January 23, 2013

A local subsidiary of Monsanto was granted permission on Monday (Jan 14) by Costa Rica's National Biosecurity Technical Commission to grow genetically modified (GM) corn in the country.

The ruling allows Monsanto to grow corn for obtaining seeds or for research purposes, but not for consumption or marketing in the country, as all seed to be produced will be exported.

A report said that the permission was granted by a majority vote, which now allows Monsanto to plant one or two hectares of GM corn. The decision was confirmed by Alejandro Hernández, a member of the commission representing the Ministry of Science and Technology, and by the NGO Coecoceiba.

The request was filed by the US company Delta & Pine Land seed Ltda (D&PL) last November, which led to public protests and demonstrations by ecologist and university groups. Monsanto, also a US company, bought D&PL in 2006, and keeps a local office in the north-western province of Guanacaste.

In addition to opposition from environmental groups, a letter against GMOs was sent by the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and the Faculty of Biology at the University of Costa Rica (UCR), and the Costa Rican Agronomy Engineers' Association.

In December, Luis Felipe Arauz, dean of the UCR's Agricultural Sciences Faculty spoke before the commission, stating that "there are risks involved in GM contamination of native corn." He presented projections based on mathematical models that take into account aspects such as wind, pollen production, and others, to prove it. Currently there are 443.1 hectares of biotech crops in Costa Rica, of which 394.3 are of cotton, 44.6 are soy, 3.2 are pineapple and one hectare is banana.