May 4, 2020

GE salmon farmer AquaBounty closes Panama facilities

AquaBounty, a US company that developed the world's first genetically engineered (GE) salmon, closed its production and research facilities in Panama last April 16, the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) reported.

USDA-FAS said the decision to close down the facilities was due to the Panamanian government's deferred decision on the approval on local consumption. Approval would have required additional studies beyond those already conducted for the Canadian and US Food and Drug Administration approvals.

It was noted that at present biotechnology is not a priority of the government, which has so far not established implementing regulations for laws on biosafety and biotechnology. This lack of implementing regulations will continue to cause delays in approvals, the USDA-FAS said.

As early as a year ago AquaBounty announced the shutdown of its Panama facilities, saying they were "no longer necessary". The site in Panama was established in 2018 as a "demonstration grow-out" for its GE salmon, called AquaAdvantage.

In February this year, AquaBountry offered US$10 million worth of shares to other investors as it intended to significantly scale operations and expand its existing production facility in Indiana, USA. It also planned to build a new large plant build-out in the US and Canada.

The US and Canada approved the commercial sale of its fast-growing GE salmon in 2015 and 2016, respectively.