Bayer’s GM Under Debate In EU

Matt Hopkins Posted by Matt Hopkins|8 July 2008

In a meeting scheduled for July 15, European Union farm ministers will debate whether two genetically modified (GM) strains of cotton and soybeans, developed by Germany’s Bayer CropScience, should be imported for use as food ingredients and in animal feed. Grown outside the EU, the GM crops would be imported as finished products for further processing. Neither GM product would be approved for cultivation inside the EU.

Approval for both crops would be for a standard 10 years. Seeds and derived products from the herbicide-resistant cotton, known as LLCotton25, could be imported for use as food or animal feed. Bayer’s glufosinate herbicide resistant soybean, known as A2704-12, would be imported into EU markets either as whole soybeans, oil,or meal and then processed by European companies for use in food and animal feed.

Diplomats say approval is unlikely.

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