October 17, 2008

The results of Cardy-Brown and Co Ltd review will be used to persuade the EU to adjust their authorisation process of new GM events.

The world's centre of grain and oilseed production is set to plant the next generation of biotech seeds.

This second generation GM seeds under discussion includes a new and improved version of Monsanto's herbicide tolerant soy, RoundUp 2 Yield (RR2Y) which is expected to enjoy even greater penetration of soy acreages. The majority of the US, Argentine and Brazilian soy acres in 2010 will be planted with seeds containing the RR2Y event.

Pressure is growing between industry trade associations and the European Commission to authorise soy containing RR2Y.

RR2Y represents the tip of the iceberg in terms of new traits. Within the next coming years more than 20 new traits are expected to enter the market in the US, Brazil and Argentina for soy alone.

This means EU meat producers would be losing more of their competitive edge to meat from those countries, as GM feed in those countries would lower production costs.

Biotech events for other crops are also developing rapidly, with not only new generation technology coming such as corn with stacked traits.

The result is a massive loss of imports of GM feed supplies being closed off to the EU, which would heavily impact the European meat industry.

Not only are GM crops becoming the norm in the world outside the EU but supply of non-GM is also threatened due to EU's requirement of zero tolerance of GM content.