The ASA published an open letter from association president, Richard Wilkins, to US Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, and US trade representative, Michael Froman, last week asking for assistance in moving three biotech soybean strains through the European Commission’s approval process.
Soybean growers and the ASA have been waiting for final approval on the biotech feed crops since January – they were the subject of a vote in the appeal committee that month, he said in the letter. One of the traits was set to be commercially available this spring and has already been approved in other export markets including China.
“The lack of options is really the most concerning part,” Wilkins told FeedNavigator. “Again, the issue of weed resistance is real in more than three quarters of the soy-growing states in the US. The new dicamba and isoxaflutole traits are simply more tools in the arsenal to fight resistant weeds.”
So far there has been no reaction, he said.
“As we get closer to planting, all eyes are on the new technologies that are out there for farmers,” said Wilkins. "The particular traits hung up in the European system right now are of particular interest to US farmers.”
Letter details
One of the three traits in question is a strain of soybean that has resistance to the herbicides dicamba and glyphosate, said Wilkins in the letter. That product is commercially available and likely will be planted by US farmers.
Another soybean strain is resistant to the herbicides glyphosate and isoxaflutole and is currently being raised in a closed loop system, he said. That product is set to be commercially available in the fall.
“Timely approval by the European Commission will avoid the risk of unnecessary costs and disruption to the essential supply of feedstocks needed by the EU’s livestock, poultry and feed industries, which are more than 70% dependent on imports of protein,” noted Wilkins in the communication.
The third soybean variety is focused on the food industry.
What’s next?
There is no clear understanding of what is generating the delay, said Wilkins. Industry officials were told in February and March that there weren’t issues with the dossiers and that the approvals were proceeding.
“We have seen that bodies like the European Food Safety Authority confirm the safety of biotechnology, so objection to or delays in the traits approval is clearly not on science-based safety concerns,” he said. “Aside from that, however, there’s no real way to tell where the holdup is.”
In the letter, he noted recent media speculation around the delay that suggested the Commission may be linking the timing of the approvals to the ongoing regulatory procedure to renew the authorization of glyphosate. "We hope this is not the case, as these issues are obviously not connected from a scientific, legal and regulatory point of view," wrote Wilkins.
In addition to soybean use, the approvals are necessary to demonstrate that the Commission does have a “working biotech approval process,” said Wilkins in the letter. Previously, the US has brought successful complaints against the EU. The EU Ombudsman also agreed with a complaint that the past Commission failed to meet binding deadlines for applications.
“We will continue to monitor the issue and continue to weigh in with the Commission, where appropriate, until these traits are approved,” he added.