SAO PAULO – Brazil’s bio-security agency CTNBio has approved a new soybean seed that combines technologies to make it resistant to drought and two widely used herbicides, according to a statement on Friday from the companies that created the product.
Completion of the regulatory process allows the planting and harvesting of the so-called HB4 soybean varieties in Brazil, the statement said, although commercial launch for export will require approval from importing countries.
CTNBio did not immediately reply to a request for confirmation or comment.
Tropical Melhoramiento & Genetica (TMG) and Verdeca, the joint venture between Arcadia Biosciences Inc and Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp, said the approval by CTNBio will be followed by a public comment period lasting 30 days. After that, a definitive approval document will be issued, they said.
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Along with the drought-resistant trait, Brazil has approved the combination of two other technologies to the same seed product: resistance to weed killers glufosinate-ammonium and glyphosate, the companies said.
Luiz Gustavo Kalinowski, a sales representative at TMG in Brazil, told Reuters by telephone the new seed will be the only one in the Brazilian market that resists drought and the two weed-killers.
Approvals by soybean importing countries are already underway, the companies said.
The HB4 trait has been approved in Argentina and by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, according to the companies.
Regulatory approvals are also under consideration by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as in China, Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay, they said.
