AreWe Facing Another StarLink Situation

byRoger Bernard

Are we facing another "StarLink" situation? That's the questionfloating around after reports of Monsanto Co. asking the government for anexemption as unapproved genetic material has turned up in canola seed producedby the firm.

While the company has yet to detect the material in any of the seed it has
tested, it says trace amounts of the material were found last year in
Canadian seed and that means it could be present in U.S.-sold supplies,
potentially for the last three years.

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that USDA is leaning toward granting
Monsanto's request, which the company made in a November letter but hasn't
done so formally. The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing safety data
from Monsanto.

The material, identified as GT200, was created in the 1990s when Monsanto
was developing canola seed that was resistant to Roundup herbicide.
Monsanto eventually opted to develop and market canola seed that had been
modified differently called RT73.

Last year, the GT200 material showed up in Canadian canola seed, forcing
Monsanto to recall hundreds of tons of it. Monsanto sought and received
Canadian approval for GT200 but recalled the seed as Japan -- a primary
destination for Canadian canola exports, hadn't approved GT200. And,
Monsanto officials say they're not sure how the material got into the seed
in the first place.

Now the Bush administration is faced with a tough choice. Do they grant the
exemption and face the wrath of anti-biotech forces who are ready to pounce
on the issue? Or do they deny the exemption and potentially create another
recall situation like that which was faced with StarLink corn?

This also goes to a broader issue in the biotech front, and that is what
are allowable levels of unapproved material to be present. Some in the
biotech industry want the government to set tolerance levels while others
insist that at zero-tolerance policy has to be allowed.

The Center for Food Safety has already promised to start battling the
Monsanto request for an exemption.