WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2016 - U.S. senators from the Pacific
Northwest are calling on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to address issues
with testing of U.S. alfalfa on Chinese shores, while an industry expert tells Agri-Pulse those issues are just a symptom
of a larger problem.
The senators sent Vilsack a letter
last week pointing out that despite tests in the U.S. showing the shipments are
free of genetically modified alfalfa, China is turning back or delaying the
cargoes when its tests show trace amounts of a GMO alfalfa strain that is
approved in the U.S. These traces can be picked
up in a variety of places, including the containers in which the shipments are
transported or on the docks.
The letter – signed by
Democrats Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray of Washington and Ron Wyden
and Jeff Merkley of Oregon – points out that more
than 1.2 million tons of GMO-free alfalfa is shipped out of western ports
annually, and China has been a significant growth market for U.S. GMO-free
alfalfa exports since 2006. Chinese
imports of American alfalfa have been steadily increasing as the country’s
dairy sector expands and has a need for high-quality feed.
“We
urge you to address this issue without delay, so that the market access gains
enjoyed by American alfalfa exporters are not lost,” the senators said in the letter. “There are a range of possible solutions that could be pursued. However
this issue is approached, it is critical that it be addressed expeditiously and
in a manner that provides American alfalfa exporters with a cost-effective,
predictable solution to ensure reliable access to China’s market.”
Beth Nelson, president of the National Alfalfa and Forage
Alliance, told Agri-Pulse her group
would prefer a broader solution – that China move expeditiously to approve the biotech
alfalfa trait.
“It’s sitting in queue to be deregulated in China, but that
has not yet happened, and if China were to have asynchronous registration, that
would resolve the issue,” Nelson said in an interview. Asynchronous
registration would mean China and the U.S. would work together in the approval
process.
Nelson chalked up the issues with testing and detecting
trace amounts of GMO alfalfa to a communication error. She said she thinks the
testing situation is “under control” at this point as the communication error
has been resolved, but she still wants the larger issue of approval to be
completed. She said she is hopeful the Chinese deregulation will be achieved by
the end of the year, but there’s no way to know.
In the meantime, to ensure no trace amounts of GMO alfalfa
are detected, Nelson advised producers to take all necessary precautions to
prevent any mixing of GMO and GMO-free alfalfa if they plan to export that
product. She said working with the final exporter, tracking production all the
way from the seed, could prevent any potential trace amounts from mixing until
GMO alfalfa is ultimately deregulated in China.
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