China Certifies LibertyLink Soybeans

Matt Hopkins Posted by Matt Hopkins|22 July 2008

A safety certificate for Bayer CropScience’s LibertyLink soybeans, which allows soybean imports into China – the largest importer of US soybeans – has been granted by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, bringing it closer to commercialization in that country. LibertyLink soybeans will bring important benefits and choice to growers, says Bayer CropScience, explaining that the LibertyLink trait enables growers to maintain current production practices and rotate herbicide tolerant systems to manage weed resistance and preserve the technologies, as well as delivering benefits such as tillage, labor, fuel and equipment reductions, and the ease and convenience of non-selective, post-emergent weed control with crop safety in competitive, high-yielding varieties.

"We’re very pleased the Chinese government has cleared LibertyLink soybeans for import," said Andy Hurst, LibertyLink product manager for Bayer CropScience. "We’re well on track to meet our projected commercial launch target of 2009 in the United States."

To date, LibertyLink soybeans are fully approved for food, feed, and cultivation in the US and Canada, as well as for importation and/or cultivation in Argentina, Australia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, and Taiwan.