The American Soybean Association (ASA) is pleased that final regulatory approvals have been received in Mexico, Australia and New Zealand for Monsanto’s Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ (MON 89788). U.S. soybean producers anticipate commercialization of this new product in 2009. ASA also applauds the action of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which has issued a positive scientific opinion concluding Roundup Ready 2 Yield is safe for import as food or feed.

"These regulatory decisions by Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and EFSA’s positive technical and scientific assessment, represent significant steps forward in delivering Roundup Ready to Yield soybeans to farmers," said ASA President John Hoffman, a soybean producer from Waterloo, Iowa. "It is my understanding that Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans will offer a 7 to 11 percent yield advantage over first-generation Roundup Ready beans, while providing the same tolerance to the Roundup herbicides we are now using to manage weeds. Higher soybean yields increase the ability of U.S. soybean growers to supply food, feed and fuel markets domestically and around the globe."

Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans have completed the regulatory process in both the United States and Canada, and were recently approved in Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan. Now the product has also been given a positive opinion by the EFSA that it is safe for import as food or feed. We now look forward to the EU Member States endorsing this positive opinion of their scientific experts in a timely manner and thus finalizing the import approval process.

"More than 90 percent of the soybeans planted in the United States this year were biotech varieties," Hoffman said. "U.S. growers look forward to the next generation of biotech-enhanced soybean varieties now under development that will offer important benefits to consumers, growers and the environment, ranging from healthy oil profiles to increased yields per unit of land to better weed control."

"Timely overseas regulatory approvals are critical because growers around the world have rapidly adopted new biotech-enhanced seed varieties as they became available," Hoffman said. "The positive EFSA opinion on safety is an important step toward gaining approval within the European Union."

"Livestock farmers and feed industries around the world depend on access to imported, protein-rich soybeans and soybean meal to nourish their animals and meet the food demands of consumers," Hoffman said. "U.S. soybean growers welcome these latest approvals in Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, and we look forward to timely regulatory approvals in other important export markets well prior to planting in the spring of 2009."

Monsanto’s Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans will be introduced on 1 million to 2 million acres for the 2009 season as part of a controlled commercial release, followed by a large-scale product launch of 5 million to 6 million acres scheduled for 2010.

Biotech-enhanced varieties of herbicide tolerant soybean seeds were first commercialized more than a decade ago. Herbicide tolerant seeds have become a standard in U.S. farmer management systems to control weeds that compete with crops for light, water and nutrients. The technology provides farmers with an unprecedented weed management tool, which has led to increased conservation tillage practices that sequester carbon, reduce production costs, lower fuel consumption, reduce run-off, improve water quality, and save irreplaceable top soil.