Argentina allows Bayer to sell GM soy seeds

Argentina approved the Liberty Link soybean technology, which involves transgenic seeds resistant to the herbicide glufosinate-ammonium, according to the company.

 

Bayer CropScience is now moving to obtain approval for seeds with multiple transgenic traits, generally a formality in Argentina, which is one of the world’s leading supporters and producers of genetically modified agricultural goods.

 

Liberty Link will be combined with stacked traits and launched in Argentina "in the forthcoming years," the company said in a statement.

 

Argentina is the world’s leading exporter of soy oil and meal, and ranks third behind the US and Brazil in soybean exports.

 

Virtually all of Argentina’s soybeans incorporate US giant Monsanto’s technology, which makes soybeans resistant to the herbicide glyphosate.

 

Monsanto introduced the seeds to Argentina over a decade ago, but it failed to get a patent and has struggled to collect royalties since.

 

Meanwhile, Bayer is hoping to cash in on the spread of a host of weed varieties which have developed resistance to glyphosate, after years of repeated spraying across Argentina’s farmlands.