GE crops in European animal feed

Greenpeace International, December 1999

The European debate about genetically engineered (GE) crops has so far ignored the issue of the animal feed industry despite the fact that it is the major consumer of GE crops.

Three principal GE crops grown in North America are soya, maize and oilseed rape (canola). They are also important ingredients in animal feed. Over 60 per cent of traded maize and 97 per cent of soya meal currently goes into animal feed production.

Greenpeace opposes the release of GE crops in to the environment. The risk of GE are unpredictable and potentially irreversible. The GE crop are living pollution – once released into the environment, they cannot be recalled or contained. These crops are unnecessary since genuinely sustainable alternatives exist.

Where does EU animal feed come from?

The European Union depends on imports for 70 per cent of its protein used in animal feed. In 1996, the EU trade deficit with the US alone in materials imported for animal feed was five billion dollars.

During the past three years, when the consumer revolt against GE food has been strongest, the US grain exports to Europe have had a clear downward trend.

Soya imports from the US dropped almost 30 per cent in the last two years and maize imports shrank about 90 per cent between 1996 and 1998. There is even stronger trend in the Canadian oilseed rape exports: the 1.6 million tonne 1996 export dropped to 5000 tonnes in 1998.

Production of GE crops

The total acreage of GE maize and soya in the US this year was roughly 29 million hectares or about 16 per cent of total US crop land.

Soya

The two major GE soya producers are the US and Argentina.

In 1999 the US cultivated almost 30 million hectares of soya of which about 57 per cent is genetically engineered. The value of the US soyabean exports to the EU halved in the past two years from 2.3 billion dollars to 1.2 billion dollars. This was due to both a decrease in exports (down from 8 million tonnes to 5.6 million) and a drop in market value.

However, the exports of soyabean meal - one of the key ingredients of animal feed - more than doubled from 860 000 tonnes to 2 million tonnes over the same period.

Argentina plants about 6 million hectares of soya, and it is estimated that between 60 and 80 per cent of this year’s crop is genetically engineered. Argentina exported about 1 million tonnes of soyabeans and 5 million tonnes of soyabean meal to the EU in 1998.

Maize

The US planted about 31 million hectares of maize. About 38 per cent is estimated to be genetically engineered. The US maize imports to the EU dropped from 1.6 million tonnes in 1996 to 170,000 tonnes in 1998.

Oilseed rape

Canada produced 8.3 million tonnes of oilseed rape in 1999. It is estimated that about 60 per cent of this crop is genetically engineered. Several varieties of GE oilseed rape have been approved for commercial production in Canada - among these Monsanto’s Ready Roundup tolerant oilseed rape which has not been approved for import to the EU.

GE free alternative: Brazil

Soya from Brazil is non GE since cultivation of GE soya is not permitted in Brazil. There has been a significant increase in the soya imports from Brazil to Europe in recent years. In 1998, the EU imported about 6 million tonnes of soyabeans and 6 million tonnes of soyabean meal from Brazil.

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