----- forwarded message ----- Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 14:50:13 +0200 From: secr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Brazil soy winning higher premiums as GM-free Brazil soy winning higher premiums as GM-free http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11712 BRAZIL: July 23, 2001 SAO PAULO - Brazilian soy product exports are winning higher premiums from France, Japan and other countries in search of grains that are free of genetic modification (GM), a spokesman at world grains trader Louis Dreyfus said last week. Coinbra, Louis Dreyfus' Brazilian unit, has been making a name for itself certifying GM-free soy shipments for Europe and Japan where bio-engineered foods have encountered resistance from increasingly health-conscious consumers. Brazil is the world's No. 2 producer of soybeans after the United States and the only agricultural exporter in the Americas that forbids the sale of transgenic crops or food. "Our soymeal program has been growing on since last year, formerly out of Victoria port, but now we are shipping out of Paranagua. The lion's share of the meal is going to France, some to Europe and a little to Japan," said head of sales at Coinbra, Timothy Carter. Brazil allows life science companies such as Monsonto to conducts GM research on crops like soy and corn on special farms in the country but has never allowed the sale of the foods on concerns over health and environmental risks. Local grain companies have been reporting that Brazil's conventional agricultural products have seen greater demand around the world because of their GM-free reputation. "The premiums for normal pellets in Paranagua (Brazil) versus those of normal pellets on the Argentine liquid market used to be $10 to $11 (a tonne). Now they're $17 to $20. You can argue that there is a greater demand for Brazilian meal because it is perceived as non-GM," said Carter. Although officially Brazil bans the sale of GM-food, it is not entirely free of genetically altered crops. Some southern farmers in an attempt to cut costs and boost productivity have planted illegal GM seeds - most likely smuggled in from Argentina to the south where they are permitted. But the availability of conventional soybeans is still much greater than in Argentina and the United States and Brazil is thought to have virtually no other illegally planted crops aside from the smuggled GM soybeans in the south. Beans from the soy-rich center-west, corn and other crops are believed to be grown from conventional seeds. As a result, Coinbra is carving a niche for itself shipping soymeal from Brazil with various degrees of GM-free certification or guarantees. "Depending on the program, there are different kinds of premiums. For instance if there is (GM) traceability testing involved the premium is higher but if it's just the certification of origin then the premium is lower," said Carter. He added that Coinbra used a the world's biggest inspection and testing company, Swiss-based SGS to test soy products and that Coinbra had contracted special silos to avoid the contamination of tested soy meal with general meal moving through Paranagua port. According to a source at the private terminal of Soceppar in Paranagua who preferred to remain unnamed, the terminal recently closed a deal with Coinbra to ship 550,000 tonnes of GM-free soy meal to France by January of 2002, as well as 50,000 tonnes of GM-free corn. He also said silos with a 40,000 tonne capacity had been set aside for Coinbra's GM-free grain movement. Story by Reese Ewing REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
