EU Approves Low-Level of Bioengineered Crop Residue in Animal Feed

The European Commission has given provisional approval to new rules that would permit the low-level presence of some otherwise illegal genetically engineered crops for animal feed.

The European Commission has given provisional approval to new rules that would permit the low-level presence of some otherwise illegal genetically engineered crops for animal feed. The rules would help resolve problems related to imports arriving from countries such as the United States where the specific biotech crop is legal. The new rules are expected to receive final approval within the next 90 days.

The new EU rules for low-level (0.1 percent or less) presence of illegal GE crops will allow shipments containing illegal GE crops as long as the particular bioengineered crop is waiting for EU regulatory approval or it contains traces of GE crops that previously were legal in the EU. 

The Feb. 22 decision by a panel of experts from the 27 EU countries could be a breakthrough for major exporters such as the United States, Brazil and Argentina. And, it was immediately welcomed by the European feed industry and condemned by environmental groups. 

"This measure is limited to GE feed material authorized for commercialization in a third country and for which authorization procedure is pending in the EU or of which the EU authorization has expired," the European Commission said in a statement. "It addresses the uncertainty EU operators face when placing on the market feed based on imports of raw materials from third countries. 

The proposal for allowing low-level presence of GE crops has been pending for a decade but in the past two years the issue has been a priority, especially after numerous shipments of corn and soybeans from the United States were impounded at EU ports because they contained traces of illegal GE crops. Low-level traces of biotech crops sometimes can contaminate legal shipments because ships may have previously transported full loads of the illegal GE crops or they were mixed in during the harvest and storage process in countries where they are legal. 

Further galvanizing EU action on the issue has been consistent urging from European farmers, especially those in the livestock sector, where animal feed has dramatically increased in price. The price rises have been tied to the limited import choices farmers face because so many crops are now legal outside the EU but illegal in the EU. 

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