Argentine GM Wheat Exports Could Be Banned

Prosecutor Fabian Canda asked the Argentine Prosecutor's Office that the marketing permit for HB4, a transgenic seed produced by the company Bioceres, be immediately suspended.

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He explained that the approval of this product's permit was not based on an adequate investigation of its health and environmental impacts. Canda also recalled that no other country has approved a genetically modified strain of wheat.

Currently, Brazil is the main buyer of Argentine wheat. In 2019, for example, this country imported 45 percent of Argentine production. Recently, however, Brazilian flour millers warned that they will not buy transgenic wheat if President Jair Bolsonaro's administration approves its import.

Although the HB4 marketers say their seed is resistant to drought and pesticides, food safety experts suspect that the consumption of transgenic wheat could affect human health.

Even though Brazil has not approved HB4 imports so far, Bioceres and other agribusinesses are ready to export this Argentine product since they have already harvested 17,000 tons of the transgenic grain.

Recently, the Argentinean Cereal Exports Association (CIARA-CEC) sent a letter to several institutions reminding them that the commercialization of products with traces of transgenic grains is not authorized. The GMO issue, however, generates divided positions.

"If we don't defend our national technological development, who will do it ?," Argentina's Agriculture Minister Julian Dominguez said in defense of his country's transgenic industry.