An open letter has recently gone out from FEFAC, COCERAL & FEDIOL regarding the three pending GM soybeans, as the organizations fear severe trade disruptions could happen if no action is taken before the summer break. US Soybean associations released a similar call for action last week.
The following is an excerpt from the letter, directed to European Commissioner Juncker:
The European Union cannot afford to ignore the global dimension of commodities trading and supplies: some of these GM traits are already authorised and/or commercialised in key exporting regions to the EU. In particular, the import approval of MON87708 x MON89788 in China, coupled with the early planting season in producing countries is very close to causing severe trade disruptions should this GM soybean not be authorised in the EU before the summer break.
The EU relies on imports from third countries to cover 75% of its use of protein-rich ingredients for animal feeding purposes, of which soybean meal is the preferred source. In absence of a rapid final decision, EU traders may be forced to restrict vital imports of soy due to the increasing risk of finding traces of GM traits yet to be authorised in the EU, which would negatively affect supplies of both GM and non-GM, which in return will only further exacerbate the long-persisting market crisis in key EU livestock sectors, e.g. the dairy and pig meat sectors.
COCERAL, FEDIOL and FEFAC note that the EU Commission has failed over the preceding 5 months to provide the sound and scientifically justified reasons for the ongoing delay2. This failure to either grant the authorisations or indeed provide the required evidence as to why the authorisations cannot be progressed prevents us from providing a reasoned and predictable outlook to our member companies and trading partners as to whether soy supplies will be available from North America in the autumn for the EU market.
