June 15, 2005

Voluntary tests to be conducted on US corn exports

US grain exporters would be conducting voluntary testing for corn exports before shipping following Japan's latest discovery of unapproved US Bt10 corn.

Industry officials are reportedly still discussing who should bear testing costs eventually. But the exporters test anyway to ensure customer loyalty from Japanese importers, despite possible lower profit margins from expensive tests.  

Low-priority testing costs about US$180 per sample and three times as much for high-priority tests, according to industry reports.

So far, maker Syngenta has not commented whether the company would help exporters pay for the US tests.

The Japanese government has instructed domestic importers to request US suppliers for certificates declaring their shipments were free of Bt10 corn.

US shippers are also considering getting declarations from farmers they buy corn from that they did not grow Bt10 corn, reports say.