Japan looks set to approve Syngenta AG's genetically modified corn
seed as safe for use in food and animal feed, a relief to traders who feared
unapproved seed could contaminate cargoes from the United States. Reuters
News Service reports that Japan's Food Safety Commission said on Thursday it
would tell the farm ministry that the seed, which contains a trait called
Agrisure RW that makes the corn resistant to the crop-damaging insect root
worm, is safe for feed use.
The recommendation, together with another last week on food use, ends
the commission's risk assessment on the seed that began in May 2006, paving
the way for the government to formally approve Agrisure RW from as early as
next month.

Japan, the top buyer of U.S. corn, has a zero-tolerance policy on
imports of unapproved GMO crops. Delays in the approval of Agrisure RW could
have hurt U.S. corn exports to Japan, which totalled some 11.8 million
tonnes last year, worth more than $1.7 billion.

In 2000, a biotech corn variety called Starlink, which was approved
for feed use but not as food in the United States, was detected in the food
chain, causing a sharp drop in Japan's imports of U.S. origin. But last week
the Food Safety Commission told the health ministry that Agrisure RW is safe
even if accidentally mixed with regular supplies for human food use.


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