EU to import extra soybeans from US as drought takes toll

Additional three million tonnes to arrive after Chinese markets lost

As drought continues to take a toll on crops across much of Europe, the European Commission has confirmed it will import an additional three million tonnes of soybeans from the United States.

The EU has turned to the US for a number of reasons: it has surplus soya, because it has lost markets in China as a reaction to US import tariffs imposed on China by the Trump administration; Argentinian stocks are low because of a poor harvest; and Brazilian prices have risen, partly because it is filling the US gap in China.

Gene editing

Despite some easing of tensions between the US and EU, the US Department of Agriculture has hit out at a European Court decision on gene editing.

This is known as mutagenesis and the court ruled that this came within the scope of EU regulations outlawing genetic modification.

The USDA said the decision had implications for trade in US products.

It also accused the EU of continuing with an anti-science stance, claiming it should be encouraging technology rather than dismissing new techniques.

The US said that in contrast to the EU, its approach is science and risk-based, allowing for safe innovation. It said that despite the court decision it would continue to press for the US approach to science and risk to be accepted as the global norm.

EU Brexit loss

A report for the European Parliament has flagged up the potential impact on the EU of the loss of UK scientific expertise after Brexit.

The report on food law says the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will be hit hard by Brexit. It says that six member states supply two-thirds of the experts that sit on advisory panels, and that across EFSA 20% of the experts come from the UK.

This is adding to a sense that if a hard Brexit is to be avoided, negotiation will have to move from the European Commission to EU heads of state, who better understand the implications for their national economies of a hard Brexit.

Across EFSA 20% of the experts come from the UK

A report has warned of the potential impact of losing UK scientific expertise after Brexit.