Non-GMO traceability in Brazil

European companies continue to make inroads into South America as German-based GeneScan Europe announced this week that it has opened a new laboratory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to test for the presence of genetically modified organisms in food products destined for export.

The lab facility offers detection, identification and quantification of GMOs in agricultural commodities, ingredients for food and feed and in finished food products. The company is promoting the facility on the back of the current importance for international trade and the agro-food industry that Brazil holds as a key supplier of non-GM soy products to the world food and feed market.

According to GeneScan, the European Union currently accounts for 45 per cent of the Brazilian soy products exported annually. As the EU develops even tighter rules for traceability and the labelling of GM products, the demand for non-GM material and for superior GM detection is clearly on the rise. The company adds that other markets important to Brazil, such as China and Japan, also have stringent requirements with regard to GMO control and certification.

The laboratory in Sao Paulo, reports GeneScan, another important step to complete its presence along the global food supply chain. Currently, the GeneScan Group operates laboratories in Europe (Germany), the US (New Orleans) and Brazil (Sao Paulo). In addition, a laboratory in Australia (Melbourne), licensed to the New Zealand company AgriQuality, and a subsidiary in Hong Kong, are involved in the international network. All of them operate on the basis of internationally recognised and validated methods that are being developed by the German mother company GeneScan Analytics, claims Genescan​.

The company adds that its programmes can be linked with existing QM systems such as HACCP or ISO 9001, to form complete systems for non-GM control.