Government agency allows continued use of genetically engineered corn

Thursday, October 18, 2001

By Philip Brasher, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Farmers will be allowed to continue growing genetically engineered corn after the government decided the crop isn't a threat to human health or the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency is renewing for seven years registrations for varieties of biotech corn that produce their own toxin to kill an insect pest, a moth larva called the European corn borer. The crop is known as Bt corn for a bacterium gene that it contains.

The EPA said Tuesday it is acting to ensure that farmers comply with planting restrictions designed to prevent the development of insects resistant to the toxin. EPA also is requiring additional research on the crop's environmental impact, including its long-term effect on monarch butterflies.

"Bt corn has been evaluated thoroughly by EPA, and we are confident that it does not pose risks to human health or to the environment," said Steve Johnson, assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances.

A laboratory study reported in 1999 raised concerns that the corn could be harmful to monarch caterpillars, who feed on milkweed in and near cornfields. But studies published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences downplayed the threat. The scientists estimated that, at most, 500 in 1 million caterpillar larvae would die from eating corn pollen that is deposited on the milkweed. EPA has been reviewing the crop, first approved in 1995, for the past two years.

"For the consumer, my customer, they should feel at ease, because this really reaffirms the safety of this product," said Illinois farmer Leon Corzine, a spokesman for the National Corn Growers Association.

Biotech seed companies are being required to monitor use of the crops to ensure that they do not lead to insect resistance or have unexpected effects on human health or the environment. Farmers will be required to sign papers each year stating that they are aware of planting restrictions for the corn.

To prevent insect resistance, farmers must plant at least 20 percent of their corn acreage with conventionally bred varieties. However, nearly a third of farmers last year violated that restriction, according to a survey submitted to EPA.