Dow to restrict sales of new GMO soybean, awaits China, EU approvals

US-based Dow Agrochemical will next year sell its GMO soybean seed to US farmers, despite the seed being banned from sale into China and the EU, the world’s two biggest importers of soybean, the company said Wednesday.

Dow will sell the weed-resistant Enlist seed to farmers on the proviso that they deliver their crops to one of four plants owned by Archer Daniel Midland, which will ensure the soybeans are kept in the US and not exported to China or the EU.

The move is an attempt to stave off competition from rival agrichemical company Monsanto, whose main GMO soybean seed has a 40% market share in total US soybean plantings and can be exported to China and the EU.

“US farmers need access to the newest technologies to boost productivity,” said Joe Vertin, Dow AgroSciences Enlist global leader in a statement.

“When advanced solutions are available and fully approved in the United States, they should reach farmers as quickly as possible.”

The US exports approximately half of the 120m mt of soybeans it produces each year, mostly to the EU and China, presenting a challenge to Dow who is keen to market its seed.

Dow is still waiting for approval from the EU and China after applying in 2012 and 2013, respectively for permission to sell its Enlist products into those markets.

Both China and the EU do not allow the production of GMO crop, but are heavily dependent on soybean imports for use as animal feed. Almost all of their imports have been modified.

With 20% of the world’s population and just 7% of its arable land, China has food-security concerns and is notoriously slow at approving the sale of new GMO product. In 2014, Bayer’s Liberty Link product was approved for sale after seven years of review.

China has also shown it is keen to enforce the ban of unapproved GMO sales, when in 2013 it blocked several vessels of US-produced corn as it alleged it had been contaminated with a GMO product that had not been approved.

Nevertheless, China has been pushing ahead with approving the imports of GMO crops and in June it approved engineered corn and soybean from Dow and Monsanto, just weeks after Beijing said it would expedite approvals as part of a US-China trade deal.