EU flags banned GMOs in Argentine, Brazilian soymeal
Netherlands alerts spark dispute over testing methods
29 April 2026
2 minute read
By: The Netherlands flagged four Argentine and two Brazilian soybean meal shipments containing banned genetically modified organisms, leading to at least three withdrawals and prompting Argentina on Tuesday to question Dutch testing methods, reported Reuters.
The findings put a spotlight on GMO compliance from the European Union's largest suppliers of the livestock feed and could boost demand for other origins including the US and Ukraine.
The European Commission's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed shows four notifications of "non-approved GMO in soybean meal from Argentina" this year, dated April 14, 17 and 27 and March 19.
In addition, it showed two shipments of banned GMOs from Brazil notified on February 11 and April 22.
Brazil is the EU's largest soymeal supplier, followed by Argentina.
Responses have varied. The Argentine cargoes flagged on March 19 and April 17 and the Brazilian cargo dated from February 11 were withdrawn, while the April 14 case of Argentine soymeal and the April 22 one from Brazil led to authorities being informed. No measures had yet been reported for the most recent alert from Argentina, dated Monday.
Argentina's agriculture ministry said in a statement sent to Reuters it had raised "serious" concerns regarding the detection method the Netherlands used after notification arrived of HB4 events in soymeal shipments from Argentina and Brazil to the European Union.
Argentine biotech firm Bioceres developed the genetically modified strain called HB4, which is not permitted in the EU.
The president of Argentina's CIARA-CEC chamber of grains crushers and exporters said he believed the detection method for the rejected shipments produced false positives.
"It is not the method patented by Bioceres and therefore can generate what are called 'false positives,' that is, erroneous detections," said chamber president Gustavo Idigoras. "We believe that is what is happening in Europe."
The Netherlands serves as a major entry point for feed imports to the EU. The Argentine shipments were mostly destined for Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic while the Brazilian ones were also destined for France, Italy and Luxembourg.
The alerts did not specify the volumes of the cargoes or the specific GMO detected.
The EU imported 9.9 million metric tons of Brazilian soymeal and 6.9 million tons of Argentine soymeal in 2024/25, far ahead of the third largest supplier Ukraine with 930,000 tons,official data showed.
GMOs are a contentious issue in Europe. While the EU permits the use of approved GMO feed, some drought-tolerant soy traits widely grown in Argentina are currently banned in the bloc.
In mid-April, US soymeal futures reached their highest level since October 2024, but it was not clear whether that was linked to the withdrawals or the rise in prices for soybeans, a key feedstock for biofuels which has been supported by the oil price surge resulting from the Iran war.
