■ 農藥一路發20005期 (2000/11/9)        主編: 方麗萍

主題: 安萬特農業科技公司因基因改良之玉米大傷腦筋

衛生署於11月7日指出, 原則上 ”基因改造食品標示辦法” 將於2000年實施,初期先推動負面陳述的自願標示, 廠商可主動註明產品為非基因改良食品; 強制性正面標示, 於2001年先從黃豆, 玉米先施行. 至於容許量採用歐盟規定的百分之一或是日本的百分之五? 儘速建立一套檢驗方法.

日本是美國最大進口玉米國, 並嚴禁進口非經准許之農產品. 現一進口商正面臨高額罰款, 因非法進口StarLink玉米, 而此品種並未獲准在日本販賣.

StarLink玉米是由安萬特研發並透過種子公司在美銷售, StarLink顯示有Bacillus thuringiensis 品種 tolworthi Cry9C 毒素, 只獲准使用在動物飼料上及非食品工業用, 但可能對人體引致過敏. 美國政府非常重視, 安萬特已指示其種子商停止銷售 2001年栽培的StarLink玉米種子。並將今年兩千農民栽種之StarLink玉米120,000公頃加以收購, 直接供應飼料或工業用途, 絕不可作食品之用.

安萬特於11月9日特對此事發言, 原文如附件. 安萬特已與EPA協商自動撤銷StarLink登記證, 且不會在美栽種或銷售, 直至新登記證同時核准使用在以上兩種用途上. 雖然安萬特並未結算, 但各方估計總損失高達十億美金. 

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Aventis CropScience Press Release 11/09/00

Aventis CropScience Status Report on StarLink®

Lyon, France, 9. November 2000 : Aventis CropScience, one of the global
leading crop protection and crop production companies announces today
the status of its StarLink® issue in the USA.

Reports in the US that DNA linked to StarLink® brand corn had been found
in some consumer products prompted Aventis CropScience pursuant to an
agreement with regulatory agencies to take a number of responsible and
precautionary actions including a comprehensive program with the US
Department of Agriculture to buy, monitor and control this year's
StarLink® harvest. The StarLink® corn was approved in the US for use
only in domestic animal feed and for non-food industrial uses. Although
Aventis CropScience does not sell StarLink® seed, it does license the
technology to seed companies which, in turn, market the StarLink® brand
seed to distributors and farmers under a stewardship program.

After an in depth review, the Board of Management of Aventis CropScience
informs on its assessment and actions concerning
its product StarLink® as follows.

StarLink - not a health or safety issue
On October 25, 2000 Aventis CropScience submitted a new evaluation of
safety information on StarLink® corn that recommends regulatory
officials grant a time-limited approval for a presence of the corn in
human food. The new submission demonstrates that consumer exposure to
food products containing StarLink Cry9C protein - even under worst-case
scenarios - is many thousands of times smaller than that required to
sensitise and lead to a later allergic reaction.
Regardless of the outcome of this submission, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has already confirmed that it has no evidence
that food containing StarLink® corn will cause any allergic reaction in
people and that it believes risks, if any, are extremely low.


StarLink - a corn identity preservation issue
StarLink® corn has only been approved for use in the US for feed and
non-food industrial uses.
It has not been approved for food consumption. Recent analysis have
detected DNA fragments from StarLink® corn in some food
products such as taco shells in the US. Product recalls of food
companies have removed those products from the food supply.
As a consequence Aventis CropScience after discussion with the EPA
agreed to voluntarily withdraw its StarLink® registration.
 With this step, Aventis CropScience wants to ensure that in future no
new StarLink® corn will be grown for any use in the
US or for export until a new registration for both food and feed use has
been obtained.


StarLink®-  financial impact on Aventis CropScience
There has been considerable unfounded speculation in the press
concerning the financial impact of StarLink® on Aventis CropScience,
with estimates of the total costs of StarLink® in some cases being as
high as $1 billion.
Aventis CropSciences' evaluation of the costs of the various actions
taken to track and control channeling of StarLink®
and commingled corn is still underway, as is the evaluation of the costs
of other related StarLink® issues.
In parallel, although the corn was grown and distributed by third
parties, Aventis CropScience, who as the registrant of the
StarLink® technology has been the initial leader in taking responsible
corrective actions, is assessing the degree of shared responsibility of
the different actors in the agro and food chain as well as insurance
coverage for such costs.
Although it is not possible to determine today the entire costs related
to StarLink®as well as the share of it which will
ultimately be borne by Aventis CropScience, it is Aventis CropSciences'
best judgment at this stage that the net financial
impact of StarLink® on Aventis CropScience will be significantly below
the highly speculative figures reported in the press.■     

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