June 9, 2008

EU continues to favour non-GM feeds despite high prices

Even though non-GM soy products continue to find a market in a number of  EU countries such as France, Italy, Germany, and Hungary, its use comes at a higher premium and may range higher, according to a Foreign Agricultural Services attache report released Friday (June 6, 2008 ).

The market share for non-GM soymeal reportedly ranges from 5 to 20 percent of these markets, totaling roughly 1.5 million tonnes of soymeal per year.

This is approximately 4 percent of the EU-27 soymeal supply.

The premium for these non-biotech soy products, imported mainly from Brazil, ranges from EUR 60 to EUR 80 per tonne.

Although the European demand for non-GE soy meal is driven by the food and feed industry, national legislation also has an impact.

For example, Poland, which uses 2 million tonnes of soymeal a year, has proposed to ban all GM feeds from the country starting August 2008.

It the ban is enacted, it would more than double the demand for non-GM feed in the EU and significantly increase the global competition for non-GM feeds.

The country is currently considering whether to postpone the ban to 2012.

In addition, Germany recently passed a law easing non-GM labeling restrictions for food products, despite industry opposition.

These developments indicate that the feed industry in Europe is aware of the declining availability of non-GM soy products and is adjusting accordingly, the report said.