Japan to Monitor U.S. Corn Cargoes for Unapproved GM Strain
Illinois Farm Bureau, 03/23/05

OMAHA (DTN) -- The Washington Insider reported that Japan said it would start monitoring U.S. corn cargoes to check if they contain an unapproved strain of genetically modified corn developed by Syngenta AG. Syngenta has said some of its corn seeds were mistakenly contaminated in 2001 through 2004 with Bt10, an insect-resistant corn strain that has not been approved for distribution.
Syngenta said the problem was found in plantings in four U.S. states, but declined to identify those states. However, the company said it was very unlikely that any of the contaminated harvested grain entered U.S. export channels as Bt11 -- an approved genetically modified corn strain -- through the normal process of grain exports.
Bt11 and Bt10 have identical characteristics [not so!]. If the Japanese inspection offices discover contaminated cargoes, the ministry will order importers to destroy them or ship them back to the U.S., in line with Japan's food safety law.
Syngenta said seed produced from the contaminated lines represented "one-one hundredth of one percent of the U.S. corn acres planted during that time," or 37,000 acres [about 150 sq kilometers!]. It said all of the problematic plantings and seed stock had been identified and either destroyed or isolated for future destruction.