MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
China approves first shipment of Argentine GMO corn shaking world markets
The 60.000-tons of GMO corn have already been accepted and unloaded in China China has approved its first shipment of genetically modified Argentine corn, Buenos Aires-based trade sources said, which could mean that the Asian giant may eventually import GMO crops from other producers like the United States.
The sources, as reported in the Buenos Aires media said Chinese health authorities cleared 60.000-tons of genetically modified Argentine corn. The cargo was already headed inland to be used as hog and chicken feed.
Benchmark Chicago corn futures fell briefly after the market learned about the shipment. Argentina competes for market share with the United States, the leading world corn exporter. But CBOT corn futures, which were already depressed due to good US crop weather, ended the session mixed.
US farmers could eventually benefit from China finally opening the door to GMO corn imports. Demand for corn-fed pork and poultry has boomed in China as a growing middle class can afford a higher-protein diet.
The Argentine corn was imported by China's state-owned trading house COFCO and left Argentina about a month ago, said three Buenos Aires-based grains trading sources with knowledge of the situation.
The market knew since May that Argentine corn was headed to China. But questions lingered as to whether it would be approved for entry by the AQSIQ, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
“The cargo has now been approved by the AQSIQ and the vessel has been discharged in China. The corn is officially imported and on its way to end customers,” said a source at a major trading company in Buenos Aires.
Chicago corn prices have fallen sharply from record highs last summer, and many analysts and traders expected prices to fall further on prospects for a US bumper crop this season.
In contrast to last year, the world is expected to be awash with corn for the foreseeable future, keeping prices in check. Argentina's 2012/13 crop is nearly all harvested.
China is seen by corn futures traders as a wild card in their attempt to pencil in specific price projections. Most Argentine corn is genetically modified. A small amount was allowed into China late last year as a test case under a China-Argentina GMO deal signed in February 2012.
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Read all commentsGM corn (maize) is ‘a recombinant-genetically engineered corn plant with agronomically desirable traits’.
Aug 07th, 2013 - 09:10 am 0Some 30 varieties are imported legally into the EU, both for animal feed and human food.
Typically it is herbicide resistant to Glyphosate produced as Monsanto’s Roundup/Liberty [Inbred resistance to imidazoline is hybridization, not true genetic engineering].
‘Bt corn’ is a variant that has been genetically altered to express the bacterial Bt toxin, which poisons insect pests such as the European corn borer by inserting a gene from the microorganism Bacillus thuringiensis into the corn genome, causing death by intestinal sepsis.
Other GM modifications kill off Corn Ear Worms and Root Worms.
The GM variety ‘StarLink’ (Aventis/Byer AG), an anti-Corn Borer, is particularly controversial.
They say that Bt engineering does not kill non-target species eg bees and ladybirds, but Bt corn pollen travels great distances on the wind and it certainly does kill butterfly larvae that eat leaves where the pollen lands. And, of course, wind blows Bt pollen to cross-pollinate ‘GM-free’ maize corn.
Scientists know that the pests will develop resistance to the Bt crops. Even in the USA many farmers do not do what is legally necessary to delay the onset of resistance. In South America it is much, much worse.
In 2011 the Bt toxin was found in the blood of pregnant women but, as yet, there is no causal link with infant mortality.
StarLink Bt corn was created for strictly animal feedstuffs but, in the USA, Taco Bell taco shells containing high loadings of the Bt toxic agent caused – allegedly - multiple cases of hypersensitivity and allergies.
There is sufficient reason for the Chinese to import Argentinian GM corn, but to restrict its distribution to hogs and the proletariat.
Munnay !
Aug 07th, 2013 - 11:12 am 0@1
Aug 07th, 2013 - 02:25 pm 0Excellent brief rebuffed by a truly astounding post from “Vestige”.
But The Dark Country 'knows' how to poison not only its own land but those of its customers with this Monsanto product and the lemons (the real lemons, NOT the goverment ones).
Geoff, have you any information on how this maize has its ability to express poison negated before it is consumed? Seemingly not as the pregnant women situation must be a real concern, at least to their husbands if not to Monsanto.
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