FDA Gives The Green Light For Monsanto’s GM Soybean
EU officials approved a new biotech soybean variety developed by Monsanto Co., the company said recently. Decision removes uncertainty for Monsanto, which has been selling seeds to farmers this year, and for the grain companies, some of whom have refused to buy soybeans from farmers without the consent of the European Union to import the plant after it has grown.
EU officials said soybeans have “gone through a comprehensive authorization procedure,” including scientific review by the European Food Safety Authority. authorization lasts for 10 years, and does not allow the soybeans grown in the EU.
St. Louis-based Monsanto said on Friday it plans a “full system launch in the United States in 2017” for soybeans.
The soy, called “Roundup Ready 2 Xtend,” genetically modified to resist the combination of stronger herbicides, and has been touted by Monsanto as blockbuster potential at the time of slumping prices of crops have wilted profits for seed companies and for farmers. The company expects to sell 15 million acres’ seeds in the US in 2017.
Monsanto sold in relatively small quantities of soybeans this spring for farmers in the US with the assumption that EU officials
will approve them on a frame the same time before the company’s biotech seeds have been delivered.But the EU continue to review for the month, while the member states debated whether to reauthorize the herbicide glyphosate, which Monsanto markets under the brand name Roundup. The European Commission, the executive body of the EU, last month reauthorized glyphosate for 18 months after member states can not agree to an extension.
Without the approval of the European Union, some of the company’s grain-major trading, such as Archer Daniels Midland Co ADM 0:00 % and Bunge Ltd. BG 0:42 % , say they will not buy Monsanto soybeans from farmers after they harvested this year, for fear that some of their soybeans could mistakenly end up in EU-bound shipping and import rejected by officials. Representatives for ADM and Bunge had no immediate comment on the agreement.
Companies that buy, trade and process plants have been on guard for interference potential trades derived from the seeds of biotech invalid after China began turning some shipping US corn at the end of 2013, citing a variety of maize resistant to pests developed by Syngenta AG not yet been approved. grain companies claim tens of millions of dollars in losses from the episode.
Monsanto still needs approval from the US Environmental Protection Agency that will include several applications of weedkiller more powerful, combination of glyphosate and dicamba, which is designed for the company’s new soybean.
