GM ban may cause price rises

EUROPEAN animal feed producers have warned farmers that prices may increase significantly at very short notice, due to the EU’s zero tolerance of traces of unapproved genetically modified (GM) crops in imported feeds.

The EU depends on imports for more than 80% of vegetable proteins in animal feeds, mainly soybean, which has become increasingly difficult to import.

The EU’s lengthy procedure for approving new GM organisms has left much of the material available for import unapproved.