EUROPEAN-SEED.COM I EUROPEAN SEED I 71 EU CONDITIONALLY CLEARS DUPONT/FMC DEAL The European Commission has conditionally approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, FMC’s proposed acquisition of parts of DuPont’s crop protection business and DuPont’s acquisition of FMC’s Health and Nutrition business. Both transactions are related to the Dow/DuPont merger divestment commitments. The July 31 decisions follow the Commission’s clearance, subject to conditions, of the Dow/DuPont merger in March 2017. DuPont committed to divest major parts of its global crop pro- tection business, including its global research and development organisation, which FMC now acquires. As part of the deal to acquire these parts of DuPont’s crop protection business, FMC is selling its Health and Nutrition business to DuPont. EXTRAS FOOD STANDARDS AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND - CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED RICE APPLICATION FROM THE INTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has called for submissions on an application to permit a genetically modified rice line that produces a form of provitamin A. FSANZ Chief Executive Officer Mark Booth said the International Rice Research Institute (a non-government human- itarian organisation) applied to include the rice—sometimes referred to as Golden Rice—in the Code. “The institute is seek- ing to grow the rice in developing countries to address severe vitamin A deficiency that can lead to blindness and other health issues,” Booth said. U.S. RICE EXPORTS TO CHINA YET TO GO THROUGH LEGAL PROCEDURES U.S. rice exports to China are yet to go through legal proce- dures, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said at the end of July. The two countries reached an agreement on inspection and quarantine protocols for U.S. rice exports to China during the first China-U.S. Comprehensive Economic Dialogue (CED) on July 19, 2017. That was just the first step of legal procedures the two sides must go through, said an MOC spokesperson. There are two further steps: one is that the U.S. govern- ment will recommend registered rice exporters to Chinese inspection and quarantine authorities who will recognize qualified companies; the other is that U.S. authorities will use methods approved by Chinese experts to fumigate rice from qualified exporters in order to prevent harmful biological threats, according to the spokesperson. The CED saw the world's two largest economies resolve a number of issues in their trade relationship while agreeing to work together to solve outstanding problems. According to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. rice exports to China can begin following the completion of an audit of U.S. rice facilities by China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. It will be the first time the United States has exported rice to China, said the department. China and the United States exchanged views on issues such as the removal of the ban on Chinese and U.S. poultry products on a reciprocal basis and the export of Chinese dairy and seafood products to the United States. The CED is one of the four major dialogues established by the two countries in April. J.R. SIMPLOT COMPANY’S SECOND GENERATION OF INNATE POTATOES RECEIVES CANADIAN GOVERNMENT CLEARANCE Health Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) have completed the food, feed, and environmental safety assessments of the J.R. Simplot Company’s second generation of Innate® potatoes. The authorizations enable the potatoes to be imported, planted, and sold in Canada, complementing the three varieties of Innate® first generation potatoes that received regulatory approval last year. Health Canada conducted a comprehensive safety assess- ment and approved the use of Innate® second generation potatoes for food. In addition, CFIA determined that these potatoes are “as safe and nutritious as traditional potatoes” for use as livestock feed, and that the potatoes do not present increased risk to the environment when compared to currently cultivated potato varieties in Canada. Innate® late blight protection trait can convey up to a 50 percent reduction in annual fungicide applications typi- cally used to control late blight disease. This disease was a contributing cause of the Irish Potato Famine in the mid-19th century and remains a major constraint for production and storage. Further, research shows that Innate® second genera- tion potatoes help reduce waste associated with bruise, blight, and storage losses by reducing waste at multiple stages of the value chain, including in-field, during storage and processing, and in food service. That research suggests that these traits will translate to less land, water, and pesticide applications to produce these potatoes. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE’S (USDA) ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE ANNOUNCES EXTENSION OF DEREGULATION TO GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CANOLA The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing an extension of deregulation to Bayer CropScience’s canola known as event MS11, genetically engineered (GE) for male sterility and herbi- cide resistance. APHIS previously reviewed and deregulated these GE traits in other varieties of GE canola. As part of the petition process, APHIS prepared a plant pest risk similarity assessment (PPRSA), draft environmental assessment (EA), preliminary finding of no significant impact (FONSI), and a preliminary determination of nonregulated status. APHIS made these documents available for a 45-day public review and comment period on April 12, 2017. After considering the public comments, APHIS has determined there is no plant pest risk and is extending deregulation to the GE canola line. TURKISH BIOSAFETY BOARD APPROVES FOUR MORE BIOTECH TRAITS On August 2, 2017, the Turkish Government Official Gazette pub- lished the Biosafety Board Decisions on genetically engineered feed imports. The Board approved three soybean (MON 87708, BPS-CV127-9, MON87705) and 1 corn (MON 87460) and their products for feed use. This brings the total number of approved events for import to Turkey for feed use to 36.