THE recent approval of a number of biotech corn varieties in the European Union (EU) is a step in the right direction for a resumption of trade in US feed ingredients such as distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and corn gluten feed for the current marketing year, according to the US Grains Council (USGC).
These events include Monsanto's YieldGard VT Pro (MON 89034) and YieldGard VT Rootworm/RR2 (MON 88017), both developed by Monsanto Company; and Agrisure RW (MIR 604), developed by Syngenta.
Each of these events have been authorised as safe for food and feed use by the European Food Safety Authority and the European Commission.
“Time after time, the council’s DDGS and corn gluten feeding trials have proved to provide significant input cost savings," said USGC biotechnology advisory team leader, Gary Schmalshof.
"These approvals will allow the EU feed industry to have more choices with regard to feed ingredients, which directly impacts their bottom lines."
While these approvals are a positive step, the EU’s zero tolerance of unapproved varieties will continue to provide a significant market challenge.
“The EU needs to make progress in its regulatory processes in order to provide a long-term, permanent solution to issues of timeliness of biotech approvals and tolerances for low-level presence of unapproved varieties that meet internationally–adopted guidelines,” said USGC director of biotechnology programs, Rebecca Fecitt.
“We are optimistic these approvals are a step in the right direction and we will continue to work with the EU on this important issue.”
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