Planting of Bollgard cotton still prohibited in Brazil
Brazil
Posted: Oct 15, 2005
Despite assertions to the contrary, Monsanto's Bollgard cotton is not approved for commercial planing this harvest season.
Planting of Bollgard cotton is still prohibited in Brazil despite assertions by the Association of Cotton Producers of Brazil,
Despite previous declarations from the Agropastoral's Defense Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture which stated last July that "the process of analyze of the MDM's Bollgard seeds will take at least three years. And that therefore, the company will not be able to sell its GE seeds before the variety is registered in the national seed catalogue, a registration which can only occur after the ongoing assessment process," the Joint venture between Maeda Group and Deltapine received authorization to reproduce one of its RR seed variety a couple of days ago from the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to the legislation the transgenic seeds should have been tested during two harvests seasons, but because the introduction of the transgenic trait was inserted in a conventional variety, Calla 90, which is already registered in the national seed catalogue, the period of assessment will only last one harvest season.
"The non-scientific equivalence principle has once again served the interests of transgenic proponents," responded Etienne Vernet, South American Diretor of the Polaris Institute.
However, the commercial planting of bollgard cotton remains prohibited until a proper legislation is enacted. Last spring’s decision of the CNTBio to authorized the commercialization of a "conventional cotton containing up to 1% of transgenic traits" has not yet been cleared by the Public Ministry which questioned the validity of the Assessing Committee in July.
In addition, the lack of a decree to regulate the planting of transgenics in particular areas still prevents cotton producers to plant the RR cotton this year.
Therefore, despite assertions by the Association of Cotton Producers of Brazil, the situation remains unchanged. RR cotton cannot be commercialized this harvest season.
For more information
Etienne Vernet : e.vernet@terra.com.br