StarLink scare may curb Asian appetite for US corn
October 26, 2000 4:18am
Source: Reuters
By Jae Hur
TOKYO, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Controversy over a banned biotech corn
called StarLink is casting a cloud over the outlook for U.S. grain
exports to East Asia, which accounts for some 50 percent of the U.S.
corn export market. Unless the United States takes action to reassure
consumers, East Asian buyers could be driven to seek grain from other
countries, traders said on Thursday. Such a shift would take time,
however, as there are no alternative suppliers at present. ``At the
moment, we see little change in our corn imports from the United
States,'' said a senior trader with a major importer group in Tokyo.
``But the StarLink issue may force local food importers to consider
shifting to other suppliers who are not planting GM (genetically
modified) crops,'' he said. Possible candidates include China, South
Africa and Argentina, he added. Japan's Health Ministry said on
Wednesday it had urged the United States to act swiftly to halt
exports of food products containing StarLink, which is not approved
for human consumption. The move came after a Japanese consumer group
said on Wednesday it had found StarLink in food and animal feed. The
announcement by the Consumers Union of Japan led Tokyo-based unlisted
food firm Kyoritsu Shokuhin to voluntarily recall a corn meal product
named ``Homemade Baking.'' The consumer group urged the health and
agriculture ministries to suspend imports of GM crops. In Japan,
StarLink is not approved even for animal feed. The news sent a shock
wave through Japanese importers, who pay a premium for non-GM corn
from contracted U.S. farms, said another trader.
TAIWAN PREFERS U.S. CORN
The controversy will not shift Taiwan's dependence on U.S. corn, as
it still bans imports of corn from mainland China, said Steven Kuo,
manager with Formosa Oilseed Processing and also the head of a feed
industry group. Taiwan plans to complete detailed guidelines for
labelling GM foods and draft regulations that would require GM farm
products to meet government safety standards by the end of 2000. An
official at Taiwan's Animal Industry Department said the government
had not decided whether to approve StarLink for animal feed.
In South Korea, the Korea Corn Processing Industry Association was
tendering on Thursday to buy 105,000 tonnes of corn for optional
origin with shipment for December to January. ``We don't have any
guideline for StarLink corn from our government,'' said a food grain
trader in Seoul.
Japan imports four million tonnes of corn per year for food and
another 11-12 million tonnes for feed, mostly from the United States.
South Korea buys about eight million tonnes from China and the United
States. Taiwan imported 4.8 million tonnes of corn in 1999, 99
percent of it from the United States. StarLink, made by European
pharmaceutical giant Aventis SA, is approved by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency for use only as an animal feed
because of unanswered questions about whether it could affect people
with allergies. Stores and supermarkets in the United States have
removed items found to contain StarLink from their shelves, and
production lines have been disrupted at food processors as worries
about the gene-altered corn spread.
The food recall in the U.S. market has raised concerns about the
United States' ability to comply with Japanese legislation to be
implemented from next April that will set zero tolerance for imports
of unapproved farm products, traders said. ^ REUTERS@
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