EU OKs Three More Corn Biotechnology Traits for Food, Feed Use, NCGA Notes (10-25-07)

Corn and corn products produced from hybrids containing Herculex RW and two stacked traits, YieldGard with Roundup Ready 2 and Herculex I with Roundup Ready 2, can now be exported to the European Union (EU), the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) notes. The three biotech corn traits have received positive safety assessments from the European Food Safety Authority and are now approved for food and feed export into the 27 countries of the European Union.

"We're pleased to see the European Union's regulatory system make this move," said Martin Barbre, chairman of the NCGA's Biotechnology Working Group and a corn grower from Carmi, Ill. "These corn traits have already been approved in the U.S., Japan and other major markets. Now with EU approval growers will have greater market access for their grain, and processors and ethanol plants can continue to export Corn Gluten Feed and Distillers Dried Grains."

In 2004, the European Union ended a six-year moratorium on new biotech products with the adoption of stricter labeling standards. "Although the approval process has resumed, there is still a significant time lag between the approval processes in the U.S. and the EU," said Barbre. U.S. corn growers have 23 commercially-available traits or combinations of traits, and with these recent EU approvals, now 15 of them are cleared for import into Europe.

As growers begin to make their hybrid selections for next year, they must still be aware that not every trait or stack is approved in the EU. The seed industry will continue to identify hybrids from non-EU approved traits under the Market Choices TM label. In cooperation with the nation's leading seed companies, the National Corn Growers Association has compiled "Know Before You Grow," a database of the biotech corn traits currently available. This database lists whether a corn trait is approved in Japan and/or European Union- and allows growers to compare commercial hybrids that contain those biotech traits. NCGA developed and frequently updates this database is a tool to help growers make informed decisions. For more information, visit www.KnowBeforeYouGrow.com.