July 19, 2012
US, South American farmers push for biotech soy trading in EU
Farmers from the US and South America who produce 90% of the world''s soy exports have joined forces to support biotechnology in the EU.
Soy farmers from the US and their counterparts from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, though competitors in global soy trade, are presenting a united front in meetings with members of the EU food and feed chain and representatives of the EU government. The farmers, part of a group formed in 2007 known as the International Soy Growers Alliance, plan to discuss the importance of biotechnology to feed a growing population and how slow government-approval processes and restrictions based on non-scientific reasoning cause trade disruption.
"This has been a very important meeting for us," says Bob Metz, soy farmer from West Brown Valley, S.D., and vice chair of USB''s Global Opportunities programme. "The EU is a very important customer for us and obviously a large population. They only produce about 2% of their protein needs in the EU so they have a great dependence on the rest of the world for soy."
USB and the soy check off help collect and disseminate information about the safety of biotech soy to keep decision makers informed. The EU has a lengthy approval process on new biotech varieties, which have not only affected soy exports to these 27 countries, but also to other European countries as well as countries that trade with the EU.
"We have delivered a very strong message as we stand together with our South American friends saying that the market is moving forward with biotech events, not only from the US but from universities in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as well," adds Metz. "As these new traits come forward, the EU really needs to find a way to accept these traits in a more timely fashion."