Dow to Restrict GM Corn, Soybeans Sales Pending Chinese OK
Dow AgroSciences plans to restrict US sales of its new genetically modified corn and soybeans, Enlist, as it awaits import approval from China. The newest product of the agrochemicals arm of Dow Chemical, for which it sees potential sales of $1 billion, has been beset by problems.
With the restriction, Dow hopes to avoid the market turmoil that hit the US grain industry when Syngenta commercialized its own GMO corn without waiting for China's thumbs up.
Over the past year, China has rejected more than 1 million tonnes of US corn that contained traces of the Syngenta corn Agrisure Viptera, and several U.S. grain industry players have sued the Swiss group over the lost sales.
The National Grain & Feed Association has estimated that US farmers have lost more than $1 billion due to trade disruptions linked to the rejections.
Dow has been waiting for approval of its new product for two years.
Dow plans to launch its new genetically manipulated Enlist Duo corn and soybean franchise, containing glyphosate and 2,4-D,in 2015. The franchise was recently approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with restrictions, due to controversy over its effects on the insect population.
EPA is being sued by the US Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) as it fears the herbicide will threaten the Monarch butterfly.
While awaiting China's approval, Dow will sell the corn only under strict conditions that include requiring it to be fed solely to livestock on the farm and not sold. Its soybeans will only be offered to a small number of farmers as part of a non-commercial program to test the new seeds. Dow will manage the seed production, including storage and handling after harvest.
Dow said farmers who grow Enlist corn must maintain isolation areas around their fields to avoid contaminating other crops, and third-party audits will be conducted to make sure the restrictions are enforced.
The environment agency has issued a 30-foot in-field "no spray" buffer zone for application areas and banned Enlist Duo from being used when wind speeds are above 15 miles per hour.
