Update

SPAIN -- Spanish corn farmers increased biotechnology corn plantings during marketing year 2007 at a near record-setting pace, while total corn planted increased (first time in recent history) ever so slightly. Farmers in regions with known infestations of the very destructive corn borer increasingly planted biotechnology corn, while corn farmers in regions where infestations are more inconsistent (weather dependent) also chose biotechnology as a means of minimizing risk, increasing productivity and corn quality, reducing their environmental footprint, and maximizing profit.

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Agricultural Biotechnology Report

CANADA -- This report updates CA6036. 2006/2007 data on crop average sown and crop size dedicated to genetically modified varieties was largely unavailable. Data based on planting surveys suggest that the amount of acreage planted to GM corn and soybeans in Quebec and Ontario in 2007 increased from 2006 levels. In addition, the provincial acreage dedicated to GM crops has also increased in those provinces. In Western Canada, acreage seeded to canola in 2007 also increased from 2006 levels. Areas of this report have been updated to include data on crops submitted for regulatory approval, field trial submissions, and approved biotech crops.

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Agrisure MIR604 Corn Receives Taiwan Approval

TAIWAN -- Taiwan grants an approval license to Agrisure MIR604 corn for food, feed and processing use. The license is valid for five years, effective October 22, 2007. Taiwan biotech regulations require a renewal process before the license expires. Licenses for RRS40-3-2 and MON810 corn have been renewed for another five years until 2012.

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Federal Law sets Biotech Labeling Threshold at 0.9 Percent

RUSSIAN FEDERATION -- On October 25, 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Federal Law #234-FZ titled "On Amendments to the Federal Law of the Russian Federation On Protection of Consumer Rights" and to the "Second Part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation". Russia's new law is consistent with European Union regulations, and raises the threshold for mandatory labeling of food ingredients made from genetically engineered material (GMOs) to 0.9 percent. Prior to the amendment, trace amounts of GMO food ingredients required labeling.

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Registration Procedure for GMO Feeds

RUSSIAN FEDERATION -- This report provides an unofficial translation of the procedure to register feeds produced from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In accordance with the resolution of the Russian Government that transferred the testing and registration of biotechnology feeds from the Ministry Of Agriculture to the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (VPSS), VPSS developed the administrative statute (procedure) for registration. The draft was posted on the Ministry of Agriculture's website for comments and discussion at the end of August 2007. Sources report that VPSS has already accepted applications based on the procedures described in the draft.

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Update

PORTUGAL -- Portuguese authorities just established their first agriculture biotechnology-free zone. The Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries reportedly claims that the biotechnology-free declaration is the first of its kind in Europe in that it is based on an European Union-approved national legislation. Farmers in the zone produce mostly citrus so the declaration appears to be more symbolic, possibly an enticement by the local authorities to bring in more Northern tourists.

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Syngenta's Corn MIR604 Approved

PHILIPPINES -- The Philippine Bureau of Plant Industry recently approved Syngenta's Corn MIR604 making it the 26th Transformation Event approved for food, feed and/or processing in the Philippines.

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