World Grain - March 2011 - 12

newsreview
FEFAC welcomes E.U. decision on GMO
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM — Patrick Vanden Avenne, president of the European Compound Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC), on Feb. 22 welcomed the vote of the Standing Committee on the Feed Chain and Food Safety at the level of the E.U. Commission on the socalled “technical solution” for traces of not yet approved genetically modiﬁed organisms (GMO). The decision regulates the analyses and sampling procedures to be applied for the evaluation of not quantiﬁable traces: “After more than two years of discussion, there is now ﬁnally an analytical deﬁnition of the ‘zero’ level, which continues to be requested from a political point of view,” Vanden Avenne said. “This measure should safeguard vital supplies of new crop protein feeds from South America to our E.U. livestock industry. “Until now, the burden of proof of systematic or accidental differences between laboratories or analytical methods as well as mistakes in sampling or sample treatment exclusively rested on the feed chain.” The complete separation of non-approved GM varieties in the supply chain dominated by bulk-handling for feed materials is practically impossible, even if these varieties are cultivated in very low quantities in the producing countries, FEFAC said. The logistical burden for the feed sector to respect the new legislation will remain a major challenge, FEFACE said, which would require, in the medium and long term, a more comprehensive solution in form of a real lowlevel presence threshold.

Cargill to build new corn processing plant
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL — Cargill announced on Feb. 2 plans to build a new corn processing plant in Brazil to produce starches and sweeteners solutions. The company will invest R$350 million to keep up with rising customer demand in Brazil. The new plant will add around 30% to Cargill´s existing corn crushing capacity in South America. The new facilities will be based in one of three Brazilian states under consideration. A decision on location is expected in the ﬁrst quarter of this year with the plant scheduled to start operating in 2013. This is Cargill´s second investment in this business in a little over two years. In March 2010, the company concluded an expansion that increased the capacity of the starches and sweeteners plant in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais by 70%. The expansion of the Uberlândia facilities represented an investment of R$197 million, which also included a new boiler to produce clean electric energy from biomass that supplies 70% of local energy needs. Additionally, the new plant may also have a line dedicated to new corn-based ingredients, some that had previously not been available in the Brazilian market.

For more information, see Page 94.

March 2011 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

http://www.balaguer-rolls.com http://www.World-Grain.com

World Grain - March 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - March 2011