Reuters.com Biosafety regulator clears Brazil 1st GMO corn use http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN1633482120070516
Wed May 16, 2007 SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazilian farmers soon should be able to legally purchase, plant and sell a genetically modified corn variety for the first time in the country's history, the biosafety regulator CTNBio said on Wednesday. A government committee called the National Biosafety Council, including representatives from the Agriculture, Health, Environmental and other ministries, needs to give the final rubber stamp to the CTNBio's recommendation. Analysts in the farm sector expect the government council to accept the CTNBio's recommendation. Environmental group Greenpeace said in a statement that the approval of GMO corn for commercial use is "placing genetic diversity at risk in Brazil." It has taken over two years since the government passed the 2005 Biosafety Law legalizing the use of GMOs in Brazil for the CTNBio to clear the use of this one variety of corn. It has faced stiff opposition from environmental and consumer groups. Earlier this year the CTNBio had to change its charter so that only a simple majority of members was required to approve a product. Previously it was a two-thirds majority and consumer and environmentalist watchdogs on the commission were blocking approvals of GMOs. The GMO corn approved by the regulator is a widely used variety outside Brazil -- Liberty Link corn produced by Bayer CropScience, which is resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. GMO Roundup Ready soybeans by Monsanto have been legal in Brazil for several years now. © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
