Buenos Aires, Argentina
July 18, 2012

USDA/FAS GAIN report

Report highlights:

Argentina continues to be the third largest producer of biotech crops after the United States and Brazil, producing 15 percent of the world´s total biotech crops.

On March 16, 2012, The Government of Argentina announced the implementation of the new regulatory framework for agricultural biotechnology. The goal with this revamped regulatory system is to reduce the approval time for new events to 24 months.

Argentina is willing to take the lead in the region in the development and use of new technologies. This has been demonstrated this current year by the approval of Syngenta’s quadruple corn event which was approved before Brazil, and the development of new genetically engineered (GE) seeds with drought resistance created by Argentine researchers. This focus on biotechnology was further highlighted by a recent trade mission to Brazil to explore a joint venture of GE drought resistant sugar cane variety. Furthermore within the last month the industry has announced substantial investment in the country.

Even when intellectual property rights (IPR) continues to be an unresolved issue in Argentina, the private agreement developed by Monsanto in 2011, continues to be a successful model.

Full report

Website: http://www.fas.usda.gov/

Published: August 17, 2012