USDA says US corn exports hurt by StarLink chaos
November 16, 2000 12:04pm
Source: Reuters
By Christopher Doering
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American corn exports are being hurt by
concerns overseas that shipments may be contaminated with an
unapproved variety of biotech corn, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan
Glickman said Thursday. Glickman's comments marked the first public
acknowledgment by the USDA that StarLink bio-corn -- a variety found
in taco shells and chips in late September -- is hitting U.S. corn
exports to big buyers like Japan and South Korea. ``I think it has
something to play there. I can't quantify the amount,'' Glickman told
reporters after opening a new prairie exhibit at the Smithsonian.
StarLink was approved by U.S. regulators in 1998 only for animal feed
after scientists were unable to determine if the gene-spliced corn
might cause rashes, diarrhea, respiratory problems or other allergic
reactions in humans. But the corn, made by France and Germany's
Aventis SA , accidentally got into other yellow corn this year and
triggered a recent recall of some 300 brands of taco shells, chips
and other U.S. foods.
NEW DATA SHOWS CORN SALES DOWN
Earlier Thursday, the USDA issued a weekly report showing U.S. corn
exports were 39 percent below the four-week average. For the latest
week, American corn exports were 517,700 tonnes, far below market
expectations of 550,000 to 750,000 tonnes. Japan, the single biggest
buyer of American corn, has virtually halted its purchases for the
first quarter of 2001 because of fear that some StarLink corn may
taint supplies. Japan has stricter rules about biotech crops and does
not allow StarLink even in livestock feed. ``We have worked hard on
the Japan issue and are working on (South) Korea now,'' Glickman
said, referring to South Korea's similar concerns about buying U.S.
corn.
Earlier this week, South Korea said it would not consider buying more
U.S. supplies at this time due to StarLink worries. Glickman declined
to comment on whether the USDA might be forced to trim its forecast
of 2.275 billion bushels of overall U.S. corn export sales this year
due to the StarLink controversy. U.S. grain traders have closely
watched the government's corn export data for any sign that the
StarLink controversy has slowed sales. Previously, USDA officials
maintained that corn sales were not feeling any impact from the
StarLink furor. ``It's an issue that has caused concern among some of
our importers. That is why we have to work hard to make sure that the
company involved (Aventis) does everything they can to get it
resolved,'' Glickman said.
AVENTIS MAY FACE STEEP COSTS
Glickman also said that StarLink maker Aventis could face steep legal
and liability costs over the contamination. ``There are possibilities
that there are going to be losses out there and somebody is going to
have to compensate them,'' he said. ``I would suspect in terms of
legal and compensation issues, they are not out of the woods yet.''
StarLink was engineered to contain a gene that protects young corn
plants from destructive pests. Glickman declined to say how much
StarLink has been gathered from American farmers so far. Under USDA
supervision, Aventis launched a buyback of as much of this year's
harvest as possible.
Agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals firm Aventis has said it expected
to pay about $100 million to repurchase the 2000 crop. Some industry
experts have speculated that figure could go much higher if food
companies, grain elevators and other entities in the food supply
chain demanded compensation from Aventis. Aventis said Wednesday it
planned to sell its agricultural chemicals and seeds business to
focus on its faster-growing drugs operations. Two weeks ago, the USDA
said it had collected about 90 percent of the StarLink harvest but
could not yet account for about 1.2 million bushels of the corn.
``That's why we are working so hard to get the StarLink corn out of
inventory,'' he said.
The Environmental Protection Agency, under pressure from Aventis as
well as anti-biotech activists, has scheduled a Nov. 28 public
meeting to consider whether StarLink poses a health risk for humans.
Aventis submitted new data to the EPA, which it contends rules out
any allergic reactions to the corn. But green groups say regulators
should not be rushed into granting a temporary approval for StarLink
in human food simply to limit Aventis' legal liability. Glickman said
the incident with StarLink shows the government needs to take a close
look at existing regulations for bio-foods. The USDA is responsible
for field trials of new bio-crops, while the EPA has authority over
plants that are genetically engineered to act as pesticides. The Food
and Drug Administration is responsible for broad food safety and
labeling issues. ``We have to look at our regulatory system, that it
is adequate to deal with these types of problems,'' he added. ``We
can't let it happen again.'' ^ REUTERS@
Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited.