2-Plants: News from Honduras and Uruguay

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                                  PART I
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TITLE:  Despite concern, Honduras remains open to biotech products
SOURCE: AgriNews, by Daniel J. Grant
        http://www.agbios.com/main.php'action=ShowNewsItem&id=4734
DATE:   Aug 14, 2003

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Despite concern, Honduras remains open to biotech products

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Members of the Illinois Soybean Checkoff Board,
who traveled to Honduras last month to promote soy in the human diet,
also found a policy there similar to Mexico when it comes to
biotechnology. The government doesn't fully support the use of
genetically-enhanced crops in Honduras, but it hasn't banned the
importation of such grain either. Similarly, in Mexico, farmers can plant
genetically-enhanced soybeans and cotton, but not corn. However, all
approved varieties in the U.S. may be imported as grain. The assistant
secretary of agriculture in Honduras, German Perez D'Estephen, said the
main concern right now, about biotech crops, is simply a fear of the
unknown. "As far as biotechnology, we have some fear about it and what it
can do to the environment and the people consuming it," D'Estephen told
ISCB members. "But, at the same time, many of the donations we receive
are biotech crops, and we consume them." In fact, Honduras currently
imports all its soybeans from the U.S., a country which plants roughly
three-quarters of its soybean crop in biotech varieties. So, is there a
chance the Honduran government will ever take a firm stance against
biotech, like some of the bans that have been implemented in the European
Union? D'Estephen said not as long as the products continue to prove
themselves. "If we see the products are working well, then we won't have
any problem adopting them," he added.


                                  PART II
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TITLE:  Uraguay approves biotech corn variety
SOURCE: Chemical Business NewsBase - Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News
        http://www.soyatech.com/bluebook/news/viewarticle.ldml?a=20030819-5
DATE:   Jul 21, 2003

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Uraguay approves biotech corn variety

Chemical Business NewsBase - Pesticide and Toxic Chemical News via
NewsEdge Corporation : The Executive branch of Uraguay has announced the
approval for both import and domestic cultivation of the corn variety MON
810. The announcement was made in the 1 Jul 2003 Federal register and has
immediate effect. The decision is welcomed by the agricultural ministry
and corn growers whose crops are suffering from larval infestations.
Although this approval relates to only one product it clearly opens the
way in Uraguay for further petitions for other biotechnology products.




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GENET
European NGO Network on Genetic Engineering

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