Dutch certification group ProTerra has reacted to claims made by UK supermarkets about the availability of non-GM feed. ProTerra is a certifier of non-GM soy in the EU.

Last month, major retailers, including the Cooperative, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury's followed a path set by Tesco and reversed policies that had prevented suppliers from feeding genetically modified grain to chickens used to produce their own-brand eggs and meat.  

The mass shift in policy by UK supermarkets in April was precipitated by sustained lobbying from groups including the British Poultry Council and NFU. The supermarkets said they had been informed by their suppliers that non-GM feed for poultry is now too difficult or expensive to obtain.

Stepping up their lobbying campaign in February, poultry producers' organisations complained that producers in other areas of animal agriculture are free to feed animals on GM grain. The pressure applied since the end of last year eventually paid off, and all major supermarkets in the UK, with the exception of Waitrose, ended decade-long ethical commitments on poultry feed.

However, Brazilian conventional soy producers' organisation Abrange was highly critical of the supermarkets' herd mentality last month. In a scathing statement responding to the abandonment of GM-free policies, Abrange pointed out that major retailers in mainland Europe have introduced new GM-free labelling in response to customer concerns, and added that the desire for clearer labelling is shared by the British public.  

In the statement, Abrange executives said that last year Brazil alone enjoyed "a record soybean harvest of over 82 million metric tons, bigger than the United States' and definitely large enough to more than provide Europe's entire soy meal demand."

ProTerra statement challenges misleading supermarket claims

Last week, Dutch certifier ProTerra, which aims to "advance the sustainability of the food system”, also challenged retailers' assertions. Group president Augusto Freire said that, despite claims to the contrary by supermarkets and their suppliers, "The reality is that in 2012, the ProTerra Certification Programme alone made over 3.5 million metric tonnes of Non-GMO soy and soy derivatives available."

He added that, if anything, supplies of non-GM soy are set to increase as new countries including India enter the supply chain and port facilities improve in major producers such as Brazil. He claimed that, in light of such developments, availability of non-GM soy in 2013 "will rise to over 4 million metric tonnes… of ProTerra certified soy alone."

Following a number of meetings in China, delegates from the Association of Soy Producers of Brazil (APROSOJA) declared last month that Chinese officials had made requests for more non-GM soy, "as sectors of its population become more affluent and concerned about food safety issues."

APROSOJA president Glauber Silveira, said, "Another point that stands out is related to GMOs....a significant proportion of the Chinese population, with better financial conditions, is careful and has a preference for non-GMO products. We were asked about the possibility of providing a short-term volume exceeding 10 million tons of Non-GM soy. This draws attention and can influence the whole market; after all, we producers will plant what consumers demand."

Freire added that, given the demand seen throughout much of Europe, "One thing is for certain, the potential for continued non-GMO soy to be supplied to the EU is looking extremely positive indeed."

The UK government is fiercely pro-GM; Environment secretary Owen Paterson has branded sceptics of the technology "humbugs". Nevertheless, the practice remains scientifically controversial and publicly unpopular.

Responding to Defra Secretary Paterson's open declaration of support for GM in December 2012, Soil Association policy director Peter Melchett said, "The recent British Science Association survey showed that public concern has not changed. Owen Patterson says that people are eating meat from animals fed of GM feed without realising it. That is because the British Government has consistently opposed moves to label to give consumers accurate information, and he should put that right by immediately introducing compulsory labelling of meat and milk from animals fed on GM feed."