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Agriculture are conducting an ongoing review of the entire agriculture industry, including the seed and trait industry.

Monsanto is a provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products.

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