February 9, 2015
FEFAC urges European Commission to approve GM imports
As Europe''sfeed production slumped to a three-year low, feed manufacturers there are demanding the European Commission to permit the importation of genetically-modified (GM) crops into the region.
The European Feed Manufacturers Association (Fefac), warned that failure of the commission to approve GM crops timely could lead to "serious shortages of much-needed imports", as well as potential financial losses amounting "up to 100 million euros" monthly due to custom restrictions.
"…the risk is increasing that entire shipments of agricultural commodities… will be blocked at EU borders because of technically unavoidable traces of (unapproved) GMcrops," Fefac said in a joint statement with oilseed crushers association, Fediol, and cereals industry group, Coceral.
So far, 12 GM crop varieties have been identified as being cleared by the EFSA, the EU food safety watchdog, but not ruled on by the commission.
Those include Monsanto''s Droughtgard corn, Vistive Gold soybeans and TruFlex Roundup Ready Canola, plus a BASF soybean trait, a Bayer cotton variety and a Pioneer soybean type.
According to Fefac, EU''s compound feedproduction dropped 0.6% in 2014, the lowest since 2011.
The group forecasts a continual decline in overall EU compound feed production by 0.5%.