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AGBIOTECH
EPA has approved monsanto's genetically engineered corn, designed to ward off the corn rootworm by producing a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal protein.
"EPA has put this new product through a rigorous, science-based review process, including extensive public comment and independent scientific peer review, to ensure that it is safe for human health and the environment," EPA Assistant Administrator Stephen L. Johnson says. The agency will require that corn farmers plant 20% of their acreage with nonengineered corn as an insect ref-uge to prevent the development of Bt resistance. However, the environmental benefit from less pesticide use could be squandered because of inadequate refuges, says Gregory Jaffe, biotechnology project director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "EPA has put the short-term interests of Monsanto over the long-term interest of the public by insisting on a 20% refuge instead of the 50% recommended by an EPA-convened panel of experts." With regulatory review also completed in the key export market of Japan, the new corn could be a boon for Monsanto, whose 2002 sales declined by 14%. According to a recent International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications report, transgenic crops--planted mostly in the U.S., Canada, Argentina, and China--rose 12% to 145 million acres in 2002. Transgenic corn accounted for 21% of the total and was the fastest growing crop. |
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