Cecília Jorge
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The proposal to identify transgenic products sold abroad will cause Brazil to lose international competitiveness, according to the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA). The CNA's vice president of International Affairs, Gilman Viana Rodrigues, calculates that the change will add 10% to the sector's production costs.In the case of soybean exports, for example, producers may end up spending around US$ 1 billion.

The minister of Environment, Marina Silva, announced that Brazil will defend the use of the expresson "it contains," referring to live, genetically modified organisms, as determined in article 18 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biodiversity (MOP-3).

The labelling of shipments of organically modified organisms will have to include information on the processes of production, transportation, and storage. This matter is being discussed in Curitiba by the nations that ratified the Protocol.

In Rodrigues' view, however, the proposal previously approved by the National Technical Commission on Biosecurity (CTNBio) and accepted by the sector was for merchandise to bear the term "it may contain." Rodrigues argues that the advantage is that transgenic grains were transported together with non-transgenic grains, which is a pratice adopted by the majority of exporters. The term also spares each shipment of having to be analyzed separately.

According to Rodrigues, the "it contains" label will add to production costs, to the disavantage of Brazil on the international market. He states that Brazil, which is one of the world's largest exporters of agricultural commodities, alongside the United States, Canada, and Argentina, was the only one to endorse the Protocol.

"The United States, Canada, and Argentina will watch Brazil digging its own grave," he remarked. "Brazil will have to pay the costs of enforcing the rule that it is proposing and that will make trade more expensive. Buyers could care less and will continue to buy transgenic products from Argentina and the United States."

According to the minister's proposal, producers who have not yet separated transgenics from non-transgenics in their shipments will have four years to adjust to the new rule. For those who have already adhered to the rule, the label will be mandatory as soon as the measure takes effect.

Translation: David Silberstein