Cargill eyeing non-GM soy for European customers

PARIS, Reuters [EB] via NewsEdge Corporation : U.S.
commodities giant Cargill said on Tuesday it is studying
whether to adopt a system that would segregate
genetically modified (GM) soybeans from non-GM
organisms for the purpose of supplying European
consumers.

A Cargill spokeswoman said the company was looking at
establishing a so-called identity-preserved system that
would respond to the demands of European animal feed
manufacturers, most of whom rely on soymeal made from
imported soybeans.

"In the wider picture of food ingredients, we already have
done some identity-preserved supplies. Where we've had
strong customer demand for non-GM products, we've put
in place a system responding to their needs," Ruth
Rawling, a spokeswoman for Cargill in Britain, told Reuters
in an interview.

She explained that Cargill currently supplied clients in
Britain with non-GM maize products from France such as
glucose, starch and corn oil.

"We are now looking at how we would do the same for
soybean meal for the pusposes of animal feed," Rawling
said.

According to industry newsletter Oil World, the EU imports
some 16 million tonnes of soybeans a year. Almost all of
that comes from Brazil, Argentina and the United States,
and for shipping purposes the latter two countries make
no distinction between GM and non-GM soy.

Rawling's comments came after Cargill Soja France, the
company's French soy division, said it was weighing
introducing an identity-preserved system for its
customers.

"All systems of this type would necessitate a control of
crops, a logistic follow-through and a traceability. These
measures would inevitable lead to surcharges proportional
to the degree of desired purity," the company added.

GREENPEACE THREATENS IMPORTS

The disclosure by Cargill Soja France came as
environmental group Greenpeace demanded Cargill, the
largest privately held U.S. company, to stop importing GM
crops to Europe.

Arnaud Apoteker, a spokesman for Greenpeace France,
said activists planned to block ships carrying soy, maize
and other products destined for animal consumption from
entering the harbour at Brest, the port city in western
France that is home to Cargill Soja France's oilseed
crushing facility.

"We will block the boats. We are ready to prevent all
imports. We have the traditional tools to intervene to
block imports of GM organisms," Apoteker said in an
interview from the Sirius, a Greenpeace vessel at the port
of Brest.

Greenpeace has developed a reputation for using
inflatable dinghies to prevent ships from entering or
exiting ports in a variety of environmental protests.

Rawling said a temporary blockage of the port of Brest
would be inconvenient for Cargill, which crushes some
600,000 tonnes of soy and rapeseed there. But she
stressed the company was mainly concerned with the
safety of its own employees and of Greenpeace activists.

"Obviously we have customers to attend to, but we
wouldn't want to jeopardise anyone's safety," Rawling
said.

(Additional reporting by Paule Bonjean)

((Paris newsrooom +331 4221 5218, fax +331 4236 1072,
paris.newsroomreuters.com))

REUTERS