Investigate Midwest (https://investigatemidwest.org/tag/biotechnology/)
American agribusiness giants such as Monsanto and Archer Daniels Midland would likely love to sell GMO corn and soybean seeds to European producers, but for decades European nations – led primarily by France and Germany – have stonewalled prospective efforts by persuading their citizens that GMO's are unsafe, unhealthy and generally un-European.
One of the biggest challenges that today's farmers face is the patchwork of different GMO regulations from country to country. Part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is focused on making biotechnology more transparent between the deal's members.
Biotechnology in the United States has been regulated by a system of three federal agencies since 1986. Critics, which include the White House, are now calling for that system to be modernized.
Monsanto claims it has come up with a way to physically make ears of corn an inch or two larger. If that turns out to be true – and if the new variety successfully makes it through the coordinated framework for biotechnology – it would be a big deal for the U.S. corn industry.
On Wednesday, 42 senators signed their names to a letter addressed to President Barack Obama. The letter pressed the president to prioritize biotech approvals with China’s leader, President Xi Jinping.