Call for GM rethink to prevent European feed shortages

The European Union faces renewed disruption to animal feed supplies this year unless policymakers find a rapid solution to traces of genetically modified organisms in soy imports, according to at least one EU industry group.

Last autumn, imports of soybeans from the United States came to a near standstill because of the European Union’s zero-tolerance rule on shipments containing tiny traces of GMOs not yet approved in the bloc.

"This spring new GM varieties will be commercially sown in North and South America which are unlikely to be approved in the EU by October," said Klaus-Dieter Schumacher, head of markets at Europe’s grain trade association Coceral. "This could lead to a similar situation as last autumn, and the need for a solution is still as urgent as it was then."