Curitiba, October 22, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Truck drivers who transport soybeans from Mato Grosso to Paraná remain on the state border, awaiting authorization to enter Paraná carrying cargo without documentation to prove that the soybeans are transgenic or not. The same situation exists at all of the state's 28 sanitary inspection stations.

According to Felisberto Batista, director of the state Secretariat of Agriculture's department of agricultural inspection and protection, it is expected that the impasse will be resolved before day's end. But he reiterated that Paraná will not relent in upholding the law and defending its interest in remaining a transgenic-free zone. Paraná is the only Brazilian state so far that has claimed this status from the Ministry of Agriculture. One of the options that is being considered, the director added, is to unload the soybeans in warehouses and test them there.

Inspection of soybeans is not limited to trucks that try to enter the state. Wholesalers and retail merchants who sell the product will also have to prove the origin of the soybeans, with documentation from the producer. If sales slips are not presented, the material will be sent for analysis.

At the request of the Secretary of Agriculture, Orlando Pessuti, the Vegetable Hygiene Division will gather 10 thousand samples of grains, seeds, and plant parts, such as roots and leaves, to certify that farmers in Paraná are obeying the state law and not planting transgenic soybeans. "Through these measures, we are preserving the production of conventional soybeans in Paraná, which is the desire of the majority of farmers and of the government itself," the Secretary pointed out. (DAS)