Informationsdienst Gentechnik / Information Service on GMOs (Berlin)

21 August 2012

In a report published on 21 August, the environmental organization WWF Germany estimates that "more than 80 percent" of all soy imported to the country has been genetically modified. This number is neither new nor strong. As an alternative, the organization suggests the use of soy from the "GMO-free supply chain of the RTRS" (Round Table on Responsible Soy), a platform of WWF and the GM industry. However, this kind of soy is currently not available on the market, according to a WWF spokesperson.

The WWF report does not give any new or reliable figures on the quantities of GM soy imported into Germany. Spokesperson Birgit Wilhelm conceded to the Berlin-based Information Service on GMOs (Informationsdienst Gentechnik) that the above-mentioned "more than 80 percent" is only an estimation and based on figures from the German Feed Association (DVT). According to Wilhelm, efforts to attain more detailed numbers had failed due to the secret nature of the industry. Members of the DVT include the world's biggest animal feed company, Cargill, and chemical giant BASF. Requests made to other important feed companies were declined, Wilhelm says. There are no official statistics on this issue. But industry insider Bernt Antonsen, Commercial Director of Geneva-based trading company AgroTrace S.A., told the Information Service on GMOs that the percentage of GM soy was actually 'a bit lower' than 80 percent. Moreover, the amount was decreasing.

When it comes to the alternatives recommended by WWF Germany, again doubts seem to be appropriate. On the one hand, Antonsen looks favourably on the suggestion to import soy produced according to the 'Basel Criteria'. On the other, he and another trader expressed "massive doubts" regarding RTRS (Round Table on Responsible Soy), founded by WWF, and its "GMO-free supply chain".

And they seem to be right: When questioned by the Information Service on GMOs, WWF spokesperson Wilhelm admitted that there was actually no such GMO-free RTRS soy on the market. There were also no concrete numbers available. According to Wilhelm, RTRS producers and importers had declared to be able to deliver GMO-free soy on demand. However, the WWF employee added, the producers had claimed not to have received any orders yet.

This leads to the question of why WWF Germany has chosen to publish its report at this point in time, even though it does not offer any new insights. Bernt Antonsen has his own assumptions on this: According to the business man, there is going to be a workshop on RTRS issues for traders and food producers in Zurich in September. Until then "they want to make up lost ground", said Antonsen. He was referring to negative media headlines on RTRS and the widely-noticed controversy about "Black Book WWF", a publication of German journalist Wilfried Huismann in which he criticizes the environmental organization for supposedly having very close relationships with GM industry companies such as Monsanto.

"To make up lost ground" seems highly necessary from the point of view of RTRS, as the WWF report shows that Germany's demand for protein plants for feed production could already be met by plants that have not been genetically engineered. WWF estimates the total production of GMO-free soy in Brazil and the European Union in 2011 ranged from 13 to 15 million tons. The German feed industry however only needed 4.5 to 4.6 million tons of soy in the year before. Many companies in the country, and even heavy-weight food retailers such as Rewe and Edeka Nord, are changing their production of meat and dairy products to GMO-free feed. In addition, more and more companies are displaying the official labels "Organic" or "Without GMOs" that forbid the use of genetically engineered feed. Despite these facts, WWF recommends the supposedly GMO-free RTRS soy – while admitting at the same time that it is currently not available.

Original Article in German
http://www.keine-gentechnik.de/news-gentechnik/news/de/26215.html

Press release and full report by WWF Germany 
http://www.wwf.de/2012/august/gentechnik-auf-dem-teller/bl/1/listid/14365/backpid/124/

RTRS: Members
http://responsiblesoy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55&Itemid=51&lang=en