Renewable Farming

This study could lead to more non-GMO soybean competition from Brazil

The Brazilian Ministry of Agrarian Development has published a new online book in English:

“Transgenic crops hazards and uncertainties: More than 750 studies disregarded by GMO regulatory bodies”.

It’s an official government study unlike any you’d expect from USDA or the National Academy of Sciences, which are open advocates of transgenic crops. The new American ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, has announced that one of his top priorities is to push Chinese officials for more open access to Chinese markets for American GMO crops and seed.

However, the Brazilian research team which assembled and summarized a wide range of toxicity tests from around the world which, taken together, show “hazards to human and animal health.”

Here’s the link to a summary of the book.

You can download the entire book as a PDF in English at this link:  http://www.mda.gov.br/sitemda/nead-debate

 

Governmental agencies in Brazil originally resisted legalization of GMO soybeans in Brazil. However, years of lobbying and legal pressures finally caved their resistance. Also, smugglers were importing bin-run GMO seed from Paraguay, damaging the credibility of Brazilian exporters who claimed to their European buyers that they had non-GMO seed on offer.

But in recent years, Brazilian growers have formed an alliance of certified non-GMO soybean growers to meet export and domestic demand. As official government reviews such as this “Transgenic crops hazards” work works its way into wider public awareness, Brazil could become much more capable of offering large volumes of certified non-GMO beans, meal and oil to Europe.

The so-what to American growers is, of course, displacement of U.S. soybean exports.