Brazil clears GMO wheat flour from Argentina, but sales may be slow (updated)
11/11/2021 14:13
(Adds reaction from Bioceres and Argentine farmers)
By Ana Mano and Hugh Bronstein
SAO PAULO/BUENOS AIRES, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Brazil on
Thursday cleared imports of flour from Argentina made with
genetically modified wheat, although sales of the new variety
may be slow given uncertainty about broader acceptance.
Brazil's biosecurity agency CTNBio said its unanimous
decision, the first of its kind in the world, applied only to
wheat flour, after Brazilian millers threatened to boycott
Argentine grains.
"The decision was by a technical agency, but it is important
to see what the Brazilian market wants. It looks like consumers
in Brazil do not want GMO wheat," said Gustavo Idigoras, head of
Argentina's CIARA-CEC chamber of grains exporters.
Just a fraction of Argentine farms have tried out the wheat
variety resistant to drought and the common herbicide ammonium
glufosinate developed by Bioceres SA BIOX.BA , whose partner
Tropical Melhoramento Genético filed the request with CTNBio.
A source at Bioceres said it would seek approval from other
key markets before looking to market the GMO wheat commercially.
Some 55,000 hectares in Argentina have been planted with the
GMO wheat on a experimental basis, company disclosures show.
Flour millers in Brazil, who buy about half of Argentina's
wheat exports, threatened to stop buying from their southern
neighbors entirely if CTNBio approved the GMO wheat.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QT1X7
Wary of that stigma, Argentine grains exporters have asked
the government to identify which farmers are growing the GMO
wheat so they could stop buying from those areas. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RW1FJ
Santiago del Solar, who grows wheat in the bread-basket
Argentine province of Buenos Aires, said the ultimate decision
remains in the hands of Brazilian millers and consumers.
"It's fine that the regulators said yes, but we sell wheat
to the milling industry and consumers. If they don't accept GMO
wheat, we still have a big, big problem."
Argentina exported a total of 8.424 million tonnes of wheat
through Oct. 19 this year, with some 49.6% going to Brazil,
which relies on its southerly neighbor for most of its wheat
imports.
Argentine farmer Francisco Santillan, who also grows wheat
in the province of Buenos Aires, said he will wait to see if
other countries approve imports of the wheat variety before he
starts planting it.
"I think the reasonable thing to do, no matter how much
Brazil accepts it, is to wait a year to see how the issue
evolves in other countries that buy wheat from us."
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Argentine exporters vow safeguards to keep GM wheat out of
shipments urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RW1FJ
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(Reporting by Ana Mano in Sao Paulo, Hugh Bronstein and
Maximilian Heath in Buenos Aires; Editing by Brad Haynes and Jan
Harvey)
((ana.mano@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +55-11-5644-7704; Mob:
+55-119-4470-4529; Reuters Messaging:
ana.mano.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))