In response to yesterday’s decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to deregulate Dow’s 2,4-D-resistant Enlist Duo soybeans, the American Soybean Association issued a statement cheering the move and calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to now quickly finalize the label for the new low-volatility Enlist Duo herbicide that can be utilized with these soybeans to control resistant and difficult to manage weeds.  ASA also called upon foreign markets where U.S. soybeans are exported to quickly review and approve these new biotech events so that they can be commercialized here in the United States without jeopardizing export markets and U.S. farmers can realize their benefit.

“America’s soybean farmers welcome today’s decision by USDA to deregulate Enlist Duo. As the problem of weed resistance spreads across the soybean growing regions of the U.S., this solution presents another integral mode of action with which farmers can fight yield-robbing weeds,” said ASA President and Iowa farmer Ray Gaesser. “USDA deserves a great deal of credit for recognizing delays in the biotech approvals process and working to address them.  Our attention now shifts to final EPA registration of the Enlist Duo herbicide, and to approvals in key soybean export markets. For new tools like Enlist Duo to be implemented and realized, we need to have approvals in key U.S. soy export markets since approximately 60 percent of the U.S. soy crop is exported.”

Because of the importance of export markets to U.S. soybean farmers, ASA has had long-standing policy requiring technology providers to seek and obtain approvals in key U.S. soy export markets that have import approval processes before new biotech soybean traits are openly commercialized.  ASA works closely with technology companies, other members of the U.S. soy family and value chain, and the U.S. Government to facilitate timely, science-based reviews of new biotech soybean traits both domestically and abroad.