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European commission to allow some GM corn imports

In early July, the European Commission said it would allow the imports of two genetically modified corn crops and the commission renewed an authorization for another GM corn product for human food and animal feed.

“It’s a huge validation about everything we know about the science of biotech corn products.”

Nancy Martinez with the National Corn Growers Association tells Brownfield the decision stemmed from a favorable scientific assessment and it doesn’t mean the U.S. will sell more GM corn to the EU.

“The EU is a relatively small market for U.S. corn exports. They predominately rely on Ukraine and Brazil for corn imports so we may or may not be impacted directly by some of these decisions.”

However, Martinez says the EU has influence with other countries in how they view biotech and typically, the EU is opposed to GMOs. Mexico has proposed a ban on GMO white corn and the country is a top market for U.S. corn.

“We really appreciate this trend out of the EU, because it verifies the science says GM corn is safe for human consumption. It helps us respond to other claims that aren’t based in science, like what we have in Mexico.”

The authorizations only allow GM corn to be imported for use in food and animal feed, not to be cultivated in the European Union. Martinez says the authorizations are valid for 10 years.