1. “View of Asynchronous Approvals from the EU” 111 Rosario, 17 September 2012 Beat Späth, Public Affairs Manager, Green Biotechnology, EuropaBio

2. Contents I.Four global trends II.The EU’s import dependence III.The EU approvals backlog 2

3. I. Four global trends Trend 1: More GM cultivation in more countries 3

4. I. Four global trends Trend 2: More crops, more traits 4 Current numbers and estimations of future numbers of GM crops worldwide Source: Nature Biotechnology (2010) 28, 23-25 International trade and the global pipeline of new GM crops

5. I. Four global trends Trend 3: More global commodity trade Millions of tonnes of grain traded globally 5

6. I. Four global trends Trend 4: Widening transatlantic gap on GM approval timelines 6 CountryApproval timeline (2011) Ambition for next years Comments Argentina18 monthsCut timeline by 50% Timeline concerns single events, stacks somewhat longer US25 monthsAims for 18 months Brazil27 months Canada30 months EU45 months No stated ambition to speed up. Upcoming new requirements may slow down Timeline concerns import approvals Approach to stacks = problematic

7. II. The EU’s dependence on imports EU Commission – Mapping Agri-Trade Policy (May 2012) 7

8. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 8 Source: USDA, ACTI II. The EU’s dependence on imports Only 2% of soybean consumption in the EU is produced from soybeans grown in the EU. Soy imports and domestic = 35mlnt/year (about 60kg per EU citizen) 90% of imported soy is from biotech crops. Non-GM soy difficult & costly to source. Imported soybean meal 23 mil tons 32% Produced from imported soybeans 11mil ton 66% Produced from EU soybeans 0.8 mil tons 2%

9. II. The EU’s dependence on imports 99 Study on the Implications of Asynchronous GMO Approvals for EU Imports, on behalf of the EU Commission Directorate-General for Agriculture (December 2010) “In the long run, the full segregation of commodities in exporting countries is almost impossible” (EU authorized from EU unauthorized GMOs) “…The demand for maize and soybean, and their derived products, is growing rapidly … the relative importance of the EU market… inevitably diminishes. This will discourage efforts by producers and traders in exporting countries to invest in segregating EU approved from non-approved GM material and to continue trading with the EU.”

10. 10 III. The EU approvals backlog 10 State of Play EU Approvals - 3 Sept 2012: 47 GM crop products are authorised in total 75 GM crop products in the authorisation system twice as many products enter the system than exit it (average ’04 -’12)

11. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ “Approvals of GMOs in the European Union”. Report available from EuropaBio. 11 III. The EU approvals backlog _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 Undue delays at political stage: 11 months on average between EFSA opinion and first vote. The law prescribes 3 months. Accumulated undue delay: 37 years Average duration of GM imports authorisation. 45 months

12. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ “Approvals of GMOs in the European Union”. Report available from EuropaBio. 12 III. The EU approvals backlog EU Authorisation system is not working as it should –Some EU governments vote against EFSA scientific advice for political reasons –For cultivation, the agreed process has never been correctly implemented Significant backlog continues to grow EU process takes substantially longer than comparable systems Slow process cannot be explained by safety concerns alone –Commission routinely delays political votes (11 months on average instead of legally prescribed 3 months) –New assessment requirements lacking scientific basis are introduced –New requirements are applied retroactively Efficiency gains possible on risk assessment for stacked products  Crisis management rather than forward looking policies ____________________________________________________________________________________________ “

13. Thank you for your attention! Questions? 13 Beat Späth, Public Affairs Manager, Green Biotechnology, EuropaBio b.spaeth@europabio.org