GM soybeans now allowed in Turkish feeds
The Turkish Animal Feed Producers’ Union (Türkiyem-Bír), has announced that it acquired the Biosafety Commission’s permission to use three types of genetically modified soybeans in animal feed.
Union Chairman Ülkü Karakus said the body asked to use the three types of GM soybeans allowed in the US and EU. The permission was announced in the official newspaper on Wednesday.
Karakus said that the committee also determined the terms of the imports, adding they were preparing to present a crisis action plan to the Agriculture Ministry within a week, after which the ministry is expected to allow the import of the GM crops.
Crisis action plan
The crisis action plan will determine measures to be taken for transportation of the GM crops in sea vessels, storage, and transportation to factories and packaging.
Turkey imports around 4.5 million tonnes of animal feed raw materials, 2.1 million tonnes of which were soybeans and soy products.
Due to the recent issueing of a Biosafety Law the import of GM soy products was banned in Turkey.
Karakus said producers suffered from a soybean shortage in the domestic market due to this law. “Those with soybean stock radically increased the prices and the raw material’s price climbed from $500 to $700,” he said.
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