EU approves commercialization of GM Brazilian soybean
The European Union has approved a strain of genetically modified Brazilian soybean called Cultivance, developed by Basf and the Brazilian Corporation of Agricultural Research (Embrapa).
The European Union has approved a strain of genetically modified Brazilian soybean called Cultivance, developed by Basf and the Brazilian Corporation of Agricultural Research (Embrapa). The technical approval is deemed key to the commercialization of the seeds, as the EU is among the world's main buyers of Brazilian soy.
According to Basf, the Cultivance production system combines the growth of genetically modified soy, of great genetic potential, with the use of wide-range herbicides for the control of large-leafed weeds and grasses. The company says that the strain has undergone several agricultural, environmental, and nutritional studies which guarantee its safety for growing as well as for animal and human consumption.
The new soybean should be launched into the market in the second semester of 2015. At first, the strain is to be made available in soy-producing areas in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Bahia, Minas Gerais, and Paraná.
The National Technical Commission on Biosafety (CTNBio) authorized the commercialization of Cultivance in December, 2009. Since then, Brazil has requested the same approval from major buyers of Brazilian soy worldwide. Thus far, Cultivance has been accepted by the US, China, Japan, and, recently, the EU. Without this license, buyers could refuse not just the strain, but any other variety which had been contaminated by any genetic trait from Cultivance.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: EU approves commercialization of GM Brazilian soybean
