Reuters | By Eric Onstad | October 8, 2001
AMSTERDAM - Cert-ID President Jochen Koester was cited as telling Reuters that European demand for animal feed guaranteed to be free of genetically modified organisms (GMO) has soared, up from 700,000 tonnes in 2000, this year after supermarket chains such as Tesco and Asda agreed to pay more to satisfy worried consumers, with about four million tonnes of non-biotech soymeal, mostly from Brazil, guaranteed this year by certification firm .
Koester was further cited as saying that the amount could more than double next year if buyers were willing to pay the higher prices for certified material, adding, "If the demand would be there, I think we can easily crank up the certified amount from Brazil to 10 million tonnes and more annually."
The story goes on to say that the total demand in the European Union for soymeal certified as non-GMO was unclear, but a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this year estimated it at 20-25 percent of the roughly 28 million tonnes used annually.
Since about 70 percent of the U.S. soybean crop is planted with GM Roundup Ready soybeans, Brazil, which bans GMO crops, has become the major source of non-biotech soymeal.
Some industry players have been wary about how many Brazilian farmers have illegally planted GMO crops to boost yields, especially in the south which borders Argentina, where 90-95 percent of soybeans are from genetic crops.
But Koester was cited as saying that the worries were overdone, adding "There is a big myth about that. All of Brazil has on average contamination from illegal GMOs of about 6-8 percent, and that is mostly in the extreme south where some regions have perhaps up to 35 percent."
Even in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, where contamination is highest, Cert ID has granted non-GMO certification to some smaller cooperatives. Most certified output is from the central states.
The story goes on to say that a meeting took place on Monday on the GMO issue by a newly formed Quality and Safety group sponsored by Germany's food retailers and producers, and that Denmark, the world's biggest pork
exporter, was making major efforts to go in the GM direction.
Koester was cited as saying the increase in interest was especially evident at the recent congress of the International Association of Seed Crushers in Sydney, adding, "Major international suppliers who only six to nine
months ago would not want to discuss anything about a GMO, are now either seriously looking at it or already selling it (non-GMO soymeal)."
The story says that Cert ID is a joint venture of Genetic ID -- based in Germany, the United States and Japan -- and Britain's Law Laboratories Ltd. Koester is also executive vice president of Genetic ID.
