January 9, 2006

Brazil to check for illegal planting of GM corn

Brazil will check for the illegal planting of GM corn among all of the 2005/06 crop in Rio Grande do Sul state. The government made the decision after a lot of genetically modified grain was found in the state.

Soybeans is the only GM crop with legal permission to be planted in Brazil. Other crops like corn and cotton are still under analysis.

The National Technical Committee on Biossecurity, the organ that regulates the theme, grants such permission.

Sadia and other food processing companies have been checking and testing their corn purchases for the last few years.

The 2005/05 crop will be fiscalised from planting to harvest, said Mauro Marques Ruggiro, chief of agricultural surveillance services within the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply in Rio Grande do Sul state. He said the government wants to ensure that the illegal planting of transgenic corn does not reach the same proportions as pirated soybeans.