EU finally approves Syngenta corn hybrid

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Last month, Better Farming reported that Swiss-based Syngenta couldn't seem to catch a break in getting its controversial MIR604 corn hybrid approved for use in Europe, even though its application had been submitted in 2005 and applications from other companies had gone ahead. That has now changed. On Nov. 20, European Union (EU) farm ministers remained split on the issue, paving the way for approval by default. On Nov. 30, the European Commission approved the type.

Ironically, Europe's approval of this corn variety also covers soybean and soy meal exports to the EU. Last summer, more than 200,000 tonnes of soybean and soy meal were refused entry to EU ports because they contained small amounts of a GMO corn hybrid not approved in Europe. BF