2013-03-18 | permalink

Biotechnology Report: 1000 hectares of genetically modified maize grows in Egypt

Although the Egyptian Agriculture Ministry made public its decision to destroy a 40-ton shipment of Monsanto’s insect-resistant MON810 maize after it entered the country in January last year, the ISAAA reports that 1,000 hectares of the crop were actually planted. Monsanto is a US-based multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. Osama El-Tayeb is a microbiology and immunology professor at the 6th of October University Faculty of Pharmacy and an adviser on biosafety issues. He says the shipment was imported without the formal approval of the Ministry of Environment, the ministry in charge of approving genetically-modified organisms’ import into the country.

• Egypt Independent, Egypt: Biotechnology Report: 1000 hectares of genetically modified maize grows in Egypt