(Reuters) — Dow AgroSciences’ decision to severely restrict U.S. introduction of Enlist came after extensive talks with grain leaders who fear roiling trade with China, said a company executive.
The deep involvement of the grain industry in defining a genetically modified crop launch and the controls on that launch underscore the lengths U.S. companies are going to avoid angering China.
China has shown reluctance over the last year to approve new GM grain for import and has rejected more than one million tonnes of U.S. corn containing traces of unapproved GM traits.
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Dow AgroSciences’ application for Chinese approval of its Enlist GM corn has languished for about two years. Its Enlist soybeans are also awaiting approval.
Both are genetically modified to withstand treatments of Dow’s new Enlist Duo herbicide.
“We want to make sure that we respect their (China’s) process,” said Joe Vermin, Dow AgroSciences’ global leader for Enlist.
Vertin said the company held talks with national corn and soybean grower groups and grain trading groups about how to proceed after it received U.S. regulatory approvals this fall.
It evaluated several proposals before coming up with what Vertin called a unique strategy.
The plan, unveiled Nov. 12, allows for seed production of its new Enlist soybeans and sales of Enlist corn seed only to farmers who will feed the harvested grain to livestock on their farms and agree to have the process audited.
Enlist Duo herbicide will be sold for use on those crops.
The program is for next year and will be re-evaluated for 2016, depending on China’s position.
Vertin would not specify the acreage targeted for the launch, but said a significant amount of grain stays on farms for feed use, and the company is still optimistic for broad adoption at some point.
“As we look at any biotech trait … it’s a gradual process,” he said.
Dow’s program is stricter than that of Syngenta AG , which is also trying what the industry calls a “stewarded launch.”
Syngenta is requiring farmers who plant its Agrisure Duracade GM corn to feed the crop to livestock or deliver it to a facility that will not export it to China.
