Aventis CropScience, one of the global leading crop protection and crop production companies announces today the status of its StarLink® issue in the USA.

Reports in the US that DNA linked to StarLink® brand corn had been found in some consumer products prompted Aventis CropScience pursuant to an agreement with regulatory agencies to take a number of responsible and precautionary actions including a comprehensive program with the US Department of Agriculture to buy, monitor and control this year’s StarLink® harvest. The StarLink® corn was approved in the US for use only in domestic animal feed and for non-food industrial uses. Although Aventis CropScience does not sell StarLink® seed, it does license the
technology to seed companies which, in turn, market the StarLink® brand seed to distributors and farmers under a stewardship program.

After an in depth review, the Board of Management of Aventis CropScience informs on its assessment and actions concerning  its product StarLink® as follows.

StarLink - not a health or safety issue
On October 25, 2000 Aventis CropScience submitted a new evaluation of safety information on StarLink® corn that recommends regulatory officials grant a time-limited approval for a presence of the corn in human food. The new submission demonstrates that consumer exposure to food products containing StarLink Cry9C protein - even under worst-case scenarios - is many thousands of times smaller than that required to sensitise and lead to a later allergic reaction.
Regardless of the outcome of this submission, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already confirmed that it has no evidence that food containing StarLink® corn will cause any allergic reaction in people and that it believes risks, if any, are extremely low.

StarLink - a corn identity preservation issue
StarLink® corn has only been approved for use in the US for feed and non-food industrial uses. 
It has not been approved for food consumption. Recent analysis have detected DNA fragments from StarLink® corn in some food products such as taco shells in the US. Product recalls of food
companies have removed those products from the food supply. As a consequence Aventis CropScience after discussion with the EPA agreed to voluntarily withdraw its StarLink® registration. With this step, Aventis CropScience wants to ensure that in future no new StarLink® corn will be grown for any use in the US or for export until a new registration for both food and feed use has been obtained.

StarLink®- financial impact on Aventis CropScience
There has been considerable unfounded speculation in the press concerning the financial impact of StarLink® on Aventis CropScience, with estimates of the total costs of StarLink® in some cases being as high as $1 billion. Aventis CropSciences' evaluation of the costs of the various actions taken to track and control channeling of StarLink® and commingled corn is still underway, as is the evaluation of the costs of other related StarLink® issues. In parallel, although the corn was grown and distributed by third parties, Aventis CropScience, who as the registrant of the StarLink® technology has been the initial leader in taking responsible corrective actions, is assessing the degree of shared responsibility of the different actors in the agro and food chain as well as insurance coverage for such costs. 
Although it is not possible to determine today the entire costs related to StarLink®as well as the share of it which will ultimately be borne by Aventis CropScience, it is Aventis CropSciences'
best judgment at this stage that the net financial impact of StarLink® on Aventis CropScience will be significantly below the highly speculative figures reported in the press.

Aventis CropScience is a major crop protection and crop production company also involved in top-ranking environmental and public health activities. Committed to developing sustainable agriculture worldwide, Aventis CropScience focuses on researching, developing and marketing
innovative solutions that meet the needs of today’s farming - increased yields, improved crop and food quality - whilst constantly striving to meet the needs of the environment With 1999 pro-forma sales of 4,061 million Euro, Aventis CropScience devotes over 10% of its turnover to the Research and Development of new chemicals, biotechnology and plant varieties. It employs about 15,300 people in more than 120 countries worldwide. Aventis CropScience is part of the agricultural sector of Aventis, a world leader in Life Sciences.

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