Brazil GMO approval process markedly quickens

The application procedure time for the approval of genetically modified crops in Brazil has shortened dramatically this year. The process period has fallen from nine years for Bayer CropScience’s glufosinate-tolerant LibertyLink (T25) maize, which was approved last year ( Agrow No 526, p 23), to two years. The national technical commission for biosafety, the CTNBio, gave the go ahead for Dow AgroSciences’ and DuPont’s Herculex I maize at its final meeting of the year (see this issue). The application was submitted in December 2006.