Des Moines, Iowa
April 27, 2007
Biotech trait marketer issues
clarification due to industry concern over export market
approvals
The Herculex® RW Rootworm Protection and the Herculex XTRA
traits have full U.S. federal and all state regulatory approvals
and have approval for import and for feed and food use in nine
other countries. This includes Japan, Australia, New Zealand,
Canada, China, Korea, Mexico, Philippines and Taiwan. Both
traits are available to growers in corn hybrids from
Pioneer Hi-Bred International,
Inc.
“We wanted to issue this
clarifying statement to avoid confusion. Herculex RW and
Herculex XTRA traits have import approval in the key corn
importing countries,” said Dean Oestreich, Pioneer president and
DuPont vice president and general manager.
The Herculex RW and Herculex XTRA
traits received full federal regulatory approval in the United
States from the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug
Administration and United States Department of Agriculture in
2005. Grain with these traits received import approval in 2006
from Japan, a major importer of corn grain. In addition, the
grain trade has had detection methodology for the Herculex
traits since they were first marketed in 2006.
Herculex RW provides a high level
of in-plant root protection all season long against western,
northern and Mexican larval corn rootworm and dramatically
reduces adult rootworm emergence. Rootworm is the costliest
insect pest in corn and the trait has proven extremely popular
among North American corn growers.
Herculex XTRA contains both the
Herculex I and Herculex RW traits. Herculex I protects the corn
plant against European and southwestern corn borer, western bean
cutworm, black cutworm and fall armyworm. This means that
Herculex XTRA guards against a broader range of insects than
other competitive products now available to growers. The
Herculex I trait received U.S. federal regulatory approval in
2001 and Japanese import approval in 2002.
Pioneer Hi-Bred International,
Inc., a subsidiary of DuPont, is the world’s leading source of
customized solutions for farmers, livestock producers and grain
and oilseed processors. With headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa,
Pioneer provides access to advanced plant genetics in nearly 70
countries. DuPont is a science-based products and services
company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by
creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer,
healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70
countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and
services for markets including agriculture and food; building
and construction; communications; and transportation.
Herculex® Insect Protection technology by Dow AgroSciences and
Pioneer Hi-Bred. ®Herculex is a registered trademark of Dow
AgroSciences LLC. |
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