*Canada Okays GM Corn and Soybean*

After safety evaluations by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canada has authorized the unconfined release into the environment and use as livestock feed of Pioneer Hi-Bred’s genetically modified corn (98140) and soybean (356043) events. The transgenic corn and soybean express the /gat (gat4621/ for corn and /gat4601/ for soybean) and the /zm-hra/ genes which confer resistance to glyphosate and ALS-inhibiting herbicides.

CFIA in its evaluation concluded that the GM crops “do not present altered environmental risk” and that they “don’t “present livestock feed safety concerns when compared to currently commercialized soybean varieties in Canada.” Any soybean or corn lines derived from the approved events may also be released into the environment and used as livestock feed, the CFIA says, provided that the intended use are similar, that the novel genes are expressed at a level similar to that of the authorized line and that no inter-specific crosses are performed.

For more information on the approvals, read http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/bio/dd/dd0977e.shtml#a3 and http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/bio/dd/dd0978e.shtml#a3