New disruption to EU soy imports feared from GMOs

 

 

Renewed disruption to EU soy and soymeal imports is looming unless the EU makes a rapid change to its zero tolerance policy on unapproved genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), animal feed industry leaders said.

 

Last autumn, EU imports of soy from the US came to a near standstill because of EU rules blocking shipments containing tiny traces of GMOs not yet approved in the bloc.

 

The EU has approved a string of GM products but does not permit the presence of non-approved GM crops, even in such tiny amounts as dust, until they are also approved.

 

The European Commission (EC) ended last year's supply disruptions by approving the individual GM corn varieties that had caused the problems, but in March it announced plans to propose a more lasting "technical solution" by the end of this year.

 

The EC is expected to propose a tolerance margin of between 0.1% and 0.5% of unapproved GMOs in feed and possibly food imports.

 

But problems were looming rapidly as new types of GMO crops had been approved for cultivation in the US and South America for the 2010 harvests, according to Klaus-Dieter Schumacher of European grain and oilseeds trade association Coceral.

 

The EU had not yet made a decision relaxing zero tolerance so the same issue of traces of non-approved GMOs in other shipments was looming for shipments scheduled in only about four months time.

 

The EU needs to import millions of tonnes of US soy which are traditionally shipped between October and March. Advance purchases had already started, Schumacher said.

 

Meanwhile, the clock was ticking before ships were loaded but with the lack of an EU decision, the same problem as in autumn 2009 was looming.

 

"In North America, two new events (GMO crops) are being cultivated which could surface in soy in North America following the 2010 harvest," Schumacher said.

 

He noted that a new unapproved corn type was also being cultivated in Brazil which is not yet approved in the EU, adding that a decision has to be made soon.

 

FEFAC president Pedro Correa de Barros also called for a quick decision otherwise EU feed makers may be forced to buy more expensive replacements for soymeal.

 

Additionally, German farmers were also concerned about higher feed costs because of the issue, said Udo Folgart, vice chairman of the German farmers' association DBV.